ARKANSAS AT NO. 8 ALABAMA

Hogs' hidden gems starting to shine

Arkansas receiver Dominique Reed celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the second quarter of a game against Tennessee on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.
Arkansas receiver Dominique Reed celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the second quarter of a game against Tennessee on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas' players and coaches maintained at the height of the Razorbacks' alarming run of injuries that the roster had hidden gems waiting to be uncovered.

It took a few weeks, but a number of younger players have emerged to help the Hogs find their feet with the teeth of the SEC schedule bearing down, starting with Saturday's game at No. 8 Alabama.

Receivers Jojo Robinson, Dominique Reed and Kendrick Edwards have made contributions in recent games, highlighted by Reed's 33-yard lightning bolt of a touchdown last week at Tennessee.

Tailback Rawleigh Williams struggled to find running room in the season opener, but has improved weekly and had a breakout performance in Arkansas' 24-20 victory at Tennessee when he joined tailback Alex Collins in the 100-yard club, rushing for exactly 100 yards in a supporting role to Collins' 154 yards.

"It definitely helps in my head that I can do this," Williams said. "I want to do more every week."

Freshman Dre Greenlaw was forced into a starting role at linebacker after Josh Williams was injured against Toledo. Greenlaw has overcome some learning-on-the-job mistakes to stand beside fellow Fayetteville High graduate Brooks Ellis as the top two tacklers on the team.

Santos Ramirez, who was thought of as a combination cornerback-safety during his redshirt season in 2014, has broken out as a safety-linebacker for a defense that has started to rediscover its 2014 form.

"The youth in our program continues to make good strides," Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said Monday.

Perhaps no other team among the Power 5 conferences has been hit as hard by injuries at its skill positions as the Razorbacks, starting with the loss of tailback Jonathan Williams to a torn ligament in his foot Aug. 15.

Collins has picked up the slack, ranking No. 8 nationally with 656 rushing yards, to go with the emergence of Rawleigh Williams.

Replacing senior Keon Hatcher (13-198-2), junior Cody Hollister (4-65) and sophomore Jared Cornelius (7-150-1), who were all lost for extended periods in the span of eight days from Sept. 12-19, has been a work in progress.

Junior Drew Morgan, who had 10 career catches entering the season, caught 17 passes for 310 yards in the first three games as the lead wideout since Hatcher's injury against Toledo.

Reed caught a short pass over the left side as quarterback Brandon Allen's third option last week and shot through the Tennessee secondary for the final 25 yards of a game-tying touchdown in the second quarter. The scoring play was Reed's third catch of the year.

"He ran the right route, the right depth and sat in the hole, and Brandon did a great job of finding him," offensive coordinator Dan Enos said.

"On the touchdown play, you could see his speed and the way he can separate from people," tight end Hunter Henry said. "It's really elite. We see it every single day in practice, but I think that touchdown was the first time fans and people from the outside world really saw what he could do."

Receivers coach Michael Smith said Reed's catch and run was exceptional.

Robinson did not record a catch at Tennessee, but the redshirt freshman has posted five catches for 38 yards since taking over as a starter in the third week.

Edwards was heading for a redshirt season before injuries forced him into action. The 6-5 sophomore has three catches for 45 yards.

Bielema said Edwards, Reed and Robinson should be on the verge of bigger things.

"All three of those guys we would like to get more and more involved, but they have to be better in practice," Bielema said. "They had to be more disciplined about where they are on the routes.

"A lot of times we have combination routes or route concepts that play off one another, and if you're not running the right route and it screws up the read for the quarterback, as a quarterback sometimes you look the other direction."

Smith echoed those thoughts while adding that Reed "practiced his tail off" on Tuesday.

"What I'm trying to explain to him and Kendrick, I put them both in the same boat right now, is the details of the position," Smith said. "After watching the film, I saw a lot of stuff that people don't see. He freestyled a lot.

"The things they have to do is not only gain trust from us as coaches, but they have to gain B.A.'s trust. Once B.A. feels comfortable with them, I think you'll see them get more balls thrown their way."

Greenlaw, a former safety, ranks second on the team with 29 tackles, including a team-high 10 at Tennessee. He had a receiver get behind him for a key 63-yard pickup late against Texas A&M, but he's made steady improvements.

"He'll be the first to tell you that it's far from perfect, but he plays with great effort and he's a good tackler, and those guys usually succeed in our defense," defensive coordinator Robb Smith said. "He played very well for us the other night."

Ramirez, known for his hard hitting, gave up the corner to Tennessee's Jaylen Hurd on a play in the first half but recovered to make the tackle. Ramirez is expected to form the core of Arkansas' defense in the coming years.

"The common denominator between those guys I think is they're really good tacklers," Smith said. "They can get quality athletes down in space. ... That's a nice feather to have in your cap, and both of those guys can do that at a high level."

Sports on 10/07/2015

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