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Monk is still available Thursday, Nov 3, 2005 By Harry King FAYETTEVILLE - Some clever people with way too much time on their hands came up with a list of the top 10 messages left on Houston Nutt's voice mail after the Georgia game. Supposedly, there was one from Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer, one from forgotten quarterback Cole Barthel, and one from the Georgia defensive line. Best of all was the one that said, "Coach, it's Marcus. Marcus Monk. M-O-N-K! I won't be at practice on Monday because I'll be doing something productive with the new guys over at Springdale." Of course, the sophomore wide receiver had nothing to do with the message. Even though he is bound to be frustrated by the near exclusion of wide receivers from the passing game, he was raised right and would never say anything negative about his team or his teammates. To illustrate the Razorbacks' reluctance to throw downfield, Monk's numbers are worth repeating. Before that, there is another little statistic that is even more revealing. As of last week, Arkansas was the only Division I-A team averaging more yards per rush than per pass attempt. It was 5.7 yards per run and a little less than 5.3 per pass. That is a first in recent Razorback history, according to the out-of-state analyst who came up with the figure and then backtracked through the Arkansas media guides since 1948. Arkansas' leading receiver is Peyton Hillis and he's a back before he's a receiver. He has caught 25 and his 9.9 yards per shows that they are mostly short tosses to him near the line of scrimmage. Monk has caught 22 for 267, but his average of 38.1 yards per game is almost 14 yards per game shy of Ole Miss's Taye Biddle who is 10th in the league in yards per game. At the top of the list is South Carolina freshman Sidney Rice, averaging more than 95 yards per game. That is the sort of production expected from Monk only a year after he set a Razorback freshman record with 37 receptions and averaged 15.4 yards per catch. He topped 50 yards receiving in a half-dozen games, was a unanimous selection for the SEC All-Freshman team, and was seventh among the nation's freshmen in receiving yards per game. All of that earned him a spot on preseason check lists, but individual accolades are unlikely at this point. Properly, he'll say that doesn't matter, that his goal is to help the team win. In 2004, he benefited from Matt Jones' scrambling and the fact that Steven Harris caught 37 passes, but there were also the attempts downfield. "You can't let it get you down," Monk said. "It's a long season and it will just build on you and make the season even longer." Casey Dick, the first true freshman to start at quarterback for Arkansas since Zak Clark in 2000, is expected to hurl a few more than 20 yards against South Carolina on Saturday. That is not to say that he will throw 30-35 times because Arkansas is still run-first. It does mean that the passing attack will be more varied and aggressive, the fans will be happier, and the receivers will not be wasting their time running routes. "The receivers, they know they had better be going, looking for a ball, when they go out," Nutt said. "You can let it frustrate you if you want to, but you've got to stay positive," Monk said. "Just keep working hard and hope the hard work pays off." During the conversation, a man mentioned that quarterback-turned-receiver Jones was the third option on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Byron Leftwich in Jacksonville's loss at St. Louis on Sunday. Before Leftwich went through his reads, there was a run fake to the left. Monk never took the bait, but it would be nice to see Dick take the time to check out a No. 3 choice on Saturday. ----- Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media Group's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com. |
