Arkansas Razorbacks cornerback Henre Toliver has been returning punts in practice since he got to Fayetteville in the fall of 2014, but he's never done it in a game.
That is likely to change tonight when the Razorbacks open the season against Florida A&M at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Receiver Jared Cornelius, the Razorbacks' main punt returner the previous two seasons, is questionable after missing most of camp with a tight back. Even if Cornelius plays, it's unlikely he'll return punts.
Razorbacks Coach Bret Bielema said the team has been game-planning with Toliver as punt returner the past two weeks.
"He's very sure-handed, very explosive," Bielema said. "He's got a knack for it."
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville receivers coach Michael Smith, who coaches the returners, said he's confident in Toliver.
"He did a good job in high school, and he's always been back there working in practice," Smith said. "We just never had to use him because of Jared. I'm anxious to see him go out there and do it. I think Coach B has a good scheme dialed up this week, and hopefully we can get him in the end zone."
Cornelius got in the end zone on punt returns each of the past two seasons in Little Rock games -- against Toledo in 2015 and Alcorn State last season -- but both touchdowns were called back because of penalties.
Cornelius' 58-yard return against Toledo was nullified by a holding call against Eric Hawkins. Last season, Randy Ramsey was called for blocking in the back to wipe out Cornelius' 65-yard return.
Joe Adams is the last Razorback to return a punt for a touchdown when he went 51 yards against Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl to cap the 2011 season.
"It's obviously the finer points," Bielema said of avoiding touchdown-killing penalties on special teams. "Both of them came towards the end of the return and were plays that really didn't need to happen.
"They were situations where maybe a kid uses a poor technique. A lot of times on punt return you're in space blocking a player and you feel him disengage from you and you have a human tendency to try to latch or grab on. I think that caught us a little bit.
"We've definitely talked about it. It's about how 10 guys block and one man runs, but we're going to do everything we can to make it successful."
Toliver said he's ready to return punts after having so much practice doing it.
"I guess it's just my time now to do it in games now," he said. "I'm excited about it. I think I can be elusive. I can catch the ball and get to the wall."
Kickoff returns also have been a struggle for Arkansas since Korliss Marshall was dismissed from the team after the 2014 season.
The Razorbacks ranked No. 5 nationally with a 25.7-yard average on kickoff returns in 2014, when Marshall had 24 for 617 yards -- including a 97-yard touchdown against Northern Illinois -- despite being limited to six games because of disciplinary suspensions.
Arkansas was 78th in kickoff returns in 2015 (a 20.8-yard average on 38 returns) and fell to 111th last season (18.6-yard average on 37 returns).
"We will be better than what we were last year," said running backs coach Reggie Mitchell, who coordinates the kickoff return team. "We've got some guys that are a little bit more athletic up front that will be able to run back and make the blocks ... and then we've got some pretty good returners."
The top-two deep returners are receivers Deon Stewart and Jonathan Nance. Stewart, a redshirt sophomore, led the Razorbacks with a 20.0-yard average on 21 kickoff returns last season.
"Seeing we were so low in the rankings, I think coach Mitchell has stepped up and gotten everything right," Stewart said. "I'm excited to see what's going to happen this year."
Mitchell said some of the key blockers on the kickoff return team include defensive backs Santos Ramirez, Kevin Richardson, Reid Miller and Ryder Lucas, and receiver LaMichael Pettway.
"We've obviously adjusted our schemes a little bit," Bielema said. "I think with better personnel, doing a better job of coaching, we'll hopefully get better results."
Sports on 08/31/2017