FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – There's a highlight clip going around from the most recent Arkansas football scrimmage. Obviously, because it's put out by the football program from a private event, it has to be taken with a grain of salt. The day could have been absolutely terrible with these few plays being the only high points and no one outside of the coaches and players would know.
However, there is one moment late in the clip that is cause for excitement. Not since Joe Adams became the most must-see special teams player in Razorback history has Arkansas had a legitimate game-changing threat in kick return game. A few players did some good things here and there, but, as the announcer makes clear, Adams danced into the NCAA record books as a true unicorn in college football with a special teams play against Tennessee that falls behind only the Stanford-Cal band on the field play and the Auburn "Kick Six" against Alabama for how ridiculously unforgettable it was.
Yet, if an Easter egg tacked toward the end of the highlights offers a true glimpse, kick-off and punt returns may no longer be an opportunity to get an early start on heading to the bathroom or grabbing a drink refill once again. The second Isaiah Sategna, a wide receiver with world-class speed, stepped onto the field as a Razorback, everyone waited for the moment he got his chance to get the ball in space to see what he could do.
Unfortunately, that never happened. Life as a college athlete, even in the shadow of home, is an adjustment. There had been chatter and a few quick glimpses that the adjustment time is finally over, but nothing definitive. It appears the Razorback coaches are now ready to get Sategna the ball in any way that might take advantage of his superior speed in space, and one of the best ways to do so is exactly how Petrino did it with Adams just over a decade ago – on kick returns.
The clip shows Sategna haul in a kickoff in the right front corner of the end zone at the 50 second mark. He weaves his way to the middle of the field to the far hash and back to the right hash by the time he crosses the goal line for a touchdown. Now, there is an edit that probably cut his time slightly, but if the edit is true, he went end zone to end zone in under nine seconds in pads through traffic.
The best time that could be found from his high school days was 10.8 in the 100m dash. Break that down into yards, and he's knocking out 100 yards in roughly 9.8 seconds. Sategna is supposedly faster now, but not that much faster.
That still doesn't take away from what happened. It may be edited proof, but it's still proof that if Sategna can field the ball cleanly, he's always going to be a threat to take it to the house. There have probably been a few punt or kick-off returns since Adams made it a common occurrence in the pre-motorcycle years of Razorback history, but they don't immediately spring to mind.
A quick search provides a reminder Bryce Stephens ran one back last season, but that was against Missouri State and there never was the feeling he was truly a threat to break one. It was an important touchdown that prevented the season from totally collapsing early on, but Stephens never rose anywhere close to the level of Adams as a returner.
Everything else from the quick search yielded half the SEC and even North Texas ripping off touchdown returns against Arkansas instead of giving them up. For a program that seems hellbent on losing close games, getting a big return, much less one for a touchdown, can make all the difference in the world for the Razorbacks.
With defensive backs getting toasted on several highlights and Pittman yelling in disgust at the offense about it being the worst he's seen all camp just a few days ago, it looks like special teams might be the one ray of hope for consistency. From Cam Little's increased length on field goals, to Max Fletcher finally getting comfortable as a punter, and now Sategna showing flashes he can do something electric, perhaps Scott Fountain finally has the group living up to their name.
The kicking game just might be the one weapon for the Razorbacks that turns out to be truly special this season.
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