Razorbacks Report

Hogs bring the noise to practice

An Arkansas helmet is displayed during practice Saturday, April 29, 2017, at the Walker Pavilion in Fayetteville.
An Arkansas helmet is displayed during practice Saturday, April 29, 2017, at the Walker Pavilion in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks practiced indoors for the entirety of Tuesday's practice, and it wasn't just because there was periodic rain throughout the area.

The Razorbacks' road game at South Carolina on Saturday will present the first true hostile road environment of the season.

"They had those speakers turned up all the way," sophomore receiver Deon Stewart said. "We're just working on crowd noise because it's going to be a big environment down there."

Quarterback Austin Allen said the Razorbacks are working on different ways to be on the same page at the snap.

"We're doing different things in the 'Gun, doing some clap cadence, doing some silent stuff," Allen said. "Any time you play on the road in that environment, where the crowd's going to be crazy, you have to do some different things. The right tackle might not hear my voice, so we've got some different things going."

Love for Jake

Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen got to know South Carolina sophomore quarterback Jake Bentley over the summer at the Manning Passing Academy.

"Yeah, I went to the Manning camp and he was my roommate," Allen said. "So I got to hang out with him. Love that guy."

Manning said Bentley's performance last year as a true freshman was eye opening.

"He's a heck of a player, throws the ball really well and is a gritty, tough guy and the nicest guy you'd ever meet off the field."

Sack circuit

The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and South Carolina can commiserate on one point: Watching their quarterbacks take a lot of shots in recent one-score losses to Texas A&M.

Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen was sacked six times in the Hogs' 50-43 loss in overtime Sept. 23, while South Carolina's Jake Bentley went down seven times in his team's 24-17 on Saturday.

Fight fadeaway

Tailback Devwah Whaley was not verbose in talking about the fight he engaged in with receiver Brandon Martin two weeks ago.

"Things are going good," Whaley said. "We're going to put that in the past and just move forward. Things like that happen. All we can do is continue to move forward and put it past us."

Whaley, who was still nursing an ankle injury suffered prior to the TCU game, carried a season-low six times for 38 yards against Texas A&M three days after the locker room scuffle. The sophomore bounced back last week to post 119 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries against New Mexico State.

Ramirez playing

Junior offensive lineman Paul Ramirez got significant playing time off the bench at both tackle spots against Texas A&M and New Mexico State.

"He's very talented, and he's been consistent," offensive line coach Kurt Anderson said. "He can be physical, he can pass protect. I like what he brings, because he's a very sharp kid.

"He has the ability to play both left tackle and right tackle, so it gives you diversity when you need to give guys a rest or make a push for the fourth quarter. He can go in there, and if he's playing well you can leave him in there and feel good about the group that you have in."

Muschamp vs. Hogs

South Carolina Coach Will Muschamp will face Arkansas for the 12th time, but with his fifth different school.

Muschamp has gone against the Razorbacks as an Auburn graduate assistant from 1995-1996; LSU's defensive coordinator from 2001-2004; Auburn's defensive coordinator from 2006-2007; Texas' defensive coordinator in 2008; Florida's head coach in 2013; and Auburn's defensive coordinator in 2015.

Muschamp's teams are 6-5 against the Razorbacks, including Arkansas' 21-20 victory over LSU in the "Miracle on Markham" game in Little Rock in 2002.

Few flags

South Carolina leads the SEC in fewest penalties (4.0) and penalty yards (28.8) per game, and ranks third and eighth nationally in those categories.

The Gamecocks' highest totals have been 7 penalties for 45 yards against Kentucky and 6 for 45 yards against North Carolina State. Their lowest totals are one penalty for 15 yards against Louisiana Tech and two penalties for 10 yards against Texas A&M.

Arkansas ranks 25th nationally in fewest penalties per game (4.8) and 28th in penalty yards per game (43.4).

Injury report

The Razorbacks have lost top cornerback Ryan Pulley (pectoral muscle) and top receiver Jared Cornelius (Achilles tendon) for the season, but otherwise they are pretty healthy heading into their first road game.

"We didn't have any issues pop up during the course of the game that will limit anybody during the course of the week," Bret Bielema said. "We did have a little bit of a flu bug going around toward the end of the week. A couple of guys were sick and nauseous. I think Hayden Henry had a pretty good bout with some food poisoning. I don't know how he got it, where he got it, but he was pretty sick on Thursday-Friday."

Weather report

The four-day forecast calls for a 60 percent chance of rain Saturday in Columbia, S.C. The high temperature is expected to be 87 degrees, with light winds and 74 percent humidity. The rain, which could include scattered thunderstorms, is expected to come in the afternoon or evening.

ADVERTISEMENT

More headlines

Sports on 10/04/2017

Upcoming Events