Was it perfect? No. Was it good? Actually, yes.
Arkansas beat South Carolina, 44-30, on Saturday. That’s the good. Spencer Rattler threw for 371 yards against Arkansas. And while that looks bad, it isn’t. The Razorbacks were without preseason first-team All-SEC safety Jalen Catalon and starting nickel Myles Slusher.
Plus, consider that more than 170 of those yards came in the fourth quarter when the Gamecocks were already cooked and South Carolina was all but forced to pass. For good measure, throw in that Rattler had just one touchdown and threw an interception, too, and it was a winning day for the Arkansas secondary.
On the field.
Off it was a different story as Arkansas coach Sam Pittman announced Catalon would miss the rest of the year because of a shoulder injury he suffered last week against Cincinnati.
“He won’t be back this year,” Pittman said. “I feel for him. We’ve had conversations about it. I’m going let him be away from the building a little bit. He’s down. You would be, too.”
Simeon Blair, who had five tackles from the safety spot, was voted to replace Catalon as a team captain. Latavious Brini, a transfer from Georgia, is expected to get a bulk of the reps. Slusher is expected back next week against Missouri State.
In the meantime, the Razorbacks’ secondary can feel solid about what they did Saturday, all things considered.
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