Razorbacks report

Two-deep chart not surprising

A pair of Arkansas football players ready for a play during a preseason practice on Sept. 14, 2020 in Fayetteville.
A pair of Arkansas football players ready for a play during a preseason practice on Sept. 14, 2020 in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The first University of Arkansas depth chart of the Sam Pittman era, released on Monday, offered very few surprises.

The most notable position battles occurred on the offensive front and in the defensive backfield.

Redshirt freshmen Brady Latham and Beaux Limmer are listed as starting guards to form a relatively inexperienced interior with true sophomore center Ricky Stromberg. Their backups consist of two-year starting center Ty Clary and the trio of Shane Clenin, Luke Jones and Ryan Winkel at guard.

The right tackle spot is listed with junior Dalton Wagner and sophomore Noah Gatlin bracketed in that order, and Gatlin is also the top backup behind left tackle Myron Cunningham.

The Razorbacks elected to display a 4-2-5 lineup for their starting defense, leaving off strong-side linebacker and using a nickel back spot, where sophomores Greg Brooks Jr. and LaDarrius Bishop are the top two options.

The cornerback starters are listed as junior Montaric Brown and graduate transfer Jerry Jacobs, with junior Jarques McClellion, a two-year starter, and true freshman Khari Johnson the top backups.

Junior Joe Foucha and redshirt freshman Jalen Catalon are the starting safeties, ahead of Myles Slusher and Myles Mason, respectively.

At the two linebacker spots, senior captain Grant Morgan and junior Bumper Pool are the starters, with backups listed as Andrew Parker, Levi Draper, Hayden Henry and Deon Edwards. Pool and Morgan are the active tackles leaders at Arkansas with 123 and 101, respectively, followed by Foucha (98). Pittman said late last week that he expected each of those six linebackers to get snaps.

The only true freshmen in the two-deep are the defensive backs Slusher and Johnson and tight end Blayne Toll, who is bracketed behind Hudson Henry.

"Slusher has been a mature, athletic guy ever since he walked in the door, and I'm really, really excited about his future here," Pittman said. "He's a physical player. Very knowledgeable and well coached out of high school. And he's got speed. Those things are certainly why he's in our two deep.

"Khari [is] very talented. Good man coverage corner. Again, in order to get on the field early as freshman you have to be mature, you have to be smart, you have to understand the schematics of the game. And again he was well coached in high school too. Both of them are very mature for their age."

If the Arkansas depth chart holds for the opener, six defensive players and four offensive players will be making their first starts with the Razorbacks.

Georgia QBs

Georgia Coach Kirby Smart did not announce his plans for the quarterback position on Monday, falling right in line with what Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman expected.

"I'm excited about the guys who have competed," Smart said.

Redshirt freshman D'Wan Mathis, a dual-threat choice, is thought to be in position to win the job over USC transfer J.T. Daniels, who is coming off knee surgery from early last year.

"I think you're guessing as much as we are," Pittman said. "But I can guarantee you not you or us or anybody is going to know who that starting quarterback is going to be for Georgia until he runs out there."

Pittman said he and his staff have studied up on both of those quarterbacks.

Boyd & Johnson

Arkansas tailback Rakeem Boyd is almost certain to come up against Georgia linebacker Jermaine Johnson, his former teammate at Independence (Kan.) College.

"I was just excited with the mere fact that I know what it took for both of us to get where we are," Johnson said on Monday. "I was just excited to meet each other on this stage. I've talked to him before and after we left [Independence].

"Not a ton of contact or anything, especially around game day, trying to focus up and not really talk to the opponent. I'm just excited to play him because I know what it took for him to get where he is and for me to get where I am."

Boyd has led the Razorbacks in rushing the last two seasons, including 1,133 yards in 2019, when he averaged 6.2 yards per carry.

Long odds

No. 4 Georgia opened the week as a 26 1/2-point favorite over the Razorbacks for Saturday's season opener at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

Though the Bulldogs are favored by almost four touchdowns, they are not the biggest road favorite in the SEC on the opening weekend. That distinction goes to No. 2 Alabama, which is a 27-point favorite at Missouri.

The biggest spread in the SEC on opening weekend goes to Texas A&M, a 30 1/2-point favorite over Vanderbilt.

Ears on Sam

Arkansas special teams coordinator Scott Fountain said he lived closer to new Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman in Athens, Ga., than he does now in Fayetteville.

Pittman, the Georgia offensive line coach and associate head coach in 2019, recruited Fountain to follow him to Northwest Arkansas last winter.

"We were actually neighbors, so if he was out by his pool or something I could always hear him playing his music on a Sunday afternoon in the offseason," Fountain said.

No word on Pittman's choice of music.

11 bowling?

CBSSport.com's Jerry Palm projected 11 SEC teams to reach the postseason in his most updated selections this week, though none of those teams are Arkansas.

Palm's updated projections include teams from the Big Ten, which released its schedule on Saturday after the league elected to re-instate its season starting Oct. 23-24, a month after the SEC gets rolling.

Palm's projections start with Alabama as the No. 3 seed in the College Football playoff against No. 2 seed Ohio State opposite No. 1 Clemson and No. 4 Oklahoma.

He is also predicting three other SEC teams for New Year's Six bowls, Auburn vs. Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl, Georgia vs. Miami (Fla.) in the Orange Bowl, and Florida vs. Cincinnati in the Peach Bowl.

Palm's other SEC picks are Texas A&M vs. Wisconsin in the Citrus Bowl, LSU vs. Michigan in the Outback Bowl, South Carolina vs. Florida State in the Gator Bowl, Mississippi State vs. Oklahoma State in the Liberty Bowl, Kentucky vs. Minnesota in the Music City Bowl, Ole Miss vs. TCU in the Texas Bowl, and Tennessee vs. BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Palm projects Arkansas State to face Charlotte in the New Mexico Bowl.

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