Freshman Quickly Becoming Constant on Offense

Tight End Luke Hasz living up to the hype, fitting in quickly in Razorback uniform

Author:
Daniel Shi
Publish date:
Sep 19, 2023 9:33 PM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — DJ Williams, Hunter Henry, Trey Knox, and now Luke Hasz. The freshman from Bixby, Okla. looks like he could be the next in line for a great Arkansas career at tight end.

Hasz came into the season with all the expectations in the world; he was one of 37 freshman nationwide named to the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award watch list. With the departure of Knox, Hasz was the only offensive player thrown into a starting role as a true freshman. He has delivered through three games with nine catches for 123 yards and is one of four players with at least 100 yards (wide receivers Andrew Armstrong, Isaac TeSlaa and Jaedon Wilson).

"It’s definitely been a blessing being able to come here and having the opportunity to get on the field," Hasz said after Tuesday's practice. "It’s been great. We go against the best competition in practice with the defense. I mean our defense is up there with any defense in the country. It’s definitely helped us or helped me and helped the whole offense develop more and it’s been exciting."

First-year tight ends coach Morgan Turner has guided Hasz through the transition from high school football to FBS College Football and playing for an SEC program.

"Coach Turner has been a huge help too with the vocabulary terms and helping me work on my footwork and my routes and all that stuff, Hasz said, "It's been great."

It didn't take long for the first-year player to make an impression in practice on a Razorback defense that has performed well to this point. It took all but 48 hours for him to catch defensive back Alfahiym Walcott's attention, who was alongside Hasz in Tuesday's presser.

"I believe it was like the second day in pads and I think we were doing bubble drills," Walcott said. "Luke had to block me and he put me on my butt. From that day on, I knew Luke was a problem."

Arkansas will look to use Hasz as a weapon in both the passing and blocking game to help out an offensive line that needs it. The clash against LSU kicks off 6 p.m. Saturday at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge La. The game can be streamed on ESPN and fuboTV .