Audio/Notes: Petrino’s Monday press conference
You figure the Hogs wouldn’t have much in the way of positive items to take from their 49-14 shellacking at the hands of Alabama at home, but there were a few individual performances that impressed head coach Bobby Petrino.
Michael Smith, who rushed for 91 yards on 19 carries, was one of the Hogs Petrino singled out. Smith, almost single-handedly, bumped Alabama’s rush defense from No. 1 in the nation (42.7 yards per game) to No. 8 in the nation (55 yards per game).
“Michael Smith had a great game for us and showed a tremendous amount of competitiveness and toughness,” Petrino said. “You couldn’t ask more out of him. He was competing on every single play he was out there whether he was carrying the ball or involved in protection or running his route, I thought he really played well. We need to build on that.”
The Hogs also need to get true freshmen De’Anthony Curtis and Dennis Johnson more involved at the tailback spot, Petrino said. As for Johnson’s lack of more involvement, Petrino said the Texarkana native has not been focused 100 percent at practice at times, and was suffering from tonsillitis late last week before he surprised some with his speediness on kick returns against ‘Bama on Saturday.
AUDIO: Bobby Petrino’s Monday press conference (15 minutes, two parts)
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Petrino also has been relying heavily on Smith’s pass blocking, which the freshmen are still coming to terms with perfecting.
“We have expanded De’Anthony’s package each week and now he’s helping us in the passing game,” Petrino said. “We do need to get him more carries.”
Who else was impressive for the Razorbacks Saturday?
“Our defensive front had some big improvements,” Petrino said. “Adrian Davis played well. Jamar Love had a nice game and played real physical and did a nice job in coverage and had a couple of real big plays that got us off the field.”
Up next for the Hogs is No. 7 Texas. Arkansas and Texas last played in 2004. And, guess what? The Longhorns were ranked seventh in the nation then, too. The Razorbacks are 1-5 in their history against teams ranked No. 7.
Read tomorrow’s Northwest Arkansas Times for more info.
– Brandon Marcello
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3 Responses to “Audio/Notes: Petrino’s Monday press conference”
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With the schedule, things may get worse before they get better. However, it will get better. There has been a complete overhaul of systems, on both offense and defense. These things take time. In two years, the Razorbacks will be playing BCS ball.
[...] for the rest of the season. WR Lucas Miller suffered a concussion during the Alabama game as well. Michael Smith impressed with a 91 yard on 19 carries [...]
[...] voiced concern over Johnson’s practice habits during his Monday press conference. Brother Paul Petrino said today that the Texarkana native improved quite a bit [...]