FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas’ defense suffered its first season-ending injury with the loss of cornerback Will Hines, who broke his right arm in the second half of the Razorbacks’ 30-10 loss at Florida on Saturday night.

Hines is a sophomore, but has 15 career starts, including all six games this season. He’s seventh on the team in tackles with 22 and also has an interception.

“It’s time for the next man in line,” Arkansas defensive coordinator Chris Ash said Sunday. “Everybody’s got to prepare like they’re going to be one play away from being a starter, and that’s basically what it is right now for the next guy.”

Junior Tevin Mitchel - who has 20 career starts - is the only remaining member of Arkansas 2-deep who played in SEC games last season.

Junior Carroll Washington, a transfer from Hartnell (Calif.) Community College, and redshirt freshman Jared Collins will compete for the chance to take Hines’ place and start in Saturday’s game against No. 14 South Carolina at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

Collins replaced Hines at Florida, but Washington is listed as the starter for the South Carolina game.

“We’ll make a decision as we go through the week, but it’s time for one of those guys to step up and play,” Ash said. “They’ve got a long way to go.

“This is going to be a big week for them, to be able to come out and show that they can compete at this high level and give us a chance to win.”

Collins, who missed the Texas A&M game after sustaining a concussion against Rutgers, has seven tackles. Washington has three tackles.

Mitchel’s backup is true freshman D.J. Dean.

“It doesn’t make it any tougher than it normally is,” Ash said. “It is what it is. Injuries are part of the game.

“If we lose anybody right now, it’s going to be a challenge, because we just don’t have a lot of depth at a lot of positions.

“We’ll keep getting better with the guys that are out there and see where it goes.”

Mitchel is Arkansas’ fifth-leading tackler and had an interception return for a touchdown against Rutgers, but he’s also been burned for some big gains.

At Florida, Mitchel had two tackles for minus-6 yards, but he also missed tackles on touchdown receptions by Solomon Patton.

“Tevin right now has been feast or famine, and we’ve got to get that fixed,” Ash said.

Patton caught short passes and then eluded Mitchel to score on plays of 51 and38 yards.

“Tevin’s been inconsistent, to say the least,” Ash said. “I’d rather have a guy not be mentioned in the game. That means he’s not making mistakes.

“But as long as we’re doing the right thing consistently, we’ll make more plays than we give up.”

Dean has played primarily on special teams and also gotten a few snaps at nickel back.

“He’s not ready yet,” Ash said. “We’ve got to work to get him there.

“He’s young, he’s still learning the defense, he’s still learning fundamentals and technique.”

Ash said he would prefer not to have to play Dean a significant amount of snaps.

“Corner is a position you’ve got to be very careful about playing a freshman, because that’s a position that can cost you games,” Ash said.

Sports, Pages 15 on 10/07/2013