Chad Morris clarifies quarterback plan following narrow win over Portland State
By Keith Farner
Published:
Chad Morris used two quarterbacks in Arkansas’ narrow 20-13 win over Portland State, but said Ben Hicks would be the starter next week at Ole Miss.
Fortunately, the Arkansas defense played well and forced three turnovers as they held the FCS team to 70 rushing yards.
Hicks was 14-for-29 passing for 143 yards, and Nick Starkel, with a costly first-half interception, was 4-for-5 for 48 yards. Neither threw a touchdown.
Here’s a sampling of what Morris told reporters:
Morris: “I was very disappointed offensively.. By design I was going to play Nick. I didn’t know when, but we wanted to get him some reps.”
— Kelli Stacy (@Kelli_Stacy_) September 1, 2019
Chad Morris: I think Nick did well. I thought Ben did well. I thought Ben managed the game. I thought he was just OK. Overall, the flow of things offensively wasn’t what we want.
— Scottie Bordelon (@NWAScottie) September 1, 2019
Morris: “Ben’s a veteran. He’s been in this position before. As a starter he’s 1-0. He knows he needs to get better.”
— Kelli Stacy (@Kelli_Stacy_) September 1, 2019
MORRIS: Never will I ever apologize for winning. There’s no such thing as a bad win. You win and you correct. You may not play as well as you want to play, and we didn’t. But we won. pic.twitter.com/9r4pA8m9xd
— Clara Goodwin (@5NEWSClara) September 1, 2019
Morris on the offensive line: “I thought our offensive line had a lot of improvement, but it’s got to continue to be made.”
— Kelli Stacy (@Kelli_Stacy_) September 1, 2019
Morris says he won’t apologize for winning, but they wanted to play better. “We’ve got a lot of stuff that we want to correct.”
— Kelli Stacy (@Kelli_Stacy_) September 1, 2019
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
