FAYETTEVILLE -- There was music, dancing and cheering in the locker room for the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday after a 23-0 victory against Tulsa snapped their six-game losing streak.
The vibe got even better for the Hogs on Sunday when quarterback Ty Storey cleared concussion protocols and was reinstalled as the starter for Saturday's 11 a.m. game against Vanderbilt.
"He's excited to be back and ready to go," Coach Chad Morris said at his weekly news conference Monday.
The Razorbacks got a solid first start out of true freshman quarterback Connor Noland, and another good spot performance from sophomore Cole Kelley to rack up two touchdowns and three field goals against the Golden Hurricane. Noland, who completed 10 of 16 passes for 124 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and Kelley each finished off a touchdown drive.
But Storey had been advancing at a significant rate prior to his head injury in the fourth quarter against Ole Miss.
"When you play quarterback and your team doesn't punt when you're in there, I think that's a good thing," said offensive coordinator Joe Craddock, referring to Storey's first seven series against Ole Miss. "He's doing good. He tried everything he could do last week. He prepared himself as if he was going to get the nod.
"It's just one of those deals that in this day and age, you've got to clear protocol before you can go, and he just couldn't clear the protocol. It was disappointing ... for him."
The injury report was not all good for the Hogs coming off their 19th consecutive victory over Tulsa, and even downright murky in spots such as offensive line, cornerback and defensive tackle.
Tailback T.J. Hammonds, who has been slowed for several weeks, underwent surgery on a knee and is expected to take a redshirt year after appearing in only the first four games.
Left tackle Colton Jackson, who woke up with back spasms on game day, will be listed as probable this week. Right guard Johnny Gibson, who has a troublesome knee, is day to day for the third consecutive week.
Morris said Jackson's spasms were higher up on his back from where he had surgery in July.
Gibson gave way to Austin Capps for 17 snaps against Tulsa after tweaking the knee.
"He's day to day right now ... but he should he fine," Morris said about Gibson. "We anticipate him being back Saturday."
The already thin cornerback spot could be missing two players this week. Montaric Brown, who took the first seven defensive snaps while Ryan Pulley sat for disciplinary reasons, is battling a groin injury and is considered day to day. Nate Dalton -- a backup to Pulley, Jarques McClellion, Brown and Britto Tutt -- will not participate this week, Morris said, after drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for pushing the helmet of Tulsa punt returner Jarion Anderson in a dead-ball situation.
"He won't be around this week," Morris said. "We've got a standard, and I'm not going to deviate."
McClellion stayed down for a few moments after a hard fall at the end of Tulsa's 65-yard pass play to Keylon Stokes on Saturday, and he's day to day as well, Morris said.
Team sack leader Armon Watts, who notched his fifth sack while stripping the ball from Tulsa quarterback Seth Boomer in the third quarter, suffered a quad injury but is expected to be ready to face the Commodores, Morris said.
Defensive tackle Briston Guidry returned after a two-game layoff from arthroscopic knee surgery and was dinged up after posting one of the team's six sacks.
Receiver Jared Cornelius came out of the Tulsa game with an ankle injury that will be re-evaluated during the week.
The Razorbacks will face Vanderbilt for the first time since 2011 on Saturday. The six-year gap is the longest for Arkansas between games for any SEC opponent since joining the SEC in 1992, and it will be matched next year when the Razorbacks play Kentucky for the first time since 2012.
Sports on 10/23/2018