MONTICELLO – In the short time Tavion Faulk and Chasden Collins have worked out together at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, the two Mississippi junior college transfers have built a strong connection.
Collins, at 5-foot-6 and 160 pounds, broke a tackle after the catch on each of his two touchdown passes from Faulk on Thursday in the Boll Weevils’ open scrimmage at Willis “Convoy” Leslie Cotton Boll Stadium.
The offense scored four touchdowns on 16 drives in the all-scripted practice, two weeks before the Weevils kick off the season at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Faulk, a Louisiana native who last played at Itawamba Community College in northeast Mississippi, completed 4 of 8 passes, his longest to East Mississippi CC product Collins for 75 yards.
“It’s special to have someone you just give (the ball) to on a quick slant and take it 70, maybe 80 (yards) for a touchdown,” Faulk said. “It’s just sitting back there, trusting your guys to go out there and make a play every time, and they trust me to put it there every time.”
Collins’ second touchdown was on a 43-yard reception on the 12th drive.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“It’s great,” Collins succinctly described being on the receiving end of Faulk’s passes. “I feel like we got something special, something that’s going to be better than what’s been in the past. I feel like we’re doing more with the people we got now.”
Fifteenth-year UAM Coach Hud Jackson said he hasn’t named any starters although Faulk and Collins practiced on the first team. The scrimmage gave the public a preview of UAM’s first season without Demilon Brown under center. Brown was a six-year starter who was named the Great American Conference’s Freshman of the Year in 2019.
Tyler Webb, who last played at Kilgore (Texas) College, authored an 11-play, 85-yard touchdown series on the scrimmage’s fifth drive. Webb went 4 for 4 in that series, the longest play being a 34-yard completion to Michael Lott, a Miami native and transfer from Hinds CC in Mississippi.
Webb finished the drive with a 4-yard pass to senior Ja’Kell Allen. Webb’s 19-yard lob to quarterback-turned-tight end Stran Smith on the 10th drive was his second touchdown pass.
Redshirt sophomore Austin Wadsworth played with the third team with freshmen Darrell Atkins and Luke Jones seeing snaps as the scrimmage wore on.
Stran Smith, a former quarterback, caught a 19-yard touchdown pass over a defender on the 10th drive.
“The quarterback position has been a battle,” Jackson said. “All of them are playing better and are getting a better feel. At this point, you want them to have a really good feel with the offense, and I think we got that now. Now, I think it’s time to make a decision and stick with it and rally around who that guy is going to be.”
Despite the production, Jackson expressed his displeasure with a lack of consistency on offense, pointing to the large number of penalties. Jackson said he held out four to five defensive starters – he indicated whom – due to injuries.
“All in all, I thought the defense made some plays we needed to make,” Jackson said after the defense dropped three interceptions. “We’ve got to have opportunities to get turnovers, and we had a couple of chances we didn’t finish those. All in all, being able to see some of these younger guys, we’re trying to see if they can get on the bus and travel. We got some answers we needed to see.”