LITTLE ROCK — Veterans shore up defense
FAYETTEVILLE - Barring a run on injuries, the Arkansas defense should not be as thin for the rest of the season as it was in Saturday's opener against Western Illinois.
Last week, three true freshmen and one redshirt freshman started in the back seven and defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said middle linebacker Jerry Franklin, outside linebackers Jelani Smith and Jerico Nelson and free safety Elton Ford all played every snap.
This week, a handful of veterans are back at practice and could be cleared for action. That bunch includes senior "jack" linebacker Walner Leandre, senior weakside linebacker Elston Forte, junior cornerback Jerell Norton and junior linebacker Wendel Davis, all potential starters before winter workouts.
"I think each week we keep adding depth, as opposed to losing depth, which is kind of nice," Robinson said Wednesday.
"Whether it's a Jerell Norton or an Elston Forte or a Wendel Davis, we're starting to get the numbers back at positions we've been really thin at."
Leandre missed Saturday's 28-24 victory over Western Illinois for an undisclosed reason, which Robinson said would stay inhouse. Next week, linebacker Freddy Burton returns after serving a two-game suspension.
Now, with freshmen already having game experience, the return of the veterans should signal stronger competition and a tighter-fitting run defense.
The freshmen made some mistakes, but played about as well as Robinson expected.
"You hope they start growing whiskers because we're young," he said. "I think they got their jitters. It seemed as the game went on they got stronger and more disciplined."
On the defensive front, where playing time is difficult to come by for many freshmen, Lavunce Askew and Zach Stadther both subbed in effectively for ErnestMitchell and Malcolm Sheppard.
Robinson said Norton, who led the Razorbacks with five interceptions last year, will play in some packages this weekend.
"If my number is called, I feel like I'm in good enough shape, I feel like I know the playbook, I feel like I know the offense we're going into - the game and situation we're going into - so I feel positive in myself," Norton said.
Norton also took some reps in the punt return rotation.
On offense, receiver London Crawford ran routes in group drills to start the day, perhaps signaling he is cleared to play after suffering a concussion on Saturday.
Victory lap
Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said last Saturday's tour around the stadium by the players after the 28-24 victory over Western Illinois is a sign of things to come.
"It's just a new tradition we're going to set," Petrino said. "We get to walk around when we win. Go around and shake [fans'] hands, tell them they're glad they were here. It's something I did with my team at Louisville." New blood
Former White Hall quarterback Adrian Moore, an Oklahoma State signee, confirmed Wednesday he's transferring to Arkansas and will sit out this season per NCAA transfer rules.
Moore told the Democrat-Gazette he cannot practice until he receives his release fromOklahoma State.
"I'm supposed to get looked at as a running back," Moore said. "All I want is the chance."
Moore (6-0, 200 pounds) was listed as a defensive back for Oklahoma State.
Moore rushed for 2,272 yards and 31 touchdowns and passed for 489 yards as a high school senior, and was selected the No. 10 prospect in Arkansas by Scout.com and the No. 12 prospect by Rivals.com.
That schedule
Arkansas should be cut a little slack for opening the season against Football Championship Subdivision opponent Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe of the Sun Belt Conference, because the games following this two-game stint are brutal.
Consider the murderer's row the Hogs will have faced by the end of week six at Auburn on Oct. 11. In a stretch of eight games concluding that day, the Leathernecks and Warhawks will almost certainly be the only unranked foes seen by the Hogs.
LSU was No. 1 when Arkansas toppled the Tigers last season, and Missouri was No. 7 before its rout of the Razorbacks in the Cotton Bowl.
The current AP rankings of Arkansas' next four opponents: at No. 10 Texas, No. 13 Alabama, No. 5 Florida, at No. 9 Auburn.
The Razorbacks could play six top 15 teams in a streak of eight games.
No wonder Arkansas' schedule is rated No. 2 in the country.
The series
Arkansas holds a 7-0 series lead with Louisiana-Monroe, with all the games taking place since 1996.
The typical score has not been pretty, with the Razorbacks coming out on top by an average score of 42-13.
Arkansas has scored more than 40 points in five of the games, while Louisiana-Monrie's best outing came in a 38-21 loss in the series opener in Fayetteville on Sept. 28, 1996.
Going indoors
Heavy rain this week forced the Razorbacks to practice in the Walker Pavilion on Tuesday and Wednesday. They may have to go indoors again today because of squalls set off by the remnants of Hurricane Gustav.
"Where it mostly affects us is in the kicking game, our ability to punt the ball and get enough catches in," Petrino said. "We'll probably have to go out after practice and get out in the rain and punt and catch punts and kickoff and catch kickoffs.
"Everything else we can do pretty well inside. The positive thing is we're playing on Field Turf [in Little Rock on Saturday], so we'll be playing on the same surface we're practicing on." Perfect starts
A reporter who covers Tennessee, which lost its opener at UCLA, asked several coaches on Wednesday's SEC teleconference how difficult it is to bounce back from a seasonopening defeat.
Petrino couldn't answer that because he's 5-0 in openers as a college head coach. But Petrino did offer some insight about how to approach the schedule.
"Really what you need to do is just play one game at a time," he said. "That's the thing that you do. I don't think you can put that much emphasis on the first game."
Petrino said the Razorbacks have a long way to go in terms of execution, understanding assignments, and playing with maximum effort every snap.
"We're just really trying to focus on practice and how to practice right, how to get better in practice," he said. "I've always believed that winning a game is the result of doing everything right leading up to it."
Sports, Pages 23 on 09/04/2008