FAYETTEVILLE — Two Hogs ruled out of game
Arkansas will be without two key starters for Saturday’s 6 p.m.
homecoming game against Vanderbilt.
The BCS No. 19 Razorbacks will play without defensive tackle D.D. Jones, who was suspended by Coach Bobby Petrino after his Wednesday arrest for possession of marijuana, and receiver Joe Adams, who has a sprained ankle.
Quarterback Ryan Mallett (shoulder) and receiver Greg Childs (ankle) are both ready to play, Petrino said at his Thursday news conference.
“Greg did good today,” Petrino said. “He feels good and he’s bouncing around.”
Mallett has been practicing since Tuesday after bruising his scapula on a third-quarter sack against Ole Miss on Saturday.
“His strength is back,” Petrino said. “He has no weakness at all.”
Junior Jarius Wright will take Adams’ spot as the top punt returner. Adams broke a school record with a 97-yard punt return before his injury last week, then Wright nearly broke free on a 24-yarder.
“He would have broken Joe’s record, because I think it would have been 98 yards,” Petrino said. “We do have to teach them when the ball’s inside the 10, not to catch it.”
Junior Lavunce Askew will start at defensive tackle in Jones’ place, while De’Anthony Curtis and Julian Horton will likely see their plays increase in Adams’ inside receiver slot.
Weather policy
Bobby Petrino said the Razorbacks have a daily routine in place to discuss weather issues, such as high winds, before practice on days when the weather might be inclement.
“The way we work it, our video director, Andy Wagner, is also in charge of the weather, so it’s a good situation. He comes to me ... and we always talk about rain, wind and lightning.
“Between Andy and myself we make a decision as to whether we’re going inside or staying outside.
If we err at all, we err on going inside more than we do outside.”
A 20-year-old videographer at Notre Dame, Declan Sullivan, died Wednesday after the scissor-lift he was filming from toppled in wind gusts as high as 50 mph.
“It’s a terrible tragedy,” Petrino said.
Bailey’s blocks
Redshirt freshman guard Alvin Bailey was a film review ace for Arkansas after the Razorbacks finished off Ole Miss 38-24 on Saturday.
“Alvin Bailey had his best game of the year [with] some physical blocks, some good cuts,” Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said.
“It was my best game of being physical so far and just being a dominant Olineman and they’re real happy about that,” Bailey said.
“No question it was his best game because it was his most physical game,” offensive line coach Chris Klenakis said. “He got some knockdown blocks. He was finishing guys. He flatbacked a few people and he just played with more effort and more finish than he had.”Production up
Knile Davis has led Arkansas in carries the past two games, and his production has powered up the charts. The sophomore has 38 carries for 267 yards and 3 touchdowns the past two games after amassing 28 carries for 203 yards the first five games.
Coach Bobby Petrino was asked this week if Davis is now the team’s featured back.
“I’ve never said the word ‘featured,’ but Knile’s been the guy getting the majority of the carries since the Alabama game,” Petrino said. “The way he’s practiced, the way he’s ran the football, the energy he’s given our offense has been very, very good.”
Ronnie Wingo Jr. had a 25-yard carry among his two attempts last week, while big back Broderick Green had just one carry, a 1-yard gain on third-and-2.
Davis averages 7.1 yards per carry, better than Alabama’s Trent Richardson (7.0) and Mark Ingram (6.4), Auburn quarterback Cam Newton (6.9), Mississippi State’s Vick Ballard (6.6), Florida’s Jeffrey Demps (6.5), Vanderbilt’s Warren Norman (6.0) and Ole Miss’ Brandon Bolden (5.8). The only regular back in the SEC with a better figure is Auburn’s Onterio McCalebb, who averages 8.3 yards per carry.
Fourth-and-1
Arkansas faced four fourth-and-1 situations against Ole Miss. On the first of those, a delay of game created a fourth-and-6 with the punt team on the field.
Coach Bobby Petrino elected to punt on each of those occasions, which are decisions that normally go against his grain. Petrino said his confidence in the Hogs’ defense has been a key factor in those calls.
“You’re looking at the field position, you’re looking at the wind,” Petrino said. “I just felt like, ‘Hey, it’s time to punt the ball and have confidence in our defense.’ .... I wanted to go for them, I can tell you that. I wouldn’t let myself.”
Arkansas has converted 5of 12 fourth-down attempts (.417), a figure that ranks 85th in the country.
Home again
The Razorbacks will complete their first set of back-to-back games on their campus Saturday against Vanderbilt. Arkansas is the last team in the SEC to achieve that feat this season.
In fact, all but three other SEC teams (Alabama, Georgia, Vanderbilt) have played either three in a row or two sets of consecutive games on campus.
Worth noting
Arkansas receiver Javontee Herndon’s older brother, Tray Herndon, is a redshirt junior receiver for the Commodores. Tray Herndon has five receptions for 56 yards, while Javontee has contributed two catches for 32 yards.
The Vanderbilt-Arkansas game will not be available to Dish Network subscribers based on the network’s ongoing issues with Fox.
If first-year Vanderbilt Coach Robbie Caldwell can get two more victories this season, he’ll have the best first-year record for a Commodores boss since Gerry DiNardo went 5-6 in 1991. The best debut season for the four Vanderbilt coaches since then was Woody Widenhofer’s 3-8 mark in 1997.
Ray of light
Arkansas might have identified its kickoff man for the near future after redshirt freshman Lance Ray returned three kickoffs for 66 yards, including a 27-yarder, against Ole Miss.
Though Ray’s 22-yard average is modest - it would rank 89th nationally if he had enough returns to qualify - it represented an improvement from the Razorbacks’ team average of 18.7 yards per return.
“Well, I wasn’t real happy when be brought it from 6 yards out,” Coach Bobby Petrino said of a return Ray made from deep in his end zone to the 20 in the third quarter.
“All three [blocking] backs, you can see them on the video doing this, ‘Stay in, stay in.’ But you’ve got to like his courage and his toughness.
“I thought he really tried to hit the hole hard.
He ran with abandon and a tremendous amount of courage.”
Arkansas has used four different deep men since Dennis Johnson, who averaged 26 yards per return, suffered a significant abdomen injury in week two. Eight Razorbacks have returned kickoffs.
Sports, Pages 24 on 10/29/2010