Hogs hope to turn things around against former coach
Robert Beckmann
Issue date: 10/24/08 Section: Sports
The Arkansas Razorbacks (3-4, 1-3 Southeastern Conference) have decided not to let the last quarter of last Saturday's game define their season. Instead, offensively, the Hogs have spent the week diversifying their attack, as junior tailback Michael Smith has spent time recovering from a concussion.
Ole Miss (3-4, 103 SEC) will visit Fayetteville this Saturday at 6 p.m., and a victory over the Rebels could provide the Razorbacks some momentum in their quest for a post-season bowl bid.
Practice times for Arkansas have been shorter this week, but the intensity has risen exponentially.
"The shorter practices have helped both mentally and physically," said Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson. "We are at that point in the year when we need to cut back on some things. Fewer reps and higher intensity has brought more energy to the team."
Forced indoors because of weather for most of the practice week, the team worked on rounding out the offense. Smith has progressively recovered but will likely only have a limited role Saturday.
He was mostly absent from team practices but was eased back into individual workouts. The amount of action he sees against the Rebels remains unknown until game-time.
"Everyone has been really optimistic that things are going well [with Smith's recovery]," Razorback offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said. "We've held him out [of much of practice], but I think he is doing much better."
The top two candidates to pick up the slack in the rushing game are freshmen De'Anthony Curtis and Dennis Johnson. In practices, both players were given about an even number of carries. Coaches are looking at the practice tapes to determine who starts versus the Rebels.
"We've been mixing it up between De'Anthony [Curtis] and Dennis [Johnson]," Petrino said. "We are hopeful that everything will be OK with Michael Smith but those two guys are competing to see who will get the most reps in the game. It's interesting to look on the tape and see who looked better."
Ole Miss (3-4, 103 SEC) will visit Fayetteville this Saturday at 6 p.m., and a victory over the Rebels could provide the Razorbacks some momentum in their quest for a post-season bowl bid.
Practice times for Arkansas have been shorter this week, but the intensity has risen exponentially.
"The shorter practices have helped both mentally and physically," said Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson. "We are at that point in the year when we need to cut back on some things. Fewer reps and higher intensity has brought more energy to the team."
Forced indoors because of weather for most of the practice week, the team worked on rounding out the offense. Smith has progressively recovered but will likely only have a limited role Saturday.
He was mostly absent from team practices but was eased back into individual workouts. The amount of action he sees against the Rebels remains unknown until game-time.
"Everyone has been really optimistic that things are going well [with Smith's recovery]," Razorback offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said. "We've held him out [of much of practice], but I think he is doing much better."
The top two candidates to pick up the slack in the rushing game are freshmen De'Anthony Curtis and Dennis Johnson. In practices, both players were given about an even number of carries. Coaches are looking at the practice tapes to determine who starts versus the Rebels.
"We've been mixing it up between De'Anthony [Curtis] and Dennis [Johnson]," Petrino said. "We are hopeful that everything will be OK with Michael Smith but those two guys are competing to see who will get the most reps in the game. It's interesting to look on the tape and see who looked better."
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