FAYETTEVILLE – If losing another heartbreaker last Saturday night and falling to 1-6 on the year wasn’t bad enough, Chad Morris and the Arkansas Razorbacks are also dealing with untimely injuries at key positions.
Starting quarterback Ty Storey was knocked from the 37-33 loss to Ole Miss in Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium and is considered questionable for this weekend’s home game against Tulsa (1-5).
Running back Rakeem Boyd (back) should be good to go against the Golden Hurricane, but fellow running back Devwah Whaley (ankle) will miss an extended amount of time after undergoing surgery, according to Morris at his weekly Monday press conference.
Losing Storey, who has made large strides in recent weeks, is a tremendous blow to an Arkansas offense that lost all of its firepower once the junior left the game last Saturday.
Backup quarterback Cole Kelley started strong in relief, throwing a 39-yard touchdown toss to La’Michael Pettway on his first play from scrimmage, but things went south in a hurry.
Kelley’s game-ending turnover wasn’t pretty, considering he once again threw it straight to a defender with no Razorback within several yards of the ball, so the Hogs may have no choice than true freshmen Connor Noland this week.
“It’s kind of tough,” offensive coordinator Joe Craddock said. “Like I said, we’ve been getting updates on Ty every hour, trying to figure out how he’s feeling and how he’s doing. But, you know, it’s football. It is what it is. You have to have the next guy ready to go.
“I know whoever goes out there, whether it’s Ty, Cole or Connor, I know those guys will be ready to go. They’ll be coached up on the game plan and they’ll execute for us at a high level.”
On a brighter note, getting Boyd back should be a big help to whomever is under center.
Boyd has gone for over 100 rushing yards in his last two SEC outings and continues to provide the big-play ability that Arkansas missed for several weeks to start the season.
“He’s getting some confidence obviously with the long touchdown run, I think it was a 69-yard touchdown run,” Craddock said. “He’s getting some confidence in what we’re doing schematically. He’s learning where to hit those schemed plays, where not to run and where to run.
“He’s learning how to be a physical back. I do know he’s a tough kid and wants to be out there and if the doctors clear him, he’ll be ready to go.”
The Razorbacks are favored against the Golden Hurricane heading into Saturday’s game, but getting back up off the mat once again could prove challenging for Arkansas. The Hogs have lost three games in heartbreaking fashion, and all three losses came as a result of the offense not being able to come away with points late in the game.
“Yeah, I mean I sense frustration from the whole team,” Craddock said. “The coaching staff, players, support staff, you guys, the fans. There’s a lot of frustration. We have to continue to get better.
“It doesn’t matter what you do leading up to the end, if you can’t finish it, it really doesn’t matter… we’ve had the ball in our hand to go win it against A&M. We had the chance to go put it away at Colorado State and then obviously last week against Ole Miss. So that’s one thing we coach a lot, is finish.”
To no surprise, Saturday’s game and the following week’s game against Vanderbilt will begin at 11 a.m.
The Razorbacks and Golden Hurricanes’ contest will be televised by the SEC Network.