Monday Notes: Team adjustments carry over

Believe it or not, the Razorbacks' offense had one of their better days of the season in the 38-7 loss to Florida on Saturday. The Hogs drove down the field and pushed four of their first five possessions over to the Florida's side of the field. But, as you know, the Hogs failed to convert for points.

The Hogs are hoping to carry over some adjustments made last week in practice to this week. For one, the playbook on offense and defense was cut down. The reason? The team is a little too young and inexperienced to grasp the entire offense as of right now, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said.

What resulted was some better execution and better numbers. For example, the receivers had one of their better days and the yards after catch category was the best of the season, Petrino said.

Here are some more notes from today's press conference with Petrino and some players:

— Junior defensive end Adrian Davis said he could "sense" the team's confidence dropping in the fourth quarter Saturday against Florida. He thought players were unsure whether they could pull out a win.

Arkansas was within 17-7 heading into the fourth quarter before the Hogs suffered another lopsided loss, 38-7.

Linebacker Wendel Davis said, "we let our guard down." The big plays started and tackles were missed as Florida scored three touchdowns to put the game out of reach.

"Overall, three quarters, I think we did a pretty good job as far as defense goes against Florida," Wendel Davis said.

— Michael Smith will continue to return punts despite his fumble against the Gators. Jerell Norton is still out and his return to the field soon is unlikely.

— Offensive weak tackle Michael Aguirre (ankle, knee) will not play this week against Auburn. The junior was injured on Arkansas' first offensive play of the Florida game. Ray Dominguez, who didn't play Saturday because of an illness in the family, will return.

Dominguez and Grant Freeman will compete at that spot this week in practice. Grant Cook, who replaced an injured DeMarcus Love (ankle) against Florida, is listed as the starter at strong guard.

— Petrino wishes Joe Adams' great performance (five catches, 68 yards) Saturday and in recent games would translate in practice. Adams has been gassed near the end of practice sessions this season, Petrino said.

"That’s why he always plays better on game day than in practice, because you don’t get as tired on game day. That’s kind of half of the idea, is that you practice hard, you go full speed, get a lot of reps, you learn how to practice when you’re tired, and then the game day is the easy part of the week. That’s certainly shown up for him."

— Petrino said Smith has been handling the load at tailback quite well, and is doing extra work after practice to get his body in rugged form.

"You wouldn’t believe how much he’s putting into doing all that," Petrino said.

The coaches are still trying to work De'Anthony Curtis (knee) into the gameplan, but he's been slowed a bit.

"He's cutting better," Petrino said. "He was stumbling at times when he'd try to cut. I thought he made a lot of improvement last week in practice."

— Dennis Johnson has been very impressive in kick returns. He's averaging 22.3 yards per return, with a long of 41 yards and was pretty impressive against the Gators, returning one punt near the 50. Petrino thinks Johnson is close to breaking a return for a touchdown.

"He's got those wide hips and short legs," Petrino said. "There's not a lot of surface to tackle. Guys kind of bounce off his hips."

"We're like, 'It's time to score,'" tight end D.J. Williams said. "... Some time here soon he'll put one all the way into the end zone.

By the way, the players also call Johnson, "D.J." D.J. Williams says it makes for an interesting relationship between the two.

"He likes to call himself the real D.J.," Williams said.

– Brandon Marcello
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Filed under: Arkansas Football, SEC Football by Brandon Marcello. Posted on: October 6, 2008 at 1:50 pm