Arkansas offensive lineman Ty'Kieast Crawford exits Liberty Bowl vs. Kansas early in first quarter

Arkansas offensive lineman Ty’Kieast Crawford was injured on the first drive of the Liberty Bowl on Wednesday evening against the Kansas Jayhawks. The injury was severe enough to where he was immediately taken to the locker room by medical personnel to be further evaluated. Crawford was taken off the field on a stretcher. E’Marion Harris came into the game for the Hogs once he left the field.

Crawford was shaken up after Arkansas drilled a field goal to go up 3-0 with 11:12 remaining. The ESPN broadcast then showed a brief clip of him being stretchered to the locker room by medical personnel. It appeared that he had injured his left ankle. Crawford spent some time in the medical tent, before eventually being placed on the stretcher and taken to the locker room.

Crawford eventually made his way back to the sideline in a boot. The Hogs defeated Kansas 55-53 in triple overtime. It was one of the more highly entertaining games of the 2022-2023 college football bowl season, no doubt about it.

The Arkansas Razorbacks suffered a potential major loss in the first quarter of the Liberty Bowl, after Raheim ‘Rocket’ Sanders left with injury. Sanders appeared to have his leg rolled awkwardly during a tackle early in the game, and after spending some time in the injury tent he was seen leaving for the locker room for further treatment.

Arkansas RB Rocket Sanders injured during Liberty Bowl

Sanders was the second-leading rusher in the SEC this season with 1,426 rushing yards and ten rushing touchdowns on the year as a sophomore. He added another 271 yards in the receiving game along with another two receiving touchdowns — making him the yards from scrimmage leader for the conference with 1,697 total yards.

Despite losing him early, the Razorbacks began to dominate the game early in all phases after forcing several turnovers in the first quarter. Arkansas took a 23-7 lead into the second quarter, well on their way to finish the season with a bowl win.

In a stroke of good news for the Arkansas fans, Sanders appeared to come out of the locker room with a better outlook on his injury as the first quarter ended. The star running back was back on the sideline before the commercial break, working out on the exercise bike.

On3’s Austin Brezina also contributed to this article.