HawgBeat - Luke Hasz can be valuable for Arkansas offense
Arkansas Razorbacks tight end Luke Hasz has flashed his playmaking ability in the first three games of the season.
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Razorback fans have been asking for more passes to be thrown in freshman tight end Luke Hasz's direction, and the offense obliged on Saturday as he caught four passes for 78 yards and a touchdown in Arkansas' 38-31 loss to BYU.
The career outing came after recording just five catches for 45 yards in his first two games against Western Carolina and Kent State.
"I mean, he’s a physical guy you know, almost to a fault," head coach Sam Pittman said Monday. "The other day I thought he could outrun the guy chasing him on the inside and he kind of waited on him so he could bang him, so he could hit him. And he ended up getting the first down.
"But yeah, I think those type of games he had he’ll just keep getting better. His blocking will get better. And we talk about how many plays he can play. Basically, we want to play him however many plays as he can because he’s valuable to us and he catches everything. He’s done a really, really good (job). That’s a freshman out there that’s doing a good job."
Despite it being his first game against a Power 5 opponent, Hasz shined for the Hogs. An electric Fayetteville crowd may have had something to do with it.
"It was a great feeling," Hasz said. "We had a great atmosphere at the game on Saturday night, there were a lot of people there. I think it was almost over capacity, so it was great to see all the fans out there. It was great to get out there and get some confidence going, but we're excited for this week."
Even though he had a great performance, there are still areas of the game that Hasz can work on. The Bixby, Oklahoma, native was shocked when he was called for an offensive pass interference penalty against BYU on Saturday.
"But at the end of the day we can all do things a little better to make it not for the refs to throw a flag," Hasz said. "I can work on going back and watching that play and figuring out what I did wrong or why I gave him the opportunity to throw that flag. That’s something we can work on."
Fortunately, Hasz has an experienced tight-end coach and fellow teammates in the tight end room capable of helping him with those mistakes. Hired from Stanford during the offseason, Morgan Turner brought pedigree and proven player development to Fayetteville.
"I'd say it's for sure listening to our coaches because we have a really great coaching staff who is really good on the details in practice," Hasz said. "So, for my position personally, just keeping our hands inside and ultimately trying to keep playing clean but do what we do.
"They're awesome. Ever since I got here, they've been welcoming. Helping me learn on and off the field with class and stuff like that. 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. It's been great."
Arkansas' next game presents a different set of challenges, however. Playing the LSU Tigers in Death Valley means Hasz and the rest of the offense need to prepare for a hostile environment.
"I think to piggyback on what he said, what we've been doing at practice this week with the noise is going to help us tremendously. Same with us just being able to communicate with our hand signals and just knowing what we need to do when we go into that stadium."
On top of dealing with a vicious crowd, the Hogs' offense will have to find a way to stop LSU pass rusher Harold Perkins Jr. The high-caliber athlete has elite speed and may be tasked with defending Hasz at certain points during the game on Saturday.
"He's a really great athlete," Hasz said. "Watching him on film, he's fast, he's physical and he's all over the field. So, it will definitely be exciting to go against someone of his caliber."
Hasz will have another opportunity to shine on Saturday when the Razorbacks will enter Tiger Stadium to face the No. 12 LSU Tigers. The game is set to kickoff at 6:00 p.m. CT and it will air on ESPN.
