Arkansas’ John Morgan III taken to hospital after scary on-field collapse

Arkansas experienced a scary moment in their 34-22 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday.

In the fourth quarter, play was stopped after defensive lineman John Morgan collapsed after a play that, according to SEC Network broadcasters, did not involve much contact.

Morgan, according to Texas A&M beat writer Travis L. Brown , took two steps and fell to the ground, and thus a cart was brought out to the field where medics tended to the senior’s aid.

SEC Network broadcasters said Morgan was “blinking and talking” as he was loaded onto the cart and taken to the hospital.

After the game, Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said Morgan was dealing with some soreness in his neck and the move to the hospital was “precautionary.”

“He had movement everywhere,” Pittman said, per the Associated Press. “He was communicative. He visited with me, said ‘Coach, I’m fine.’ But he did have some soreness in his neck. So they took the precaution, which they should. … But he had movement everywhere and he’s at the doctor.”

SEC Network sideline reporter Alyssa Lang later provided an update on the broadcast, revealing that Morgan’s neck snapped backward after the hit.

“They were slowly loading John Morgan III into an ambulance. They are going to take him to a local hospital. He was talking. He was able to move,” Lang said. “I talked to Arkansas’ athletic director Hunter Yurachek and he was told by the trainers that he was dealing with his neck getting snapped back and he had tenderness and pain in the neck area.

“It is, at this point, just precautionary because of the nature of the pain and where the injury occurred.”

As Morgan was carted off the field, fans stood and cheered for the Razorback after he transferred from Pittsburgh, where he totaled 19 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, and 2.5 sacks across 12 games (five starts) last season.

With Arkansas, Morgan has four tackles and two sacks in four games thus far.

The Razorbacks sit in sixth place in the SEC West (2-3) and will face fourth-place Ole Miss (3-1) next week.