Sam Pittman reveals Dominique Johnson suffered another torn ACL

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman revealed some bad news in his Monday press conference, confirming that junior running back Dominique Johnson is out for the season with a torn ACL.

Johnson did not make the trip with his teammates to play Auburn on Saturday, though Pittman did not disclose postgame the reason why. Asked again Monday, though, the coach broke the unfortunate news.

“I appreciate y’all understanding I just didn’t feel like (Saturday) was the right time,” Pittman said. “Last Tuesday or Monday, I think it might have been Tuesday, he made a cut on air and tore his ACL again. So it’s really unfortunate for the team and certainly for him. He actually practiced the next day and then he did not practice on Thursday. He went and got the MRI and then we found that out. It’s certainly disheartening for him because he had worked so hard to try to get back.”

This is the second ACL tear for Dominique Johnson in the past year, as he suffered the same injury in the Outback Bowl in January. He missed the first three games this season while recovering from that injury before making his debut on Sept. 24.

Johnson played in only three games this season, totaling just eight carries for 43 yards. He will be eligible to receive a medical redshirt because he played in less than four games, and Pittman intends to use it.

“The silver lining is he can use this as a redshirt year for him,” the coach said. “We kind of have approached it that way. By the time he got healthy, he would be ready for fall camp, which certainly we found that it didn’t help him this year missing fall camp. So we’re going with all the positives out of a negative situation.”

Johnson had his best season as a Razorback in 2021, finishing the season with 575 yards rushing and seven touchdowns. Arkansas will hope he can return to form next season and finish out his final three years of eligibility strong.