Wide receivers have good day for Hogs

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ wide receivers have a good day on Saturday during the Red-White game.

Tyrone Broden caught five passes for 60 yards including one touchdown. Broden scored on a 10-yard strike from Taylen Green. Broden had missed a lot of time recently dealing with a family issue. Sam Pittman was asked when Broden had returned?

“Broden has been back,” Pittman said. “He was there yesterday for the walk-through and then today. He wanted to play and he’s got reasons why for some people in his family that he wanted to play for. And I thought it was really cool that he went out and had a good day.”

Pittman also talked about what it said about Broden he could miss some time and then go out and play like he never missed a thing.

“I think between Ronnie [Fouch], Broden and Bobby [Petrino], I think they have all really gotten confidence built into Tyrone,” Pittman said. “He’s always been athletic, but I don’t know if he’s always thought he was a great receiver. I. think some of the catches he made today proves that we need him. A lot of people would want him. But it says a lot about his maturity. Of course, he’s an older kid. But I think he had a reason and a purpose to go out there today and play well.”

True freshman CJ Brown also put on a show. He caught five passes for 108 yards and a 75-yard touchdown.

“That was so neat to see,” Pittman said. “Obviously he’s from Bentonville, but it was really neat to see his speed when he caught the ball down the home sideline going south. He’s really well-coached out of high school, but if you know his family, he’s come from a mature, respected, respectful family. He came in here probably older than his age.”

This year, many of the wide receivers who caught passes last season are back and appear to be improved.

“I think it has everything to do with it. I do,” Pittman said of added experience. “Again, good thought. I think we all think Andrew Armstrong is a lot better receiver than he was last year right now. And Broden is the same way. Heck, (Isaiah) Sategna is that way. So I think getting comfortable, familiar with the offense and all that.

“But it’s also about the maturity process of being a college student and understanding the difference in whatever ball you came from to SEC football. And how different programs run their programs. So, yeah, is it difficult to come in and be your top your first year. Yeah, probably. But at the same time, and again I feel real good about our wide receiver position. But you need to be nine deep. Are we? I don’t know. If there’s somebody available that we think can help us win games, then we would look at them.”

Green said it was nice to have both Armstrong and Broden back on Saturday.

“Oh, it was pretty cool,” Green said. “I definitely love throwing to them. Big targets and they’re aggressive. When the ball is in the area, it’s their ball. Like I said before, it’s not a 50/50 ball. They’re going to come down with it. Just seeing that today, just the frame that they have and the aggressive catches that they possess, it’s definitely good to see as a quarterback. Just having that confidence of when I throw it in their area, they’re going to come down with it.”

Green liked what he saw of Broden in the spring. A big target who has good speed.

“I was definitely super, super impressed with how he came out today,” Green said. “Even the whole spring, you know, the consistency. We’ve been down a couple receivers throughout the spring, but all of them didn’t complain. They just strapped their helmets on and got to work. We see the GPS numbers every single day. They have one of the highest workloads every single day. Like I said, they don’t complain. He stepped away a little bit midway through the spring, but he didn’t miss a beat. He was definitely real professional today and went out and had a really good day. That’s what I’m most proud of. That’s what I love. And on the sidelines, just the camaraderie that we have. The ability to just relax and talk ball, that’s what I like.”

Armstrong also caught three passes for 61 yards including a 22-yard pass from Green for a touchdown.