FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas football players were unable to leave campus to be with family members on Thanksgiving Day, but they will still be with other “family” members.
“Basically, it’s our second family here,” quarterback Ryan Mallett said.
The Razorbacks will have an enormous Thanksgiving meal in the Raymond Miller room of the Broyles Complex after today’s early practice. The coaches’ wives and children will be involved in the gathering that will serve as a reflection on the No. 12 Razorbacks’ season and a focus toward Saturday’s regular-season finale against No. 5 LSU in Little Rock.
“It’s a good time for our players to take a deep breath, be around each other, get the afternoon and evening off to watch football,” Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said.
“It’s great,” tight end D.J.Williams said. “The past four years I’ve had Thanksgiving with 110 of my brothers, so we’re going to do it again.”
Williams said he would indulge in a slice of pecan pie or pumpkin pie and “hopefully my Aunt Viv will send down some macaroni and cheese, and everything will be great.”
For football players who are growing from teenagers into young men, Thanksgiving represents another moment to cherish what is important to them, even if their actual family isn’t involved.
“It’s always a good meal and people laughing and having fun, and that’s what it’s all about when you have guys like that around and you can relax and enjoy Thanksgiving,” Mallett said.
“I think my whole team would agree we’d love to be at home with our family, our moms, our brothers,” said tailback Knile Davis of Missouri City, Texas. “It’s just like last year. We had a great time.
“We were in this very room eating dinner, just conversing. It’s just a cool atmosphere to kick back and relax and enjoy your teammates.”
Defensive end Tenarius Wright swears by his mother Teresa’s home cooking in Memphis, but he’s prepared to settle for today’s spread.
“It’s nothing like my mom’s cooking, but Thanksgiving dinner is Thanksgiving dinner,” Wright said. “I’ll eat it if I’m hungry enough.”
Linebacker Jerry Franklin agreed.
“It’s not like Mom’s,” Franklin said of his mother, Mary. “It’s good, but it’s not like Mom.”
The Razorbacks entered 2010 with high hopes, and at 9-2 they are two victories shy of posting Arkansas’ first 11-victory season since the 1977 team went 11-1 with an Orange Bowl victory over No. 2 Oklahoma.
The Hogs can dine on turkey and the trimmings today knowing they could go down as one of Arkansas’ finest teams, but also understanding how close they were to taking an unblemished record into the regular-season finale.
“We’re looking to get to 10 wins,” Mallett said. “Obviously we wanted to get to 12 before the regular season was out, and that’s not feasible.
“We are trying to get to 10, and wherever they put us is where we’ll go [in the postseason]. But this is the biggest game of the season this week.”
Sports, Pages 25 on 11/25/2010