FAYETTEVILLE — Two of the most veteran defensive tackles in the nation will be on the same field Saturday in Stillwater, Okla., when the Arkansas Razorbacks take on No. 16 Oklahoma State.
Arkansas’ Eric Gregory and Oklahoma State’s Collin Clay are both six-year seniors, but they were once teammates for the Razorbacks.
Clay and Gregory came to Arkansas in the same class in 2019, but Clay transferred back to his home state after the Hogs’ dismal 2-10 showing that fall. Gregory, a Memphis native, stayed Arkansas and has been a part of all five of Coach Sam Pittman’s seasons at the helm.
Both were highly-regarded and widely-recruited defensive ends coming out of high school, Gregory from IMG Academy in Florida and Clay from Putnam City in the Oklahoma City suburbs.
“We talk to each other on social media. We keep in contact,” Gregory said of his former teammate. “He just got married here recently, I believe in the summer. I want to congratulate him on that. That’s still my boy.”
Gregory said their careers have mirrored each others. even beyond playing a sixth year.
“He came off an injury, I believe two years ago,” Gregory said. “He was kind of like me coming in, too. We were big D-ends playing and then injuries happened.
“We gained a little weight and we got thrown inside. We had the same mindset of just being physical and playing through the whistle. So I feel that’s what he’s going to bring when he plays.”
Clay put on more weight than Gregory and is now listed at 6-3, 330 pounds.
Gregory, who got the Razorbacks’ first sack of the season last week to bring his career total to 7.5, is now 6-4, 320 pounds.
Gregory said he thinks Clay will be motivated to face his former team Saturday.
“Oh yeah, yeah, yeah for sure,” Gregory said. “There’s no doubt, for sure.”
Arkansas offensive guard Josh Braun, who will likely line up across from Clay in the game, said he is also aware of his background.
“Yeah, I mean I’m sure he’s had this game circled on his calendar since he got to Oklahoma State,” Braun said. “So he’s going to be ready. We have to make sure we’re ready for him.”
Razorback trivia
Arkansas posted its first shutout since 2018 with last week’s 70-0 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. How many shutouts have the Hogs posted since joining the SEC for the 1992 season?
Green dot
Arkansas safety Jayden Johnson was the first Razorback defender to sport the helmet communications device in his helmet allowed by the NCAA for the first time this season in an effort to cut back on sign stealing.
Johnson, a fourth-year senior from Cedartown, Ga., said the communications he was receiving from defensive coordinator Travis Williams came through smoothly in last week’s season-opener.
“It worked great,” Johnson said. “Just how we used it at practice, we used it like that in the game and it just went great.”
Johnson said linebacker Stephen Dix wore the device after he came out of the game when the Hogs called on reserves during their 70-0 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Guard Josh Braun said he didn’t hear feedback from Taylen Green regarding the in-helmet speak but “I could hear Coach (Bobby) Petrino during practice, so yeah, I think it’s going to be a benefit to us.”
Hogs get votes
Arkansas received two points in Tuesday’s first Associated Press top 25 poll of the regular season. The Hogs got both points from the same ballot, as Andy Yamashita of the Seattle Times slotted Arkansas at No. 24 on his ballot.
The Hogs were last ranked at No. 20 heading into Week 5 in 2022 prior to a 49-26 loss to No. 2 Alabama. They were receiving votes in the preseason and each of the first two polls of 2023 before losing 38-31 at home to BYU.
Oklahoma State, the Hogs’ opponent on Saturday, is No. 16 in the AP poll and No. 17 in the coaches poll. The Cowboys were ranked as high as No. 11 by two AP voters and as low as No. 22.
Eyes right
Oklahoma State Coach Mike Gundy said he liked a huge chunk of his team’s defensive work in last week’s 44-20 win over South Dakota State. But a half-dozen plays proved costly against the Jackrabbits, who amassed 388 yards to the Cowboys’ 394.
“Defensively, we had 49 plays and gave up 174 yards and we had six plays where we gave up 210 (yards),” Gundy said, apparently losing track of 4 yards.
“We tackled better than we tackled last year early in the season, but not good enough.”
Asked if he could diagnose what happened on the six explosive plays for South Dakota State, Gundy said, “It’s a simple concept for what we do. Sometimes it’s a little confusing publicly. Our players need to have their eyes in the correct spots.”
Gundy credited the South Dakota State coaches and players for the big plays.
“They did a couple things scheme-wise that were really good, so four of the six (plays) we need to be more disciplined with our eyes,” he said. “We need to adjust to what they did to us. That’s going to happen. Other teams, their coaches get a chance to coach and their players get a chance to play. The majority of it is we have to have our eyes in the right place.”
Different guys
Oklahoma State defender Collin Oliver is a difference-maker at 6-2, 240 pounds. Though Oliver is listed on the roster as a linebacker, he frequently lines up on the edge and even plays defensive end.
Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman was asked if there are similarities between Oliver and Razorback defensive end Landon Jackson, a 6-7, 280-pounder and a preseason first-team All-SEC pick.
“Two totally different guys,” Pittman said. “Oliver is smaller, quicker. Now, they both can rush the passer.
“They do more with Oliver than we do with Landon. They drop him into coverage. They move him around. In their odd (front) package, he’ll be inside, outside. They do some things there more than what we do with Landon.
“What I will say, the common thing that they have is the ability to get to the quarterback. They both play extremely hard and they’re both physical football players.”
Trivia answer
Arkansas has posted nine shutouts since joining the SEC in 1992, including its first under Coach Sam Pittman and defensive coordinator Travis Williams with the season-opening rout of UAPB.
Three of the shutouts have come in season-openers, with a 26-0 win at SMU in 1999 and a 38-0 win over Missouri State in 2000 joining last Thursday’s blanking.
Seven of the nine have come in road games, the 1999 opener in Dallas and a 23-0 win at South Carolina on Nov. 9, 2006. That win over the Gamecocks came the week after and by the same score as a 23-0 home win over Troy on Nov. 2, 2002.
That is one of two back-to-back shutouts since 1992, as the 2014 team blanked No. 17 LSU 17-0 and No. 8 Ole Miss 30-0 on Nov. 15 and Nov. 22, 2014. That marked the first back-to-back shutouts of ranked conference opponents in the FBS since World War II.
The other shutouts in that span: 20-0 over Utah State on Sept. 9, 2006; and 23-0 over Tulsa on Oct. 20, 2018, the last for the Hogs prior to Thursday.
Extra points
• Oklahoma State Coach Mike Gundy improved to 16-0 vs. FCS competition with Saturday’s 44-20 win over two-time defending FCS champion South Dakota State.
• Oklahoma State, which sold out all 53,855 seats at Boone Pickens Stadium for the first time in school history, is calling for a “Stripe the Stadium” initiative and asking fans to wear orange or white attire based on their seating section.
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Publish date : 2024-09-03 20:15:00
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