Hog Calls

Youngsters grow up quickly for Hogs

Arkansas running back Rawleigh Williams runs during the second quarter of a game against Tennessee on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.
Arkansas running back Rawleigh Williams runs during the second quarter of a game against Tennessee on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Bret Bielema wouldn't necessarily have bet on these Hogs futures helping his current Arkansas commodities so much.

Bielema's Arkansas Razorbacks (2-3) snapped a three-game losing streak and evened their SEC record to 1-1 with Saturday's 24-20 victory over Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn. They did so with considerable help from freshmen.

"I thought as we look at the film there are some younger players especially doing some things that I didn't know if they would be able to do this quickly," Bielema said Monday. "You look at our leading tacklers and they were a true freshman and a redshirt freshman between Dre [Greenlaw] and Santos Ramirez. On offense I thought Rawleigh [Williams] really did some things not only with the ball in his hands but other stuff that was pretty impressive."

Williams, a true freshman running back, gained 100 yards on 14 carries against Tennessee while complementing junior Alex Collins's 27 carries for 154 yards.

"He's having a great year," offensive coordinator Dan Enos said. "He's an explosive play waiting to happen. He runs behind his pads, has great vision, catches the ball. He's getting better every week."

So is Greenlaw, a freshman weakside linebacker from Fayetteville whose 10 tackles led the Hogs against Tennessee.

Redshirt freshman free safety Ramirez of Shreveport made seven tackles.

Neither were starters when the season kicked off, but Greenlaw already is second on the team in tackles to another Fayetteville High graduate, junior middle linebacker Brooks Ellis. Ellis, the weakside linebacker when the season began, has 34 tackles. Greenlaw has 29.

Greenlaw fast-racked through the preseason as Ellis' weakside backup before defensive coordinator Robb Smith opted to move Ellis to the middle and start the rookie at the weakside spot.

It hasn't been a thoroughly painless process. Greenlaw released on a coverage bust for a Texas A&M touchdown pass during the Aggies' 28-21 overtime victory over Arkansas two Saturdays ago at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

But considering that Greenlaw was a safety at Fayetteville High and converted to linebacker over the summer, he has performed remarkably well. And with remarkable poise from personally taking the A&M loss so hard.

"I think we're all disappointed," Smith said of the A&M loss. "You know, he's a true freshman learning to play at a high level. He'll be the first to tell you that it's far from perfect, but he plays with great effort and he's a good tackler.

"Those guys usually succeed in our defense, and he played very well for us the other night."

So did Ramirez.

"Here's another guy that's a freshman first-year player even though he's a redshirt," Smith said. "I think the common denominator between those two guys, they're really good tacklers. They can get quality athletes down in space.

"That's a nice feather to have in your cap, and both those guys can do that at a high level."

Sports on 10/07/2015

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