Arkansas football report: Razorbacks name captains, Heisman winner on call

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas coach Sam Pittman announced the team captains for Saturday’s 6 p.m. game against LSU and one of them, defensive end Landon Jackson, felt like a slam dunk.

Jackson, an LSU transfer after the 2021 season, is a preseason All-SEC selection.

The other three captains are Andreas Paaske, safety Larry Worth and long snapper Ashton Ngo.

“Man, he made a lot of plays Saturday night,” Pittman said of Worth, who had seven tackles and one assist during a 19-14 win over No. 4 Tennessee on Oct. 5.

Paaske will return after missing three games with concussion protocols, and Pittman said his parents, Lars and Gitte Paaske, will fly from Denmark for the game.

Weather report

The forecast for Saturday calls for a sunny day with a high of 76 degrees by mid-day, dropping to an overnight low around 54 degrees. The sun will set at 18:26, about half an hour after the start. Winds are expected to be out of the south at 10 to 15 mph.

Fayetteville had its first frost of the season overnight Tuesday, with temperatures dropping to 31 degrees.

Tower in the city

Former Miami quarterback and 1992 Heisman Trophy winner Gino Torretta will be on the call for LSU’s game at Arkansas this weekend along with local broadcaster Brett Dolan on the Touchdown Radio Network.

A 2010 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, Torretta was a member of the Hurricanes’ 1989 and 1991 national championship teams.

Torretta threw the longest pass in Miami football history against Arkansas, a 99-yard strike to Horace Copeland in the first quarter of the Hurricanes’ 31-3 season-opening win at War Memorial Stadium on August 31, 1991.

Speaking on the Hawgs Sports Network Daily Podcast with Matt Jones on Wednesday, Torretta was asked if he knew his name was in the Arkansas record books.

“It should be,” Torretta said. “I threw a 99-yard touchdown pass, so nobody has broken that record. That was my first start my freshman year.”

Torretta said coach Dennis Erickson ran a play-action pass with all receivers running deep routes, and the 6-3 Copeland, who ran a 4.31 40-yard dash, was a natural target .

“I ran the fake and I looked up and … out of the corner of my eye I said, ‘Wow, the DB passed,”’ Torretta said. “I knew it was a single safety, and I said, ‘D ‘okay, no one takes it.’ I threw it and it lit up when I threw it. He knew no one was catching him. He could have run a couple of hundred yards, like Forest Gump. It was a good memory.”

The 99-yard drive was ranked No. 39 on a list of the top 100 plays in school history by SB Nation in 2019.

Speaking of the current Razorbacks, Torretta said, “If they play clean, they can play with anybody in the country.”

JJ for 6

Arkansas running back Ja’Quinden Jackson has 566 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns to rank among the nation’s leaders in both categories. The transfer from Utah has at least 1 rushing touchdown in all 6 games and multiple rushing scores in 3 games.

Jackson is the first Arkansas running back to record rushing touchdowns in six straight games since Knile Davis did it in 2010 under coach Bobby Petrino, who is now the Hogs’ first-year offensive coordinator.

Davis had 11 touchdowns from Week 7 through Week 12, starting with 3 in a 38-24 win over Ole Miss on Oct. 23 and ending with one in a 31-23 win over No. 6 LSU that send the Hogs to the Bowl. One-time Championship Series shuffle.

First year expansion

Pittman mentioned two true freshmen who have already played more than four games this season whose roles have a chance to expand as the second half of the schedule progresses.

“Charlie Collins,” Pittman said, referring to defensive end Mills. “I think he will come and I think he can help us.

“If I’m thinking at the top, Brad Shaw might be another one who has played that we think can move into a bigger role as well.”

Shaw, a 6-1, 235-pounder from Hoover, Ala., in his third year at linebacker, has two tackles: a 13-yard sack in the season opener and the stop on a failed punt at Auburn .

Collins, a 6-5, 261-pounder, has one tackle on the season.

Pork ties

LSU’s coaching staff features a pair of former Arkansas assistants.

Brad Davis, a Baton Rouge native and former Pittman protégé, is in his fourth year manning the offensive line.

Kevin Peoples, a Carroll (Mont.) College graduate like Petrino, was on the Arkansas staff from 2010 to 2012. He is the Tigers’ freshman edge rushers coach.

Door 18

Linebacker Greg Penn and running back Josh Williams, both seniors, are wearing LSU’s honorary No. 18 jersey this season. The tradition began with quarterback Matt Mauck, who came to LSU after playing professional baseball and led the Tigers to the 2003 BCS national championship.

Williams, a two-time walk-on from LSU, has 1,212 career rushing yards with 14 touchdowns on 247 carries.

Penn is second on the team with 47 tackles after racking up 89 stops, 6.5 tackles for loss and 4 sacks last year.