FAYETTEVILLE — Senior cornerback Dwight McGlothern didn’t start Saturday against Florida, but when he was inserted into the game it changed everything completely.
Florida was having a lot of success going at the Hog position. Sam Pittman and the staff inserted McGlothern at the cornerback opposite Jaylon Braxton. That allowed them to move Lorando “Snaxx” Johnson to the Hog and Hudson Clark to safety. The game took a complete turn after that. What value did Pittman think McGlothern brought to the secondary?
“A lot,” Pittman said. “A lot. Because we were able to move Snaxx to Hog and I think that was a big deal. They were picking on us a little bit there with 1 (Ricky Pearsall) and 3 (Eugene Wilson III), who are fantastic players. But it allowed us to move Snaxx in there at Hog. The problem was, we didn’t play him as much during the week at Hog. So he didn’t have the opportunity to really study that position. But it allowed us to do that and move Hud back to safety. Al (Walcott), he’s still nursing a knee, and so that allowed us to get him off the field a little more.
“But Nudie … That was the most physical I’ve seen Nudie play. He really made some good tackles in the open field. Obviously was really good in coverage. That’ll certainly bode well for him in the future as the next three games unfold. He did a really nice job. I’m really happy for him.”
McGlothern led the team with five tackles, all solo, one for loss and broke up three passes. Pittman also talked about why McGlothern is so good in coverage.
“He’s got length,” McGlothern said. “Obviously he’s got length and that’s good. He’s got experience. In all honesty, if he becomes a better practice player, I think he’ll become an even better player. He knows that and he’s done that. So I’m really happy for him, proud of him, that he’s done that because I think it shows on the field. But he’s long and he’s savvy and he’s played a lot of football.”
Pittman admitted that at times McGlothern needs a tough coaching method to get him started.
“He does,” Pittman said. “You can certainly go the other way on that and never come back. But it wasn’t really anything, to be perfectly honest with you, about discipline or something about that. It was we’d moved Snaxx to corner and obviously we felt like Braxton was playing really well. But we always knew Nudie was a really good player. He showed that and she’s shown that this year and last year. We have a lot of faith in Nudie. He’s a wonderful kid. I love him to death. I’m glad he had good success.”
Arkansas and Auburn will kickoff at 3 p.m. Saturday and televised on the SEC Network.
