FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas junior-college transfer defensive end Michael Taylor is "en route" to Fayetteville, coach Bret Bielema said Thursday.
Taylor, a sophomore transfer from Riverside (Calif.) Community College, apparently intends to enroll today for fall-semester classes while his athletic eligibility paperwork continues to be evaluated by the NCAA.
"He still has some things to go through some paperwork there and he will be with us this fall," Bielema said. "In what capacity will be determined in the next 48 hours or so."
Taylor cannot redshirt in his "three-year window," Bielema said, so would lose his sophomore eligibility and start his Arkansas clock as a junior in 2017 if the NCAA doesn't clear him for this fall semester.
In this final week without a game leading into Arkansas' Sept. 3 season opener in Fayetteville with Louisiana Tech, the Razorbacks held a light, closed practice Thursday afternoon and have a "mock game" today, also closed to the public and media.
Bielema said the scripted 60-play mock game starts with the pregame routine at Broyles Center, where the Razorbacks headquarter only on game days in Fayetteville, and, without contact, covers a variety of game situations.
Bielema said all the game-roster Razorbacks, other than those with injuries that perhaps could benefit from another day off, will participate in the mock game.
After taking Saturday off, the Razorbacks launch game week with a Sunday practice, use Monday as their mandated NCAA off day, and practice Tuesday through Thursday.
"Sunday we will get a little bit of a jump on LaTech's game week." Bielema said. "Even though it's a team that we have been preparing for we will get work on Sunday, which we normally don't do in a normal game-week setting. Just to have game week get here is a big, big deal."
Bielema was asked about senior Dan Skipper, the only Razorback voted coach's preseason first-team All-SEC by the vote of the 14 Southeastern Conference head coaches.
Coaches can't vote for their own players for the preseason all-SEC squad, released Thursday in Birmingham, Ala.
"To get the coaches' vote, that means a lot," Bielema said. "Dan can do some things on film that make you mad as an opposing coach. That shows the true symbol of what he is."
Recruited as a tackle out of Arvada, Colo., Skipper, at 6-10 the tallest lineman in college football, also is among the most versatile.
By necessity, Skipper became a starting guard his true freshman year of 2013, started 13 games at left tackle in 2013, 14 games at right tackle in 2014 with since turned pro Denver Kirkland at left tackle, and was still right tackle through spring ball and the start of the August preseason until he swapped sides, going to left tackle, with redshirt freshman Colton Jackson moved from left to right tackle.
Bielema said Skipper "feels better" on the left side. That makes Bielema feel better, too, putting his most experienced tackle on the left side and protecting the blind side of junior right-handed quarterback Austin Allen.
"Dan's playing at a level I've never seen before," Bielema said Thursday. "He's just really, really playing well."
Deep as Arkansas' defensive line is and without the spring practice head start that fellow freshman McTelvin "Sosa" Agim had as a 2015 December high school graduate enrolled in January at UA, it's a tribute to true freshman defensive nose tackle Austin Capps that he joins defensive end Agim off the bench in the depth chart game plan against Louisiana Tech.
"Austin Capps and the ability he brings us inside at the nose position is very, very good," Bielema said. "It's what we thought but we didn't know it would come as soon as it's come."
Sports on 08/26/2016