No. 11 Arkansas begins Texas A&M week

FAYETTEVILLE – The 11th-ranked Arkansas football team is back into action this week, preparing for Saturday’s Southwest Classic against Texas A&M in Arlington, Texas. The Razorback squad, 3-1 and 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference in 2010, will match up with the Aggies (3-1, 0-1 Big 12) inside Cowboys Stadium at 2:30 p.m. on ABC. Head coach Bobby Petrino, off to his best start in three years at UA, is excited for the team to get back to game preparations after the off week.

"I am very happy with our bye week," Coach Petrino said. "I thought we did a nice job. Our players continued to impress me and make it a lot of fun to coach this team. They worked extremely hard and had good attitudes. I thought we got a lot accomplished last week. We went back and worked on techniques and fundamentals. I was very happy with the three practices we had. We gave them a couple of days off and came back last night and again, went back to work. We did a nice job, had a good enthusiasm, good focus, so I feel good leading into our preparation for this game."

The Razorbacks play in the 71,815-seat Cowboys Stadium for the second straight season. UA turned away Texas A&M in 2009 in the inaugural year of the Southwest Classic by a score of 47-19. Coach Petrino affirmed the team’s anticipation of returning to the site for this weekend’s contest.

"We’re excited to go back to Dallas," Coach Petrino said. "It was a lot of fun last year with the unbelievable atmosphere and an unbelievable stadium to play in. I think we have twenty-six guys on our roster from the state of Texas so getting to go back there and playing is a great deal for us. We are certainly looking forward to it."

Tickets for the Southwest Classic are still available and can be purchased online at ArkansasRazorbacks.com or by calling 800-982-HOGS before the end of business Thursday. Online sales will remain open until midnight.