Arkansas wrapped up its weekly press conference a few minutes ago. Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino, quarterback Ryan Mallett, running back Knile Davis and cornerback Ramon Broadway all made appearances.

Here are a five things we learned from the press conference:

1. Petrino wants more points — Arkansas’ offense left many scratching their heads after the Texas A&M win. Petrino acknowledged some of those frustrations after the game, something I wrote about this morning. He elaborated a little more this afternoon saying the lack of points scored — especially in the second half of the past two games (6 points total) — is troubling him. Arkansas is averaging 30 points a game, much lower than he expected. “We have not scored points like we need to. Actually, all year long I’ve not been happy with how many points we’ve scored.”

2. Arkansas knows the SEC West race is wide open — It’s not like Alabama was a game away from wrapping up the SEC West, but the Crimson Tide’s loss at South Carolina certainly made it clear the race is on. LSU and Auburn are unbeaten. Alabama and Arkansas have one loss. So the Razorbacks, who insist they’re concentrating on short-team goals, know what’s at stake Saturday. “We have an opportunity now to accomplish our goal,” Petrino said. “It’s still out there in front of us. but to do that, we’ve got to go to Auburn, play great football and come away with a win.”

3. Arkansas’ kick returns = Bad — Arkansas plugged Joe Adams into the kick return role Saturday and one thing was clear: The poor production from the kick return game doesn’t appear to have anything to do with the return man. Arkansas struggled once again with missed blocks and poor play, leading to a game-high return of 21 yards. And it was by fullback Van Stumon on a short kick at the end of the first half. Not surprising, Petrino didn’t sound very happy with the group today – “We’ve got a lot of work to do this week,” he said.

4. Petrino hearts Auburn fans — How about this from a question posed of Petrino today. He was asked if knowing the culture at Auburn (he used to be an assistant coach there) would help Saturday. He said it won’t give Arkansas any extra points, but did compliment Tigers fans: “It’s enjoyable going back there and playing. Two years ago when we went there, they’re nice people. When you drive up in the bus instead of flipping you off they clap for you. It’s way different than some of the places we go. They’re a good crowd to play in front of because they’re hospitable.”

5. Improved communication is key — We mentioned Arkansas’ inability to score and one reason is the offensive penalties that piled up. The offense committed eight against Texas A&M, five of which were false start penalties. Knile Davis filled us in on some of the problems today, saying it was unusually loud on the field. In fact, he said he couldn’t hear quarterback Ryan Mallett throughout the game. Arkansas will probably have the same sort of problem at Auburn this weekend, but Petrino said it must be corrected. “It’s just focus and concentration and communication.”