Razorbacks Continue Strong Effort During Wednesday Practice

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Preparation for Saturday’s game against Mississippi State continued Wednesday as the Arkansas football team worked through a 90-minute practice that concluded on the field of Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Head coach Houston Nutt thought it was another good day of effort and concentration from the players.

Both offenses have similar approaches which Nutt said makes for good preparation for the Razorback defense. Along with maintaining Mississippi State tailback Anthony Dixon, the head coach knows the Hogs will have to eliminate mistakes with the football.

“We have to do a good job of stopping Anthony Dixon,” Nutt said. “That’s the bottom line. It’s going to come down to stopping him. (Mississippi State) done a great job this year of not turning the ball over and a good job of getting turnovers so we’ve got to protect (the ball).”

Nutt was pleased with the progress of receiver Marcus Monk who he said seems to be getting better each day he comes out on the field.

“That really helps when (Marcus is) moving better,” Nutt said. “He had a good one-on-one today. He’s not favoring (his knee) as much or coming down limping like he’s done the last two weeks”

With junior Jose Valdez out of practice due to an injury, the offensive line has been shuffled with Robert Felton moving out to left tackle and DeMarcus Love getting reps at the right-guard position. Nutt said as the reps continue, Love is getting better.

Tailback Felix Jones missed Wednesday’s practice as he continues to deal with a deep thigh bruise. Nutt said the injury is not as bad as the similar injury sustained by Peyton Hillis last season, but it remains a painful injury for the junior back.

“(Felix is) doing better, but it’s just hard to tell when he’s not out here,” Nutt said. “He’s up the rehab room all during practice until the end. It’s getting better. H’s a quick healer, but it’s a very, very difficult injury when you bruise that muscle as we experienced with Peyton.”

Arkansas will return to the practice fields Thursday to put the final touches on field preparation for Saturday’s game in Little Rock against the Bulldogs of Mississippi State. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT at War Memorial Stadium. Log on to www.hogwired.com for continued coverage of Razorback football.