FAYETTEVILLE — Williams on best behavior
Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino jokingly discussed tight end D.J. Williams’ pursuit of the school record for receptions Monday.
“We’ll see if he’s nice to me, I’ll call more plays for him,” Petrino said grinning.
“He said that?” Williams said Tuesday. “That sounds nice.
“Yeah, I’ve been nice to him. I complimented him on his ’gator boots the other day. They looked nice. He said he got them back about 20 years ago. They were like 99 bucks. Then I added inflation, so they’re probably worth about 800 bucks around now.”
Petrino said he’d like to see Williams get the record. Williams has 144 catches, nine shy of Anthony Eubanks’ record set in 1994-1997.
“I like calling his number,” Petrino said.
“Certainly I’d love to see him get it because he’s very capable of getting that in one game.”Mallett milestone
Quarterback Ryan Mallett threw three touchdown passes last week to tie Clint Stoerner (1996-1999) on Arkansas’ career list with 57 touchdown passes. Mallett is also four touchdown passes shy of his single-season mark of 30.
Hogs in BCS mix
The Razorbacks were officially listed among the teams still under consideration for a BCS bowl berth following a BCS conference call Tuesday.
Arkansas joined fellow SEC members Auburn, South Carolina, Alabama and LSU among the 27 teams stillunder consideration for the 10 berths in the BCS bowls.
For Arkansas to qualify for its first BCS bowl berth, the Hogs would have to defeat LSU on Saturday, then hope for Auburn to win out, and probably have at least one upset of a higher ranked team to qualify for its first BCS bowl berth.
Hog trivia
Arkansas, ranked No. 12 in every major poll heading into Saturday’s game against No. 5 LSU, has played how many games as a top-12 team since joining the SEC in 1992, and what is the Razorbacks’ record in those games?
Injury update
Cornerback Isaac Madison and safety Rudell Crim, who both missed big portions of Saturday’s victory at Mississippi State, were dressed and going through early drills Tuesday.
Madison appeared to suffer a head injury, and Crim seemed to have an issue with his hand.
Madison was paired with sophomore Darius Winston as first-team cornerbacks,while Eric Bennett and Greg Gatson worked with the second team.
After his strong showing Saturday, Elton Ford moved up to first-team safety with Tramain Thomas, while Crim ran on the second team with Andru Stewart.
For LSU, defensive end Sam Montgomery (knee) was lost for the year in the Tennessee game Oct. 2, and safety Brandon Taylor has been out since breaking a bone in his foot in the Alabama game Nov. 6. Right tackle Alex Hurst (ankle) is questionable for Saturday, while right guard Will Blackwell (ankle) returned last week after sustaining an injury on the first offensive snap of the year.
Mallett in running
Ryan Mallett is one of four nominees in Week 12 of the AT&T All-America player of the week contest, for which fans can vote.
Mallett is joined by Texas A&M safety Trent Hunter, Illinois tailback Mike Leshoure and Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck as the candidates selected by ESPN analysts.
Fans can register to vote by texting VOTE to 345345 on their wireless phones. The deadline for this week’s vote is tonight at 10:59 Central. The winner will be announced at halftime of Thursday’s Texas-Texas A&M game on ESPN.
Trivia answer
Arkansas has played 17 games as a top-12 team, including four this year, since joining the SEC. The Hogs’ record in those games is 7-10. They are 2-2 under Bobby Petrino and 5-8 under Houston Nutt. The Razorbacks’ highest ranking since joining the SEC has been No. 5, where they are 1-1, defeating Mississippi State 28-14 and losing to LSU 31-26 in back-to-back games in 2006.
Worth noting
Arkansas receiver Joe Adams celebrated his 21st birthday Monday.
Bob and Patsy Petrino, the parents of Bobby Petrino, have been in town the past couple of weeks and were at Tuesday’s practice.
Sports, Pages 26 on 11/24/2010