Rawleigh Williams III went down with a neck injury towards the end of the third quarter in Saturday’s win vs. Auburn, and underwent surgery Saturday night. He finished his short game with 4 carries for 18 yards.

In Bielema’s press conference, he was almost emotionally distraught when bringing up Rawleigh. This injury clearly affected him as more than just a coach, as he referenced “when one of your players tells you he can’t feel his fingers…it’s pretty freaky.” Coach B goes on talking about when Rawleigh’s mom came onto the field, making eye contact with him and how that made the moment real to him. “Every report says that he’s probably going to be able to play again,” Bielema went on to say. As a die hard Hog fan and concerned citizen, that will help me sleep better tonight.

The injury scared me, and I guarantee it scared countless other Razorback fans. I personally don’t know if an Arkansas injury has ever upset me more than seeing Rawleigh go down. Not only because this is a kid with a key role for the Hogs, but because of the severity of it. You see that hit, he just got hit so awkwardly. And the reaction of the players as they crowded around Double Deuce really added some emotional depth to the situation. If you saw it, you know just how silent our crowd was. Alex Collins even honored Williams when he scored his touchdown on the same drive, holding up the number 22 with his hands. No Hog goes down without the hearts of all the fans there with him. The Auburn game from that point on seemed to be unofficially dedicated to Rawleigh. There is no doubt that this Arkansas injury wasn’t just about football, it was something more.

READ: Rawleigh Williams III, the Future of the Hogs

Luckily we were still able to pull out a win. But the running back load for the future will be really rough on the Hogs. We’re very lucky to have Kody Walker back, and he was absolutely clutch in the overtime periods. However, we are not going to be able to fill the slot that Rawleigh filled so well in this season. He was on the way to maybe having a couple more triple digit games on the ground. Not only were his stats on the year going to increase, so was his experience. Having a true freshman getting the experience of SEC games is what was going to catapult Williams’ career at Arkansas. With this last half of the season becoming so key, having the injury of a key back is not what we need.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Rawleigh Williams III and all of his family, and I for sure can’t wait until that Uncommon kid is back on the field, making history. I know I’ll be a Double Deuce fan for life no matter what.