Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

FAYETTEVILLE — Practice performance through the week is no guarantee of how a team plays on Saturday, but for a second week in a row Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino was encouraged by what he saw from his 10^th-ranked team. Petrino said the way the team practiced last week set the stage for a victory at Georgia and he sounded similarly upbeat about this week.

“We got three pretty good practices in,” Petrino said. “You can see the maturity of our football team when we come back this week and our guys have been focused and working hard. We still have got some work to do as far as our details go and our mental preparation for the game, but we still have a day and a half to do it. I’m pleased with what I have seen. We are relatively healthy. Now it’s time to go play.” 

Arkansas hosts No. 1 Alabama on Saturday. Kickoff is set at 2:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on CBS.

Buzz has been building for this game for a while. It intensified after Arkansas’ victory at Georgia and Petrino said the Razorbacks have done a good job focusing on preparation and not getting caught up in all that’s happening around them.

“That’s maturity,” Petrino said.

Dennis Johnson Update
There is still no timetable on Dennis Johnson’s return to football. Still, Bobby Petrino is encouraged by what he’s seen from the junior tailback, who underwent surgery two weeks ago for what was described as a “bowel injury.”

“He’s doing really well,” Petrino said. “They are amazed.”

Johnson was at practice on Wednesday. Petrino said the Texarkana looked “skinny, but he’s doing really well.”

Is Dennis well enough to return to football? That question will be answered down the road. For now, the focus is on Johnson’s health. There has not yet been discussion about a medical redshirt.

“We have not even sat down with the doctors and talked any type of timetable,” Petrino said. “We haven’t even got to that point. We are just glad he is out of the hospital now and doing well. He’s eating and everything is going through the right way. All those things are a positive. Probably next week some time we’ll look and see what the timetables are.”

Tent City
Part of the buildup for this week’s game has included students camping out outside Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Students began pitching tents on Monday and it’s grown to approximately 40 by Thursday.

Petrino said he’d noticed.

“I think it’s awesome. I think it’s awesome,” Petrino said. “That’s one of the things that is so nice about having a game with this type of magnitude. It’s great for the students. It’s great for the university. It’s great for the state of Arkansas. We’re looking forward to going out and performing on Saturday.”

Quotable
“We’ve got to quit talking about it and go show it.”
—Bobby Petrino on whether he’d seen improvement in the running game this week.