HawgSports is counting down the top 10 most exciting Razorback football players of the 21st century, and rising senior running back Rakeem Boyd has made the cut at No. 10. Boyd has amassed 1,867 rushing yards with 10 touchdowns at Arkansas in two seasons. He is on this list for his breakaway capabilities and the intrigue of what he might do in his final season with Kendal Briles' offense.
Boyd's timeline is really interesting. He chose to play for Kevin Sumlin and Texas A&M coming out of high school before injuring his shoulder and running into some hurdles academically. He then enrolled at Independence Community College in 2017 and was one of the stars of season 3 of Last Chance U. In 10 games at Independence, Boyd ran for 1,211 yards with 14 touchdowns while averaging 6.3 yards per carry. He chose to play for Chad Morris' Razorbacks under the tutelage of running backs coach Jeff Traylor.
As a sophomore in 2018, Boyd arrived late to campus just prior to the start of fall camp in August. He also showed up well underweight at approximately 200 pounds and added 15 pounds from Aug. 1 to the midpoint of the season, despite the daily grind of camp. He became the first Razorback to top 100 yards against Alabama since Darren McFadden in 2007. Boyd rushed 15 times for 102 yards in that one. Including the Bama game, Boyd topped 99 yards in each of the next four contests before injuries started to mount and his shoulder stared giving him more trouble. Boyd never told anyone about his shoulder issue, which he injured lifting weights in College Station as a freshman. He couldn't lift his arm over his shoulder and finally told Arkansas coaches in the offseason and had surgery.
At 6-0, 213 pounds last season, Boyd got off to a much better start, but he still was not touching the ball as often as he should have. He became the first Razorback running back to top 20 carries in a single game in a calendar year when he had 20 for 122 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Colorado State. He did not have another 20-carry game the rest of the season under Morris but still managed to top the 100-yard rushing plateau five times last year. Only twice did a running back ever carry the ball 20 times or more at Arkansas in 22 games under Morris' watch...
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Boyd was grossly underused in his best game of the season, a 45-19 home humiliation at the hands of Conference USA member Western Kentucky that led to the firing of Morris. Boyd had just three carries in the first half for 79 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown run. Instead of recognizing that they needed to get the ball into Boyds' hands, he had just five more carries in the second half for 106 yards and another touchdown to finish with eight carries for 185 yards and two touchdowns. What makes it even more bizarre is the Hogs were using two inexperienced quarterbacks in KJ Jefferson and John Stephen Jones, neither of whom were effective throwing the ball. Arkansas deserved to lose that game.
Boyd's other standout games in 2019 included Portland State (18 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown), Kentucky (15 carries for 134 yards and two touchdowns) and Mississippi State (11 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown). Despite the fact that he will be a fifth-year senior with an 1,100-yard season under his belt as a running back in the SEC, Boyd has opted to return for his final year of eligibility.
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March 28, 2020 at 02:00AM
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No. 10 Rakeem Boyd: Most Exciting Razorbacks of 21st Century - 247Sports
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