This article originally appeared in the October 9, 2012 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.
Coming off Arkansas’
first Southeastern Conference victory of the season, a 24-7 win at Auburn, UA
interim head coach John L. Smith is proud of his players.
“The players came out
and did a great job of preparing last week,” Smith said. “Those guys deserve a
tremendous pat on the back and now we have to build on that.”
Injuries were again a
headline, with senior linebacker, and team-leader in tackles, Alonzo Highsmith
coming out of the game in the first half. Smith said he sustained a ligament
injury in his foot that will require an operation and cause him to miss the
rest of the season.
Senior
linebacker/defensive end Tank Wright had an MRI yesterday and his status for
Saturday’s game is uncertain, leaving a large hole at the linebacker spot.
“We’re going to have
to bump some guys around to fill that void,” Smith said. “It’ll probably be a little
bit of filling the void by committee.”
Smith said junior
Jarrett Lake and senior Matt Marshall would probably get the majority of the
snaps. He also expects senior Terrell Williams to take up the leadership role
among the linebackers.
“(Williams) has been
placed in that role where he has to be the leader,” Smith said. “He has to
start being more vocal and get everyone lined up.”
At cornerback,
sophomore Tevin Mitchel will be back from having his gallbladder removed and
senior Kaelon Kelleybrew will return after suffering an “injury above the
shoulders” against Texas A&M. However, Smith is pleased with the
performance of freshmen Will Hines and Dayvon McKinney.
“The two young guys
did a real good job,” Smith said. “Both of those guys were very active and did
very well.”
Senior tight end
Chris Gragg’s status is also still uncertain, but he did run on Sunday night,
“very gingerly,” Smith said.
The amount of
injuries suffered by the Razorbacks this season is more than Smith has had in
recent memory.
“You always know
there’s going to be one (injury), maybe two, but we’ve had some serious ones
this year,” Smith said.
Against the Tigers,
Arkansas’ defense forced five turnovers and picked up eight sacks.
“They played hard and
battled the entire game,” Smith said. “When the offense sputtered, the defense
came in and did a great job.”
Sophomore defensive
end, and Huntsville, Ala. native, Trey Flowers led the Razorbacks with 3.5
sacks, earning him SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors.
“It was great to see
him go home and have such a great day,” Smith said. “That was exciting.”
Offensively, senior
running back Dennis Johnson accounted for 91 total yards, 76 coming on the
ground, and two touchdowns. Freshman Jonathan Williams added 34 rushing yards.
“We have some depth
there,” Smith said. “Williams has been getting better and better every week and
Dennis was having a good day, so we wanted to continue with that.”
This Saturday, the
Kentucky Wildcats come into Fayetteville with a 1-5 overall record and 0-3 SEC
record.
The Wildcats are not
an unfamiliar foe for Smith, as he compiled a 3-2 record against them as the
head coach at Louisville from 1998-2002.
“It’s natural (not to
like them) because of the number of years I spent at Louisville,” Smith said. “That
was our rival.”
Saturday, though, he
will be focused on this year’s team, who has been struck with injuries at the
quarterback position.
Sophomore quarterback
Maxwell Smith injured his ankle against South Carolina two weeks ago and
freshman quarterback Patrick Towles injured his ankle last week against
Mississippi State. Smith expects freshman Jalen Whitlow to get the start this
week.
“We are going to
prepare for (Whitlow), but I know (Towles) played a little last week,” Smith
said. “We have to prepare for whoever it is we see.”
Regardless of who
plays, Smith is glad to be back in Fayetteville and ready to play Kentucky.
“We’re excited to be at home again and
back in front of our crowd,” Smith said. “We have to go to the field and
really, really prepare for this game this week.”
No comments:
Post a Comment