NEW ORLEANS — Travel delays led to a couple of late arrivals Tuesday, but every Arkansas Razorbacks football player had been accounted for by evening’s end at the team’s headquarters at the Hilton.
The team’s arrival was step one in Arkansas’ quest to have a full roster of players available for Tuesday’s Sugar Bowl game against Ohio State, but perhaps the biggest step for Arkansas in competing with a complete deck in this game occurred a year ago in Memphis.
Coach Bobby Petrino not only suspended two key defensive starters - linebacker Wendel Davis and safety Matt Harris - for missing curfew two nights before last year’s Liberty Bowl, he sent them home.
“I think it was a lesson learned to a lot of people,” Petrino said. “It was a hard thing to do, and certainly something that I had no choice but to do.”
The Razorbacks were fortunate that the curfew busting standard was set in a game that didn’t have a top five ranking riding on it, like the Sugar Bowl, and that they still won the Liberty Bowl 20-17 in overtime.
It’s safe to say every Razorback is well aware of the consequences of blowing curfew this week in one of the most well-known party cities in the world.
“I don’t think any of our guys are going to make that mistake again,” safety Tramain Thomas said. “Nobody wants to miss this game.”
Team captain D.J. Williams echoed the theme for the Razorbacks’ stay in New Orleans.
“We’re down there for a reason,” Williams said. “We can have fun all week, but it can all go downhill if we lost that football game, so we need to be focused on that mission.”
Offensive coordinator Garrick McGee said Petrino’s hard-line stance in Memphis let players know exactly what is expected of them.
“That means if you want to play in the game, you better do the right things while we’re down there,” McGee said. “He’s not playing around, and I don’t think anybody questions whether he’s playing around or not.
“You screw up, you’re not going to be out there.”
Receiver Joe Adams said the suspensions of Davis and Harris were a wake-up call.
“Oh yeah, guys know you’ve got to follow what the coach says,” Adams said.
“We all know this is one of the biggest bowls in the country,” receiver Cobi Hamilton said prior to the team’s departure for New Orleans. “We all know what’s on the plate, and I think we’ll go down there and do the right thing at all times.”
Linebacker Jerry Franklin, a defensive team captain, said he believes the Liberty Bowl suspensions helped the team grow up and understand the consequences of ignoring team rules and that can affect the team.
He pointed out the Razorbacks’ already shaky defensive depth took a blow with last year’s suspensions and the lineup had to be shuffled, with Thomas starting for Harris and Freddy Burton starting at linebacker.
“It kind of hurts the team when those things happen at the last minute,” Franklin said.
Thomas made the most of his opportunity, returning an interception for a touchdown and earning defensive MVP honors in the Liberty Bowl.
Looking out for a teammate who could be headed for trouble has been hammered home by the coaches.
“Every time we break to go anywhere, I always tell the players ‘Take care of yourself,’ and they repeat, ‘And take care of your teammate,’ ” Petrino said, relating a team mantra. “You have to have enough courage to stand up and not let your teammate make a mistake.”
Sports, Pages 17 on 12/30/2010