FIRST DOWN
Gameday may be just four days away, but Arkansas junior Broderick Green said he wouldn’t be surprised if coach Bobby Petrino didn’t name a starting running back until the season opener.
Green, who apparently turned in a strong performance in Arkansas’ mock game last Friday, said he wasn’t sure if the outing helped him get a leg up on teammates Knile Davis, Dennis Johnson and Ronnie Wingo Jr. One running back will be on the field when Arkansas kicks off the season against Tennessee Tech. Who is still unclear.
“We’ve still got another week to go,” Green said after Tuesday’s practice. “So we probably won’t know until game day. … I have no idea.”
The starting job has been a hot topic for much of the preseason. All four running backs are expected to play this season, but Arkansas was looking for one or two to standout during preseason practices.
Green made an impression with a 99-yard touchdown in run in the mock game. It came on the same play in which he set a school-record with a 99-yard touchdown run against Eastern Michigan in 2009.
“I repeated the phrase again,” Green said. “I was going out on the field and saying, ‘All right. Here we go, 99 again.’ … And I did.”
Green wasn’t alone in a strong performance. Davis broke a run of approximately 50 yards, too.
“Somebody has got to go out there first and it will probably be based on which personnel group we are going to be in,” Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick McGee said Tuesday night.
TWO-MINUTE DRILL
• Arkansas opened practice with a different look at linebacker on the first-team defense. Jerry Franklin lined up at middle linebacker, Anthony Leon was on weakside and Jerico Nelson manned the strongside spot during the portion of practice open to the media. When the depth chart was released last week, Leon and Franklin were both competing for the starting job on the weakside.
• McGee said Arkansas turned in some big plays during the scrimmage, but wasn’t overly impressive in its performance. “The execution really wasn’t where it should have been,” McGee said. “We had breakdowns with movement on the defensive line where the quarterback made some bad reads. But we have enough good players that sometimes those are overshadowed by somebody making a good play.”
• Tennessee Tech coach Watson Brown said the Golden Eagles will play two quarterbacks against the Razorbacks on Saturday night. Tre Lamb is scheduled to start, but backup Cass Barnes should see action. “We will play two no matter what through the first three games,” Brown said.
• Linebacker Freddy Burton did not work with the first- or second-team defenses during the first 20 minutes of Tuesday’s practice. Burton did participate in drills, but stood on the sideline when the units were on the field. Franklin was with the first team at middle linebacker and Jermaine Love lined up with the second unit.
• The Razorbacks handed out black jerseys to its scout-team players and the group included some notable names defensively. DT Zach Stadther, who started eight games last season, was among the group. So was linebacker Austin Moss, defensive end Ryan Calendar, cornerback Greg Gatson, and safeties Darrell Smith and Daunte Carr.
INJURY REPORT
C Seth Oxner, who suffered a sprained foot in last Friday’s mock game, practice Tuesday and continues to compete with Travis Swanson for the starting job. Oxner said he “got treatment over the weekend” and was able to participate in every drill Tuesday. … RB Dennis Johnson is back on the practice field this week. He missed time last week after having his wisdom teeth removed, but McGee said he “had a great attitude on Monday and looked pretty fast. I think he’ll be ready to go.”
QUOTABLE
“Hopefully we won’t get pinned on the one. But if we do, we’ll just give it to him and let him run 99 yards.” — Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett, when asked if Green would turn in another 99-yard touchdown run against Tennessee Tech on Saturday.
— Robbie Neiswanger • Arkansas News Bureau
