By Nate Allen
Special to the News-Times
FAYETTEVILLE - Gary Cross and Tobias Enlow didn’t start this August preseason mentioned much among Arkansas’ receivers, but bear prominence now.
The two during Arkansas’ closed practices periodically have run first-team in the mostly three-receivers spread offense sets of new coach Chad Morris, Arkansas junior first-team receiver La’Michael Pettway confirmed.
“It varies,” Pettway said after Wednesday’s practice of a six-man first receivers group he says includes seniors Jared Cornelius, Jonathan Nance, himself, sophomore De’Vion Warren and Cross and Enlow.
Now a senior, Fordyce native Cross transferred to Arkansas last year from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College.
He lettered playing 10 games mostly on special teams with one tackle and three kick returns and caught one pass.
A North Little Rock High grad, Enlow, now a third-year sophomore, has no stats for his two UA years. He redshirted in 2016 and practiced scout team again in 2017.
Pettway said when he missed a recent practice with an injured groin muscle that Enlow capitalized and worked into the rotation.
“Tobias stepped up and made a lot of plays and as it paid off for him in the (last Saturday’s) scrimmage,” Pettway said. “He stepped up and Gary stepped up. When their number is called, they both perform.”
Cross, among the fastest Razorbacks, now seems up to speed mentally.
He arrived from Hutchinson only at the August preseason start of former coach Bret Bielema’s final campaign in 2017, then had to adjust last spring to Morris’ offense.
“I tell you one thing, Gary Cross is fast,” offensive coordinator Joe Craddock said after last Saturday’s scrimmage. “He’s gotten by some DBs in fall camp thus far. Actually learning the plays was kind of his biggest thing in the spring. He just didn’t know what to do. But man, he’s really come a long way. Tobias is doing a great job as well. Two really good guys that are competing for a job.”
Cross, media available after Wednesday’s closed practice, said it makes it enormous knowing where his speed is supposed to take him as opposed to running unfamiliar routes last spring.
“I really got into my playbook, learned what the offense is doing,” Cross said.
“I’ve been playing fast and coach has seen it. That’s how I’ve been running with the ones.”
Third-year sophomore Cole Kelley, still in an apparent dead-heat competition with fourth-year junior Ty Storey of Charleston for the starting quarterback job, was asked about Cross and Enlow after Wednesday’s practice.
“Tobias has been going with the ones a lot,” Kelley said. “Gary Cross is a freak athlete, man. His testing numbers are like something I’ve never really seen. And now he’s starting to put it together with how he plays. He’s having a great camp.”
Pettway, who did scrimmage last week after missing time with the groin injury and has practiced all this week, was asked about the progress of fifth-year senior Cornelius, who ranked among Arkansas’ best receivers in 2015 and 2016 and was granted a hardship season for 2018 after missing last season’s final eight games with a torn Achilles that also prevented him from contact practices last spring.
“When we go one and one, man, J-Red looks good,” Pettway said. “I feel like he’s almost 100 percent now. He’s slimmed down and he’s running real good. He looks like the old J-Red to me.”
Wednesday’s practice, coming off last Saturday’s scrimmage and a hard practice Monday and hard practice in Tuesday’s rain, was tapered to no contact with another contact session scheduled today leading into Saturday’s scrimmage.
“Today is more of a mental day,” Arkansas senior starting right offensive guard Johnny Gibson of Dumas said. “We call it ‘Class on the Grass.’ We come out here and walk through some plays, go through different situations and then we go through our recovery, like yoga and stuff.”
The offensive line, because of injuries relying heavily so far on true freshmen, Noah Gatlin and Silas Robinson as backups, as well as redshirt freshmen Kirby Adcock, Dalton Wagner and Shane Clenin variously as first or second-teamers along with moving junior Austin Capps of Star City from defensive tackle to offensive guard last week, needs especially to need all the reps, mentally and physically, it can get.
Wagner, playing both right and left tackle this preseason, didn’t practice Wednesday because of an undisclosed injury, but starting senior right tackle Brian Wallace returned after a three-practice injury absence.
Reserve guard Jalen Merrick (reported headaches) continues to be withheld.
Senior tight end Jeremy Patton, injuring an ankle during Monday’s practice, already is out of his walking boot and apparently aiming to return soon.
If anybody could capture Frank Broyles’ larger than life in 14 minutes of film, producers Larry Foley, Jim Borden and Kevin Trainor could and did.
Their well written, well photographed documentary available for free on arkansasrazorbacks.com and narrated by Scott Bull, Broyles’ last Southwest Conference championship quarterback, highlights the 50 years that Broyles was either the UA’s athletic director, head football coach or both.
Broyles passed away at 92, on Aug. 14, 2017.