Short week forces night practice

FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas football team has a short week as it prepares to face LSU on Friday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium so rather than taking Monday off from the gridiron, the Razorbacks practiced inside Walker Pavilion later than normal.

Arkansas’ coaching staff typically uses Monday to prepare for the coming weekend and get the players acclimated to their next opponent through film, but with one day less on the schedule, the Hogs were forced to strap on the shoulder pads and begin preparations.

“We had pretty good energy,” Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said. “It was good to get out here it’s a short week so we had a good crisp, fast practice and have a lot of work to get done in the next few days.”

With one less day between games one might be concerned with the mental state of the Razorbacks as they were not able to get the rest that they normally have but with the way Arkansas came out on Monday, that shouldn’t be an issue.

“Focus is pretty good,” Petrino said. “One thing that they have done is to come out each week and improve and try to get better and I thought the focus was pretty good tonight. I think it will improve tomorrow and the next day, but I thought it was pretty good.”

The Razorbacks made a change at quarterback for the start of the Mississippi State game placing Nathan Dick behind center and the redshirt freshman responded with 333 yards passing and three touchdowns.

“I think that you have a little more confidence in yourself and understand what is going on.” Petrino said of the experience Dick picked up last Saturday. “You feel better each day that you are out here.”

Dick had a report with receiver Lucas Miller who hauled in a career high 10 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown. The duo hope to continue that magic, but Arkansas’ coaching staff knows that they have to take what the defense gives them.

“I think a lot of it was what [Mississippi State was] doing,” Petrino said. “Some of it was where they were defending the field and that is where we attacked them. Lucas just did a real good job of making plays.”

The Razorbacks are back on the practice field on Tuesday at their normal time as they prepare for Friday’s game with the LSU Tigers at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. For more information regarding Razorback football or University of Arkansas athletics please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.