Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Arkansas tight end Chris Gragg hasn't had the opportunities his fellow Warren Lumberjack teammates, Jarius Wright and Greg Childs, have enjoyed as Razorbacks the past four years. But as the 2011 season winds down it's shaping up to be Gragg's moment to shine.

Gragg was directly involved a handful of Arkansas scoring drives Saturday as the Hogs steamrolled Mississippi State 44-17 at War Memorial Stadium with a dominant offense, defense and kicking game. Gragg had a game-high, one-game best eight receptions for 119 yards, also a personal best in his three years as a Hog. Gragg, the chiseled 6-3, 236-pounder who came to Fayetteville more of a string bean like Childs, caught them deep behind the Mississippi State defense and flagged them down on underneath routes.

Wright, meanwhile had eight catches for 96 yards and Childs, who has battled a balky knee since tearing a patella tendon last year, had his first multi-catch game since Oct. 8 with three receptions for 32 yards.

That's not a bad output from the Warren trio: 19 catches of Tyler Wilson passes for 237 yards. Back when they were playing together for the Lumberjacks in 2006-07 and quarterback Hayden Smith was slinging them around to that threesome and Basmine Jones, that might have been considered an off night.

Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino will take it. He's bringing in a new Warren receiver, Jalen Cobb, in the upcoming recruiting class and will be watching for more like Wright, Gragg and Childs.

"I think all three of them could run for mayor of Warren right now and win in a landslide," Razorback senior defensive end Jake Bequette said after the Hogs' 10th win of the season.

Gragg said afterward he anticipated having a nice day, if not a career one.

"There were a couple of times where we noticed that they didn't cover the tight end on certain plays," he said. "It felt good catching some deep balls and catching some balls up close like a tight end is supposed to do. It felt good catching the ball.

"I went out and just tried to play hard. I did have one drop and that's going to eat me up for a couple of days, but I just went out and tried to make plays when my number was called."

Mississippi State so ignored Gragg a lot of the day, the Bulldogs embarrassingly were nowhere to be found as Gragg was waiting all alone for Wilson's 2-yard lob that put the Hogs up 31-10 midway through the third quarter. Gragg was lined up just off the line in a wing position.

"I don't know if it was a busted coverage. I saw the corner blitz and I had a corner route and I guess no linebacker took me," Gragg said.

Gragg, who often powered through initial tackle attempts, when he wasn't surprising the Bulldogs' secondary with his strength and deceptive speed running vertical routes, was a load for the MSU defense to bring down. Gragg said the receivers and tight ends have a competition between the units for that they term "bull yards," or yards after catch. "I think the tight ends might have won it today. We never win it but I think we might have won it today," he said.