- May 11, 2002
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HawgBeat - Luke Hasz's season most likely done
Arkansas freshman tight end Luke Hasz suffered a broken clavicle on the first drive of Saturday's loss to Texas A&M.
arkansas.rivals.com
Arkansas freshman tight end Luke Hasz suffered a broken clavicle on the first drive of Saturday's loss to Texas A&M, head coach Sam Pittman confirmed after the game.
The 6-foot-3, 242-pound native of Bixby, Oklahoma, entered the game with 15 catches for 239 yards and three scores and he was coming off a performance that saw him catch six passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns at LSU.
On just the third play from scrimmage, Hasz took a 14-yard reception for a first down and the defender fell on top of him to cause the injury. He then exited the game and went to the locker room. The next time Hasz came back out, his pads were gone and he had an ice pack on his left shoulder and a sling for his arm.
"I had a running back when I was coaching at Trenton High School, they got him in the first game and he came back for the last two or three in a 10 game season," Pittman said. "I don't know. If anybody could come back faster, it'd be (Hasz).
"Now we're sitting in Week 5 with one bye. Eight weeks. If we're fortunate enough to get bowl eligible, he might could be back for that maybe."
The toughness of Hasz was put on display when he popped up from the tackle and tried to run back to the huddle, but he quickly realized he wouldn't be able to go anymore.
"He's so valuable to us," Pittman said. "You go back to LSU and take him out of there, what does it look like? About like (the Texas A&M game). Not like that, but I'm talking about the big plays that he brings to us. Isn't that crazy? He's a freshman, too. We've got other guys that need to step up and have their opportunities, but losing him was a big blow to us offensively."
Arkansas will now turn to the likes of North Texas transfer Var'keyes Gumms and redshirt freshman Ty Washington at the tight end position in the passing game. Gumms caught one pass for two yards in the loss to the Aggies, which made him the first tight end not named Hasz with a catch on the season.
"We were relying heavily on Hasz," Pittman said. "(Gumms) is the guy backing him up. That's probably where we'll go. We may try to get Ty Washington cranked up a little bit more."
Up next, the Razorbacks will travel to Oxford, Mississippi, for a meeting with the Ole Miss Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The game is set for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff on the SEC Network.
