Coach Petrino meets media to kick off Georgia week

FAYETTEVILLE – University of Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino addressed media members Monday following the Razorbacks’ 31-7 win over ULM inside War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Ark. The Razorback leader, in his third season, expressed that the UA squad is exactly where the coaching staff planned for it to be, record-wise.

"We are where we wanted to be after the first two games of the year, as far as the record goes," Coach Petrino said. "We certainly have a lot of work ahead of us this week in practice to improve before the Georgia game."

Coach Petrino spoke of the start of the Southeastern Conference schedule for Arkansas and how the on-the-hustle Razorback defense will be a unit to follow closely. The UA defense ranks first in the league in total defense (187.5, fourth in NCAA) and passing defense (90.0, fifth in NCAA).

"I’ve been very excited and pleased with the way that our defense has been playing," Coach Petrino said. "The knowledge of the schemes; the speed we have been playing with; how fast we’re getting to the football and the effort we have been playing with."

The Razorback offense, tops in the SEC in total offense (509.0, 10th in NCAA) and passing offense (361.5, fifth in NCAA), is led by preseason All-SEC first-teamer Ryan Mallett. The Texarkana, Ark., native notched the third 400-yard passing game of his career against ULM. Coach Petrino stressed that there is further improvement to be made for the unit to stay at the top of the league.

"We do feel like we need to be a lot more consistent," Coach Petrino said. "We need to stay away from negative plays so we don’t get behind the sticks and stay away from penalties, take care of the ball better, and run the ball better. Those are the things we’re really going to work at."

Arkansas practices this week in preparation for its SEC opener vs. Georgia in Athens, Ga. The game is set to kickoff at 11 a.m. (CST) and will air on ESPN.