Sam Pittman praises Dominique Johnson after scrimmage

The Arkansas running back room looks deep headed into 2023, with star Raheim Sanders set to carry the bulk of the load. But don’t sleep on redshirt junior Dominique Johnson.

In the team’s first scrimmage of the fall over the weekend he was excellent.

“He got a pretty good workout,” coach Sam Pittman said. “Had another nice run too, actually the officials whistled him dead when he put his hand down, but I don’t think he was. I think he would have been off to the races on another one too.”

Johnson’s 2022 season was marred by a knee injury. He missed the first three games while recovering from it, then appeared in four games, then reinjured the same knee.

He finished the year with 43 yards on eight carries.

But based on what he’s shown in the fall, you can probably expect that to increase in 2023. Arkansas plans to share the load at least somewhat, or that’s been the plan so far through one scrimmage.

“I think going in the distribution was about eight carries for those four guys, and I’m sure we got it probably for all of them,” Pittman said.

The other player who stood out in the team’s first scrimmage at the running back position was Rashod Dubinion, a sophomore.

“Yeah, R-Dub, man, special player,” Pittman said. “He made some special runs today. Some that there was something there, some that there wasn’t and he made something out of it. He’s hard to tackle. Obviously Rocket, I don’t know what he had, what he have 50 yards or something I imagine. Rocket had a good day too. Dom stood out and R-Dub stood out. Rocket had a good day, it’s just that’s what we expect out of him.”

Dubinion played a good deal more than Johnson did a year ago, appearing in all 13 games as a true freshman. He finished the season with 293 yards rushing and five touchdowns on 71 carries.

The Arkansas backfield will get a chance to showcase its depth and talent on Sept. 2 with a home game against Western Carolina.