FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema pointed out an occurrence from this summer that he said typified the leadership his senior class is providing in 2016.
Bielema told the story at the Little Rock Touchdown Club last week.
"We had a couple of freshmen come in that thought they were big-time," he said. "They loved to hear the recruiting gossip a little too much and needed to be derecruited a little bit.
"Usually that falls on my shoulders. It didn't even get to my plate. Our seniors held a meeting their second Thursday on campus and told them the expectations that we have and the repercussions if you don't follow. I think that was monumental."
Blankety-blank
Speaking at the Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club last week, Bret Bielema related what he called perhaps the strongest teaching moment of his career.
"Going into my 11th year, I've had one personal foul against me," Bielema said in response to a question about a new NCAA rule, which calls for a coach to be disqualified if he gets two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in a game.
"It came late in the game ... when I was very young and immature," he said. "I basically asked the official what he blankety-blank saw. He didn't agree with my blankety-blank opinion and he threw the blankety-blank flag. ... More than anything, it was a teaching moment for my players that I wasn't very proud of."
Grad patches
Bret Bielema said eight Razorbacks will be participating in an initiative this season in which graduates will wear a patch on their game-day uniforms.
The eight Arkansas graduates who will wear the patch are Jared Collins, Keon Hatcher, Cody Hollister, Adam McFain, Jeremy Sprinkle, Kody Walker, JaMichael Winston and Deatrich Wise. Additionally, transfer offensive lineman Jake Raulerson, a Texas graduate, can wear the patch.
Birthday boys
Sophomore tailback Rawleigh Williams celebrated his 20th birthday on Sunday. His mother Kim Williams pointed out that fact on her Twitter account, writing "I could not be more proud of who you are today & I am exited to see good God's plan unfold. Jer. 29:11."
Other Razorbacks with recent birthdays: fullback Chris Jones, 22, on Friday, defensive end JaMichael Winston, 23, last Wednesday, quarterback Austin Allen, 22, a week ago Sunday, defensive lineman Austin Capps, 19, a week ago Sunday, and lineman Hjalte Froholdt, 20, on Aug. 20. Other August birthdays: Jeremy Sprinkle (22 on Aug. 10), Ryder Lucas (21 on Aug. 9) and Dominique Reed (23 on Aug. 1).
Flood damage
Louisiana Tech Coach Skip Holtz said quite a few of his players had been affected by flooding in southern Louisiana around Baton Rouge.
"We've had some whose family have lost their homes, and lost everything," Holtz said. "Some of them it's their immediate family. For others it's their aunts and uncles and cousins and friends. It's really tragic what's happened and all the people that have lost so much.
"We've had a number of players, who once the waters receded, they were able to go back home and be with their families and go back into their homes and see if there was anything salvageable. ... It's tough for our young men going through that."
Key two weeks
Bret Bielema is enthusiastic about how the NCAA football calendar fell this season. It has allowed for two full weeks of practice after the end of two-a-days, to further integrate the full roster into the original 105 players and to prepare for Louisiana Tech.
The calendar typically yields a little more than a week after the full roster reports.
Bielema told an audience at the Little Rock Touchdown Club last Monday that the two weeks of practice after two-a-days is "a very unique luxury. So we'll have all this week to have an introduction to La. Tech and can still play a lot of Arkansas vs. Arkansas."
-- Bob Holt contributed to this report
Sports on 08/29/2016