Razorbacks return focus to Texas

FAYETTEVILLE – After a week off from the Texas game plan, the Arkansas football team returned its focus to the seventh-ranked Longhorns who they face off against on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Austin, Texas.

The Razorbacks and Longhorns were originally scheduled to meet on Sept. 13, but hurricane Ike postponed the game to this Saturday.

Tuesday’s practice session saw the Razorbacks reinstall their game plan for the Longhorns which got a good work out two weeks ago. Starting with drills for more than 20 minutes, the Hogs got to work on their strategy before ending the two-hour session with special teams work.

“I thought (practice) was good,” Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said. “The guys came out here with some fight. They showed that they want to get up off their knees and fight and get after it. I thought that we showed some good spirit. We still need to come out and do things better but at least came out with the right frame of mind, the right fight and the right hard work.”

For Arkansas, Tuesday marked the third day that the Razorbacks have practiced with Texas on their mind counting the two days they worked out at the beginning of the month.

“There is a lot of carryover,” Petrino said. “We brought the stuff back out and looked at it and watched the Rice game so some of that was a little helpful. There is a lot of carry over.”

The Razorbacks have received inspired play from running back Michael Smith during the last two games and the Arkansas coaches are concerned about working the junior too hard during games. The goal is to keep Smith fresh into the fourth quarter where his talents could be a tremendous boost to the Arkansas offense.

“We came up with a couple of personnel groups to make sure that we can get (the other running backs) in,” Petrino said. “I thought that Dennis (Johnson) had a pretty good practice today and I am anxious to watch some tape. I thought (Johnson) had a pretty good day today and worked really hard returning kicks on Saturday.”

Some of the questions from the media in attendance surrounded the Arkansas quarterbacks and the play of starter Casey Dick and reserve Tyler Wilson.

“I thought that Casey bounced back well,” Petrino said. “He did some things better technically that were hurting him the other day and his mind seemed good. He had a pretty good day.

“Obviously (Tyler) moved around and made some nice throws,” Petrino continued. “He needs to learn the offense better and the protections better but it’s something where we just have to keep bringing him around. He got some more reps today and I think that he’ll just keep getting better and better.”

The Razorbacks take on no. 7 Texas on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in Austin, Texas. The game is scheduled to air on ABC. For more information regarding Razorback football or University of Arkansas athletics please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.