TJ Metcalf making most of opportunity

FAYETTEVILLE — Sophomore safety TJ Metcalf was given a chance to start in preseason and he has absolutely made the most of it.

Metcalf is tied with linebacker Xavian Sorey Jr. for the lead in tackles with 25. He leads the squad with three interceptions and has two pass breakups as well as a forced fumble. He has 17 solo tackles. In Saturday’s 24-14 win over Auburn, Metcalf had two interceptions, forced a fumble, broke up a pair of passes and had four tackles, all solo.

Metcalf signed with the Razorbacks out of Birmingham (Ala.) Pinson Valley High School in the Class of 2023. As a true freshman last season he had 15 tackles, nine solo, and recovered a fumble in 12 games. In Saturday’s 24-14 win over Auburn, Metcalf had two interceptions, forced a fumble, broke up a pair of passes and had four tackles, all solo.

“Oh man, it was an amazing feeling,” Metcalf said. “Coach T-Will (Travis Williams) let us talk in front of the defense on Friday night. Just telling them what we thought about the game, about dominating the game. He let some of the starters talk in front of the defense. My thing was just coming back home. Auburn didn’t offer me out of high school, so it was kind of personal for me to come in here and get the win.”

A smiling Metcalf answered a reporter’s question about why Auburn didn’t offer him.

“I don’t know what they were thinking,” Metcalf said.

Sam Pittman walked by as Metcalf was answering the question and said ‘he’s bad to the bone.’ Pittman had addressed Metcalf’s game earlier in the press conference.

“Well, he practices hard, him and his brother,” Metcalf said. “They come from very strong parent athletic backgrounds, as you well know. He’s just a great kid and he wants to be good. I’m just so happy that things are going his way. I guess that’s three picks in two games now. He works hard, he’s a very good tackler. Physical guy, and he’s earned the respect more and more from his teammates. I know we damn sure believe in him.”

Wide receiver Isaiah Sategna had a big game as well. He caught three passes for 85 yards and a 58-yard touchdown. But it was Metcalf he wanted to praise after the game.

“For him to just come back home and have the game that he had,” Sategna said. “Kudos to him. He’s playing his best ball right now and he’s balling out.”

Ja’Quinden Jackson rushed 22 times for 75 yards and two touchdowns. He knew the plays by Metcalf helped set the offense up with better field position.

“Those plays right there changed the game for offense,” Jackson said. “One or two of those, we didn’t execute on the drives but those plays were some huge plays in momentum. Shoutout to my boy TJ.”

Left tackle Fernando Carmona praised Metcalf as well along with the entire defense.

“Man, the defense played amazing,” Carmona said. “He played tremendous. I kind of knew this was coming from the summer. I just saw the way he worked. I tried to be the first one there and him and his brother were already in the indoor doing some type of drills. They were always working, and I think it showed today, man. Two picks and a forced fumble. Hard work really does pay off, and he worked his tail off all offseason and it’s starting to show and people are starting to see.”

Auburn came into Razorback Stadium last season and blasted the Hogs 48-10. Metcalf said the team wanted to get that taste out of their mouths.

“You know, we just talked about it, and we weren’t going to have that feeling in our mouth anymore,” Metcalf said. “We came in with a chip on our shoulder. We all had the right mindset, after the game, we were going to go in the locker room and celebrate, and that’s what we did.”

Many felt when Metcalf intercepted Hank Brown that caused the young quarterback to be off for rest of time he played.

“You know, they had a guy that had his first career start last week,” Metcalf said. “We just wanted to put pressure on him. Make him play quarterback. If anybody was going to beat us on the field, it had to be him. We were going to shut everybody else down. We had to make him play, and you know, we just did what we had to do.”

Metcalf was asked if he had ever had a game like the one Saturday?

“No, I don’t think I ever had two picks in one game,” Metcalf said. “I did in a scrimmage, a fall camp scrimmage. Every other game, it’s been either one or the other.”

Metcalf did it Saturday with a lot of family and friends in the stands. He was able to show out in front of them and was pleased about that.

“I had about 10, 15 maybe 20, something like that,” Metcalf said. “It was just amazing, them being able to come support me and my brother. I know that’s big for my family. Even last year when we played Alabama and Ole Miss, I had the same amount of people come.”

Metcalf wasn’t the only one who returned with ties to the state of Alabama. Williams played at Auburn from 2001-05. He also has coached at Auburn. He was a graduate assistant in 2009-11. He was back at Auburn in 2014-20 coaching in various roles including Co-defensive coordinator and linebackers in 2019-20.

“Stuff like that with coach,” Metcalf said. “We love our coach, so we had to come in here and make a statement. We just wanted to go in there and get the win for him. So I know it means a lot to him, him just having a baby girl and him coming back to his alma mater where he played at, I know he wanted to come in here and get this win. So we all just came together like, ‘We gotta do this for him,’ and that’s what we did.”

It was loud at Jordan-Hare on Saturday, but that wasn’t anything that bothered Metcalf.

“Yeah, I knew it was going to be loud, just coming on visits here,” Metcalf said. “Every time I came, it was always loud in the stadium. We didn’t let it beat us. We just embraced the noise.”

Metcalf’s father, Tarrus, played football at Ole Miss. His cousin wide receiver DK Metcalf was a standout at Ole Miss and now with the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL. His brother, Tevis, is a freshman defensive back with the Hogs.

Metcalf and the Razorbacks will take on Texas A&M at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday in Arlington’s AT&T Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN.