Tag: Rocket Sanders

Kendal Briles in a groove leading Arkansas’ offense: “I hope I can stay here for a long time”

Arkansas offensive coordinator said he doesn’t want to be anywhere but in Fayetteville with the Hogs.

Arkansas offensive coordinator [autotag]Kendal Briles[/autotag], fresh with a new deal, is no longer in the learning stages of the SEC. He’s ready to make the Razorbacks into one of the league’s, if not the country’s top offenses.

In his first year, the now-39-year-old boosted Arkansas on that side of the ball from an average of 340 yards a game to 391. In year two, he took them from 391 to 441. Could another jump of 50ish yards be in the cards in 2022? Briles does head into his third season as Arkansas offensive coordinator with weapons galore.

Arkansas quarterback [autotag]KJ Jefferson[/autotag] is the rock of the unit. And with he and Briles in a groove after two years together, big things are expected.

“Having your quarterback back, which you can’t put a price tag on that,” Briles said. “Just having that guy back with experience. It’s actually the first time in my career as a coordinator having a return starting quarterback, so it’s just so nice to be able to have that. Speaks the same language, knows what to expect.”

Briles is a coveted OC across the FBS. He was reportedly in the running to be the offensive coordinator at Miami (FL) before re-upping with Arkansas. The talent returning helps.

Jefferson threw for 21 touchdowns against just four interceptions last year and he ran for a team-high 664 yards and six scores. [autotag]Dominique Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Rocket Sanders[/autotag] are back at running back, too, after going for 598 and 578 yards, respectively. Each ran for five scores. At wide receiver, Oklahoma transfer [autotag]Jadon Haselwood[/autotag] led the Sooners in receptions and touchdowns.

“Having KJ back, it would have been really, really hard to look at KJ and tell him I wasn’t going to be here, just because I love the kid and respect him so much and want him to be able to achieve his goals,” Briles said. “Being here for the players and the state and raising a family here, there’s not a better place to do that. So I absolutely love it here and hope I can stay for a long time.”

Arkansas Football named one of College Football’s “Most Exciting Teams” ahead of 2022 season

It seems that the national media is picking up what Arkansas fans already know… the Hogs are fun again.

We now take a break from the myriad of mock drafts to bring you something that most Arkansas fans already know… Arkansas Razorbacks football is fun again.

Although Razorback fans saw that firsthand after witnessing the first nine-plus win season since 2011, it is always exciting to see that the national media also sees the buzz surrounding Arkansas football.

Brad Crawford of 247sports recently put out a piece titled “College football’s most boring, entertaining teams ahead of 2022 season”, and Arkansas has made the list as the No. 3 most exciting team for the upcoming season.

Arkansas joins fellow SEC squads Alabama and Georgia, as well as Ohio State and Arizona State on the list. What will make Arkansas football so entertaining in 2022? Crawford explains:

The Razorbacks play an exciting brand of football under Sam Pittman and led the SEC in rushing last season. KJ Jefferson came into his own during his first full season as the Razorbacks’ starting quarterback with 2,676 yards and 21 scores through the air. Nine-win Arkansas was extremely entertaining since a quarter of its games were decided by a touchdown or less, including a 52-51 nail-biting loss to Ole Miss in October and a narrow setback at Alabama later.

The Razorbacks have also succeeded in landing talent from the Transfer Portal. Joining Haselwood are [autotag]Drew Sanders[/autotag] from Alabama, [autotag]Latavious Brini[/autotag] from Georgia, [autotag]Jordan Dominek[/autotag] from Georgia Tech, and [autotag]Landon Jackson[/autotag] from LSU.

No Dominique Johnson? No problem for Arkansas’ running backs

Arkansas’ starting running back last year, Dominique Johnson, has missed spring ball. It’s only given a loaded Hogs backfield even more opportunity.

Pop quiz: How many FBS teams last year had four players eclipse the 500-yard mark rushing the ball?

One. Arkansas.

The team’s starter for the second half of last season, Dominique Johnson, has been unavailable to spring camp through four practices for the Hogs in 2022. Little has changed, though, with Arkansas’ attack. The return of sophomores Rocket Sanders and AJ Green, and the introduction of a pair of freshmen, has made spring ball feel like old times.

Sanders was the No. 2 back behind Johnson at the end of last season and was one of the four players who had more than 500 yards on the ground last year. With Johnson being absent, Sanders has slotted up to get first-team reps for a bulk of camp so far.

“Being a one, I feel like is a big role,” Sanders said. “I feel like just that right there made me want to be a leader. Not just for the running back room, but everybody else as well.”

Green was not one of the four players to reach that 500-yard threshold. Instead, he was a change-of-pace guy, perhaps the fastest player in the unit. He’s up to 210-215 pounds in camp, though, in hopes of being able to carry a larger workload if needed.

And Arkansas’ two freshmen, Rashod Dubinion and James Jointer, came from Georgia and Arkansas high schools early to get a leg up. Jointer is a bigger back while Dubinion is more on the quick-and-fast side.

Combined with quarterback KJ Jefferson, who led the team with 664 yards rushing and six scores last year, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Razorbacks had another four players break the 500-yard mark again in 2022.

“We have a lot of weapons in that room, right now,” Green said. “They’re all coming in ready to learn. They’re going fast and not scared of anything.”

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Beyond the box score: Why Arkansas beat Penn State in Outback Bowl

Arkansas used a massive running game, a stout defense and KJ Jefferson to dispatch Penn State in the Outback Bowl.

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman wasn’t going to change horses midstream. He was going to dance with the girl he brought. He was, well, all of those other cliches.

The Razorbacks stuck to what they did best all throughout the 2021 season and made Penn State pay in the Outback Bowl, 24-10.

Quarterback KJ Jefferson, like he was all season long, was the biggest reason why. But he was hardly alone. Wide receivers like Tyson Morris and De’Vion Warren stepped up in their final games as Razorbacks players in the stead of Treylon Burks. Arkansas’ running back balance, which had all year long, continued in dominant fashion. And the Hogs defense made Penn State one-dimensional and took advantage late.

It all added up to one of the most complete games of Arkansas’ season and a nearly perfect capper to Arkansas’ best season in a decade.

Mission Accomplished: Arkansas beats Penn State in Outback Bowl

Arkansas did what it did best all year in dispatching Penn State on New Year’s Day’s Outback Bowl.

No letdowns. No disappointments. No mercy.

Arkansas’ turnaround is complete and official. The Razorbacks’ 24-10 victory over Penn State on Saturday, New Year’s Day, in the Outback Bowl was the exclamation point to a 9-4 season and laid to rest memories of the last five seasons.

Coach Sam Pittman, in his second year at the helm, led Arkansas to a nine-win season for just fourth time in the last 18 years. The bowl win was Arkansas’ first since beating Kansas State in the 2016 Liberty Bowl at the end of the 2015 season.

The man on the field who led it was the one expected. Quarterback KJ Jefferson ran for 110 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries and completed 14 of 19 passes for 90 yards.

Jefferson was in his first year as starter. For the season he ran for 664 yards and six scores. He threw for 2,668 yards with 21 touchdowns and just four interceptions. Jefferson is likely to be a preseason All-SEC pick going into 2022.

He was helped Saturday by his stable of runners. Dominique Johnson ran for 85 yards on 11 carries. Rocket Sanders had 79 yards and two scores on 13 carries. And back-up quarterback Malik Hornsby, who entered for a short series when Jefferson was banged up after a big ran, had a 34-yard run that set up Sanders’ second touchdown of the game in the third quarter.

Trailing by 14 points in the fourth quarter, Penn State had an opportunity to make it a one-score game with the ball on the Arkansas 10 and a first down. But Sean Clifford’s pass to the back right corner of the end zone was intercepted by Joe Foucha.

Sanders scored the game’s first touchdown with a run at the end of the first quarter. Penn State countered with a touchdown and field goal in the second before Jefferson went in from eight yards in the third to put Arkansas ahead for good.

The win was Arkansas’ first on New Year’s Day since beating Texas in the 2000 Cotton Bowl.

WATCH: Arkansas goes up by two scores on Penn State in Outback Bowl

Rocket Sanders’ second touchdown of the game put Arkansas ahead of Penn State by two scores in Outback Bowl.

Rocket Sanders ran for his second touchdown of the game with 2:08 left in the third quarter to lift Arkansas ahead of Penn State, 24-10, in the Outback Bowl.

Sanders’ one-yard touchdown run was the capper of a 4-play, 79-yard drive that took 1:38. And like the drive that came before it when quarterback KJ Jefferson scored from eight yards, Arkansas didn’t throw a pass on the series.

Jefferson started the drive by going 34 yards on the ground up the middle. He came down hard on the sideline, though, and sat for the rest of the drive. Sanders ran for 12 on the next play, then back-up quarterback Malik Hornsby went around the left side for 32 yards to set up Sanders’ second score.

Arkansas has run for 281 yards on 43 carries through Sanders’ third-quarter touchdown. Jefferson leads individually with 108 yards.

WATCH: Rocket Sanders puts Arkansas on board first at Outback Bowl

Arkansas’ running game is dominating Penn State early in the Outback Bowl.

With no time left in the first quarter, Arkansas running back Rocket Sanders was celebrating.

His three-yard touchdown run as time expired was the first touchdown in the Razorbacks’ Outback Bowl against Penn State.

Arkansas had a chance at points a couple plays earlier when it was fourth down from the Penn State 6. But instead of attempting a field goal, coach Sam Pittman elected to go-for-it. Sanders went three yards to the left on 4th-and-2.

One play later, he was into the end zone, capping a 12-play, 61-yard drive that took 5:42 off the clock.

Sanders had five carries for 30 yards and the score in the first quarter. Quarterback KJ Jefferson had another 19 yards on six carries and running back Dominique Johnson added 37 on five as Arkansas dominated on the ground in the opening 15 minutes.

Arkansas running game ready to explode against Penn State

Arkansas wants to run all over a Penn State defense lacking four starters.

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The difference between confident and cocky is all about the delivery. Arkansas’ running game has a reason to be either.

For now, the Hogs are confident. And why not. Arkansas has the No. 12 rushing attack in the nation after averaging more than 217 yards a game on the ground during the regular season.

Combine that with Penn State’s loss of four defensive starters because of opt-outs and starting Hogs running back Dominique Johnson thinks he and his mates have a big opportunity in the Outback Bowl against the Nittany Lions on New Year’s Day.

“I’m very confident coming into this game, knowing that I have the other backs behind me,” he said. “I feel like we’re going to come in and dominate this game just because of all the talent we have in that room.”

Anyone who may try to glean how good the Razorbacks are by simply looking at individual totals are going to be misled. Trelon Smith, the starter for about three-quarters of the season, leads the team with 592 yards. It’s the lowest individual total for a team leader since Broderick Green ran for 443 yards in 2009.

But look closer and it makes more sense. Just behind Smith is quarterback KJ Jefferson with 554 yards. Rocket Sanders has 499. Johnson has 498. Even freshman AJ Green chipped in 201 yards. Arkansas has the sort of balance few teams in college football can manage.

“We all run the ball a different way, all different styles,” Johnson said. “I don’t think as a defense you can prepare for all the different run styles we bring to the table, so I feel that’s a plus for us.”

Two Razorbacks land on All-SEC Freshman team

Kicker Cam Little and running back Rocket Sanders were named among the SEC’s best freshmen Thursday.

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Rocket Sanders established his presence as the top freshman skill player on the Arkansas roster almost immediately. Cam Little ended the 2021 season as not only the best freshman kicker in the SEC, but perhaps the nation.

As such, the two were named to the All-SEC Freshman team on Thursday.

Sanders was the No. 2 Arkansas running back all season, finishing third on the team yards rushing with 499 yards. He ran the ball 101 times and had three touchdowns on the ground, as well.

The Florida native was recruited to Arkansas as a wide receiver and showed clear skill catching the ball. His 11 receptions led all Arkansas backs and they went for 109 yards and a touchdown.

Little was the Razorbacks’ No. 1 kicker since arriving in the spring. He was 19 of 23 on field goals this season. The 19 makes were tied for the most by any Arkansas kicker since Zach Hocker made 21 in 2011.

Only one freshman kicker in FBS, Kent State’s Andrew Glass, made more field goals (20).

Bye-bye, kitty: Arkansas zaps Missouri to snap five-game skid

Arkansas put its foot on the gas and blasted Missouri on Friday, 34-17.

It was only a matter of time before Arkansas showed its true self against Missouri on Friday. By the time the Tigers knew what hit them, the Battle Line Rivalry was all but done.

Arkansas beat Missouri, 34-17, on a chilly day-after-Thanksgiving from Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium to snap a five-game losing streak to the Tigers and keep the Battle Line Trophy in the Boston Mountains.

The Razorbacks blew the game open in the second half, scoring on four consecutive drives thanks in large part to the big play. Arkansas had six plays go for more than 30 yards to Missouri’s zero. In fact, the Tigers won the battle of time-of-possession, had more first downs and ran 23 more plays.

But Treylon Burks, De’Vion Warren and KJ Jefferson had too much gas.

Jefferson threw for 262 yards on 15-of-19 passing and found Treylon Burks for his lone touchdown pass of the game. Burks finished with seven catches for 129 yards and became Arkansas’ fourth receiver in school history to break the 1,000-yard mark in a single season. 

Trelon Smith started the scoring in the second half, going in from four yards. Burks’ 52-yard touchdown catch followed. And after a Missouri field goal, Arkansas countered with one of its own and a final rushing touchdown by Rocket Sanders, who had two in the game.

Arkansas now awaits its bowl destination. The Razorbacks (8-4) finished with their best regular-season record since 2011 and are likely to play in one of the SEC’s upper-tier bowls in Florida.