The Razorback game day football blog

9:06 PM — That’s it for tonight from the press box. Thanks for following along. We’ll be back next week from Little Rock and the Louisiana-Monroe game. Watch for the game story and final stats posted soon.

9:05 PM — The offense has 32 seconds to kill. Once on the knee, and that will be it. Bobby Petrino is in the books with his first career win at Arkansas, 28-24. Casey Dick crushes every career stat he had for a single game. The video and still photos rush the field to get the pics of Coach Petrino.

9:03 PM — Jamar Love breaks up the third down pass, so for the second straight time, it’s fourth and long for WIU. There will not be another fourth down saving miracle.

9:00 PM — After an evening where WIU used its ground game to consume the clock, the Leathernecks are struggling to move the ball in a time to score situation. They will now go for it on fourth and 14, and pull it out with a clutch 20 yard pass.

8:54 PM — Make no mistake about it; tonight in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Casey Dick is THE man — four yard run into the endzone to cap the drive and give Arkanas its’ first lead of the game. He’s over 300 yards passing.

8:53 PM — As the game as gone on, Arkansas offense has become better and better; now with the carry inside the five to the four yard line.

8:52 PM — Casey scrambles, thinks about the run, sees Salters open, rifles it and YES first down Arkansas.

8:51 PM — 4th and 10 at the 34 yard line; Petrino is going for it.

8:49 PM — Casey Dick over the middle again, this time for 26 yards to put Arkansas near midfield; backs it up with another toss to Greg Childs of 28 yards. Now at the 33 yard line.

8:46 PM — Crushing hit on Barr as he releases the ball results in a wobbly third down pass — three and out and the punt puts Arkansas back in business on its own 17 with 5:42 left to play.

8:43 PM — Crowd comes to life on the first play by WIU, Donaldson slides outside for a first down and falls before being run out of bounds. The Leathernecks continue to try to chew up the clock.

8:40 PM — Casey Dick threads another pass across the middle, this time to Greg Childs for a 26-yard touchdown. The pyrotechnics fire off and with the PAT, its 24-21 WIU.

8:34 PM — 3rd and 10, Dick settles in and rifles one 20 yards for the first. That puts him over 200 yards for the game.

8:30 PM — The play stands as called on the field, WIU 24-14.

8:26 PM — WIU goes against type, handing to Javid Milton for a touchdown; wait, play is under review.

8:23 PM — The defense is digging in for a classic goal line stand. Holding Donaldson out of the end zone on second down, then pushing back Western QB Matt Barr on third to force fourth and inches.

8:17 PM — For the McAdory following the blog in Scotsdale, Ariz.: No, I can’t post any uniform shots right now. From where I’m at in the press box, the shots wouldn’t reveal a lot. Thanks for reading along.

8:16 PM — Donaldson stopped for a loss on back-to-back plays, two of his few negative yardage plays. He makes up for it by blasting through for a first down at the four.

8:11 PM — Crowd rises up for 3rd and 3 at the 17; Donaldson battles for the first down to end the third quarter.

8:08 PM — Unfortunate turnover for Arkansas sets up WIU at the 35.

8:06 PM — Livestats should now be repaired.

8:02 PM — Looking like a three and out for WIU.

8:01 PM — The crowd of 70, 537 is roaring once again.

8:00 PM — The score is Casey Dick’s first career rushing touchdown, and at 23 yards is the longest run of his career.

7:58 PM — The defense opens up in front of Casey Dick, and scrambles for a 23-yard touchdown run. WIU thinks they have him pinned around the 12, but Casey slips a tackler, picks up a block and heads to the far side of the field. He gets tripped, but keeps his balance to ramble into the endzone. The PAT is good and Arkansas moves the score to 17-14.

7:56 PM — Casey Dick goes over the middle to Joe Adams. Adams take a heck of a hit, but hangs on for 1st and 10 at the WIU 24.

7:55 PM — First play under video review of the season. Brings the short Arkansas drive and momentum to a halt, but the good news — the play stands — 1st and 10 at the WIU 38.

7:50 PM — First possession of the second half for Arkansas. Casey Dick rolls out against the motion, tosses to wide open D.J. Williams.

7:47 PM — In an unusual twist tonight, Herb Donaldson catches a pass. It’s a 12-yard touchdown for a 17-7 Western lead.

7:44 PM — Rashaad Johnson throws Donaldson for a loss.

7:41 PM — Start of the second half. Donaldson is rumbling along again for WIU. He just went over 100 yards for the game.

7:29 PM — Razorback band takes the field — it’s a Journey retrospective. Any Way You Want It, followed by Don’t Stop Believing.

7:25 PM — Huge ovation for Darryl Walker in the Hall of Honor introductions.

7:21 PM — It’s halftime, and the 2008 Arkansas Razorback Sports Hall of Honor class of inductees is being introduced.

7:18 PM — Casey Dick goes deep for London Crawford, it’s broken up at the last moment. On the last play of the half, Dick scrambles for about 20 but Arkansas is out of time.

7:15 PM — Great drop in screen for Curtis goes for about 18 yards.

7:13 PM — Hurry up time for Arkansas with just over a minute left in the half following the time grinding possession of WIU. Fortunately, Arkansas has all three of its time outs left, and will use one now after converting a first down at its own 38 yard line.

7:11 PM — WIU puts together the longest drive of the first half to regain the lead, 10-7.

6:58 PM — The first touchdown of the Bobby Petrino era, and it’s a fantastic pass from Casey Dick to Joe Adams. The freshman picked up the TD off a great crossing pattern over the middle of the end zone. The PAT is good and Arkansas leads, 7-3.

6:56 PM — Casey Dick patiently sits in the pocket to get back all the yards lost plus three to set up 3rd and seven. He backs it up with a 19-yard strike to Lance Thompson. Then another to Crosby Tuck. Razorbacks are now in the Red Zone

6:53 PM — De’Anthony Curtis’ run up the middle to take the ball across midfield, an 18-yard run — long run of the game so far. The effort is undone by the third sack of the game of Casey Dick.

6:51 PM — Casey Dick’s crisp pass over the middle to D.J. Williams for a first down to the 34 yard line gets the crowd back in the game.

6:49 PM — Another three and out for WIU, but a well-covered punt that could have pinned Arkansas inside the 10 is undone by a procedure call.

6:48 PM — Sun drops below the West stands, and a cool evening for late August begins. A nice breeze out of the northeast adds to the evening.

6:42 PM — The ground-pounding approach of the Leathernecks has WIU with a time of possession advantage early.

6:38 PM — Impressive punt by Jermey Davis from his own endzone, puts WIU back on their own 43.

6:34 PM — End of the first quarter. Jeff Long presents the game ball to first-year University of Arkansas Chancellor Dr. G. David Gearhart.

6:32 PM — Small, but vocal and very visible in their purple shirts against the sea of red, crowd of WIU fans cheers as the Leathernecks pick off a deflected pass.

6:31 PM — Little Rock freshman Joe Adams’ first touch results in a 10-yard run and a first down.

6:29 PM — WIU comes into today’s game ranked top 25 in the FCS (or I-AA if you’re old school). Their tailback, Herb Donaldson, is a solid player, and you can see how the Leathernecks will be a force in the FCS, potentially a playoff team. Nevertheless, WIU is three and out back to Arkansas.

6:27 PM — So far today, Casey Dick is 3-of-4, and the fourth pass — it was a drop.

6:26 PM — WIU opens its third drive with a false start penalty, and now calls time out to settle the offense.

6:23 PM — Jeremy Davis’ punt flummoxes WIU, a near fumble on the catch right on top of the new SEC circle logos on the field. Fans may notice the "footballs on fire" graphic used at static moments like a media timeout has been replaced this year with the RazorVision eyes and tusk view of the Razorback mascot.

6:21 PM — 32 yard kickoff return by Eldon Ford, sets up Casey Dick out of the shotgun and no backs. First time today in that formation. He completes to Greg Childs.

6:19 PM — Stat feed is back during this second media timeout. Elsewhere in the SEC today, LSU beats Appalachian State, 41-13, in a 10 am kickoff due to potential hurricane weather.

6:18 PM — WIU goes deep to the endzone, but incomplete. 4th and 11, and WIU goes for a field goal again. 42 yard attempt by Taylor Rowan. It’s good and WIU leads, 3-0 with 6:12 left in the first quarter.

6:16 PM — Flag is a false start, 3 and 12 now for WIU

6:15 PM — I’ll try to keep up while they fix the stat feed — 3 & 7 at the 20, flag on the play

6:14 PM — After advancing from the 49 up to the 24, Jamar Love sacks the WIU QB to put the Leathernecks in a 2nd and 16 hole.

6:13 PM — If you’re looking for the livestats, they are off line for the moment.

6:11 PM — After the Arkansas punt, WIU starts at the 49 — right on top of the new midfield Razorback.

6:09 PM — The teams end up trading defensive stands as we head to the first media time out of the game.

6:06 PM — The first play call of the Bobby Petrino era — Casey Dick completes the pass for a first down.

6:06 PM — WIU goes for the fake field goal, and it almost results in an interception. Didn’t work at all — Arkansas not fooled.

6:04 PM — WIU’s running back, Herb Donaldson finally gives the Leathernecks some positive yardage, only to give it back on a fumble. Jelani Smith causes the fumble.

6:02 PM — The defensive intro video — was that Rob Zombie? That’s pretty cool.

6:01 PM — Western Illinois kicks off to Elton Ford, he hesitates on bringing it out; fumbles and WIU in business on the 15 yard line.

5:59 PM — Captains for the coin toss Malcomb Sheppard, Jamar Love, Casey Dick, Jonathan Luigs — Arkansas wins the toss and elects to receive.

5:58 PM — And the crowd goes wild, make that hogwild, with the close of the new intro video. Bobby Petrino has taken the field.

5:56 PM — The new gameday intro is playing, and the crowd is getting loud.

5:49 PM — Right on cue, the A-10 "Warthogs" of the Arkansas Air National Guard 188th Wing makes the flyover to close the National Anthem. The finger-four formation just made a high-pass back across the stadium as the Alma Mater begins from the band.

5:47 PM — The University of Arkansas Army ROTC (south) and Air Force ROTC (north end) are preparing to present the colors.

5:42 PM — On to the field — the Razorback marching band. The stands are filling in, with the students beginning to filter into the upper south general admission seats.

5:36 PM — Just as soon as I call it a non-hard sun day for the East stands, the sun comes blasting through. It’s 83 degrees, but 70% humidity according the National Weather Service.

5:27 PM — Tailgating. I know you’re out there, and many of you have high speed, or at least 3G iPhones. Send in your tailgate shots, and we’ll use some of them here in the blog. Email them to: bismith@uark.edu

5:22 PM — As the Razorback band make the turn at the north end of the stadium and breaks out into the fight song, flip card changes were just handed out in the press box. Notable: Dennis Johnson is expected to start at running back.

5:20 PM — If you’re not watching the pregame stream and caught a glimse, the team is wearing the new adidas Cardinal jerseys with Cardinal pants. There is a huge white stripe on the side of the pants, which actually makes the players look like they have white pants when viewed from the side. At least from this distance in the press box, they would appear to validate the preseason prediction of "tight" unis.

5:19 PM — The Razorback Marching Band makes its entrance, followed about 30 seconds later by the next wave of Arkansas players.

5:17 PM — This just in from our man in the field, Blair Cartwright. A quick pick of the team’s walk through the crowd at the Trough.

5:13 PM — Is that AC/DC in the team’s warm-up music? Hard to be sure from the press box — they have a separate sound system on the field just for player warmups. I think so. That would be another sign of the changing times.

5:09 PM — Roar from the crowd as the backs and specialists take the field.

5:07 PM — Cue Tusk’s entry into the stadium, and the first Hog Call of the day. Those watching the stream had a chance to see the new RazorVision video intro as the cheerleaders rode into the stadium on Tusk’s trailer.

5:03 PM — The weather — early today there were pop-up thunderstorms all around Fayetteville, and it was tremendously humid in the stadium. As the afternoon has worn on, a thin overcast has covered the campus. It’s cutting the sunshine down, and has dropped the temp. Looks like it won’t be a hard sunshine afternoon.

5:01 PM — You know there’s excitement in the stadium when a public service announcement featuring Coach Petrino gets a big cheer.

4:30 PM — The stream is on.

4:16 PM — In about 15 minutes — OK, 14 minutes — we will begin streaming the pregame from Reynolds Razorback Stadium. This is a first — live video from the football stadium. I know, your next question is why won’t you stream the football game. Conference rules limit when and how we can do football live. That may be changing in the future, but for now, let’s enjoy what we can do. This is the feed from the RazorVision, so you get to see the same stuff the folks in the stadium see. You might be able to be here, but you can enjoy the atmosphere of pregame. The stream will end at kickoff, so be sure to transfer over to the audio feed for the play-by-play. We will do this for all the home Fayetteville games this year. 4:15 PM — Who are those people on the roof of the Broyles Athletic Center? We’ll all know right after the National Anthem.

4:00 PM — RazorVision kicks on, the gates are open and the students start streaming into the seats.

3:11 PM — RazorVision screen plays the USC-Virginia game for pregame workers entertainment.

3:00 PM — Welcome to Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, more specifically the press box. This is a historic day — no really. Aside from Bobby Petrino’s debut as the Razorback head coach, we have the first-ever Razorback logo at midfield. Here’s the view from the press box.

Updates will be as we have them until about 5:30 PM. I will say there is a special surprise at 4:30 PM central.