Falling to the No. 9 Auburn Tigers, 51-10, on October 19 in Fayetteville, the Arkansas Razorbacks are now 2-5 on the season, including an 0-4 mark in Southeastern Conference play.
Unfortunately for Chad Morris’ program, the bad news continued into October 20.
Whitehaven (Memphis, Tennessee) 2020 four-star linebacker Martavius French, the Razorbacks’ second highest-rated pledge, decommitted from the program.
French made the announcement on Twitter:
DECOMMITTED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS! No interviews please
— F R E N C H I E (@ypcjuice2) October 20, 2019
The loss of French is especially gut-wrenching considering he was in Fayetteville for his official visit for the Auburn game, and decommitted just two days later.
Having taken his official visit to Knoxville on October 4, the Tennessee Volunteers are now expected to land his services.
Sans French, Arkansas’ 2020 class stands at 13 members. Memphis Central (Memphis, Tennessee) four-star wide receiver Darin Turner leads the way, while Hazen, Arkansas defensive end Blayne Toll is the top defensive commit.
Fortunately, French was far from the only prospect being hosted by the program during the Auburn game.
Klein Oak (Spring, Texas) 2020 four-star cornerback Dwight McGlothern was in attendance and spoke very highly of his visit.
Via HawgSports:
“It was a good visit, I like what I saw. They need a lot of help and I can see where I can come in and help at.
“I like how the coaches were with my parents. They have a better mind of Arkansas now. I’m new so I don’t really know anything, but I like it. I like it a lot. I can really see myself going here.”
One of the top-30 cornerbacks in the cycle, the Razorbacks originally offered McGlothern on February 4. A couple of other SEC programs - No. 2 LSU and Texas A&M - are also strongly in the running for the 6-foot-2, 185-pounder.
Another defensive back, Brother Martin (New Orleans, Louisiana) safety Nick Turner took in the action, as well.
Committed to Georgia Tech, Turner would represent an impressive Atlantic Coast Conference flip for cornerbacks coach Mark Smith.
“It was fun, glad I got to get up here, meet the coaches, meet some of the players and talk about what’s going on and how they’re rebuilding up here,” Turner told HawgSports of the visit.
“Everything was sounding good in the locker room, the players, the coaches all of that was good.”
The No. 27 player in the state of Louisiana, Turner committed to the Yellow Jackets on June 13.
Not possessing a defensive back among their 13 commits in the upcoming class, landing one - or both - of these two would go a long way for defensive coordinator and linebackers coach John Chavis.
Hitting the road, Arkansas will face No. 1 Alabama (7-0, 4-0) on Saturday (7:00PM ET, ESPN).