Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

News and notes from Thursday’s Arkansas football media availability…

I. Bequette Back
Arkansas defensive end Jake Bequette is back. He said so himself via Twitter.

“I’m back y’all," was Bequette’s message following practice. It backed up what Coach Bobby Petrino had said minutes earlier about the senior defensive end’s availability for Saturday’s game against No. 15 Auburn.

“He’s had a good week of practice. He’s been in there and done a nice job. He’ll be ready to go.”

Petrino offered no assessment on defensive tackle Robert Thomas or cornerbacks Isaac Madison and Darius Winston.

Bequette was injured in the first half of the second week game against New Mexico. He has five tackles, one sack and a forced fumble this season in a game and a half of action.

Arkansas was without Bequette against Troy, Alabama and Texas A&M.

II. Acceleration
Dennis Johnson’s big fourth quarter has carried over into practice this week. Johnson ran for 43 yards in the fourth quarter as the Razorbacks rallied against the Aggies.

“He’s done a nice job,” Petrino said. “He’s looked fast, as fast as he’s looked since his injury, really. He’s working hard at it, he’s working hard at his acceleration. I think last week’s game was really good for him because he got confidence.”

Tailback Ronnie Wingo left Saturday’s game against A&M with what appeared to be an injury. He was not on the field late, but there has been no update on his status.

Petrino did say on Thursday that Wingo “has done a nice job” responding to the breakout performance by Johnson and Broderick Green. It was Green who scored the game-winning touchdown.

“It’s nice to have a full group back, working hard together.”

III. Correction
Penalties are going to happen. Bobby Petrino gets that.

But 14 penalties, including six false starts and a multiple flags for personal fouls? Petrino can’t overlook what the Razorbacks did against A&M.

“It was a lot of penalties,” Petrino said. “There’s no doubt about it. It wasn’t all offense. The ones I don’t like are the ones where we had personal fouls where you’re just losing your poise, basically. And we’ve got that corrected.”

Arkansas is the fourth-most penalized team in the SEC currently. The Razorbacks have been flagged 36 times for 277.

Speaking Out
“It’s good to be back home, playing a home game. We really need our crowd to come out and give us a big lift.”
—Coach Bobby Petrino on Saturday’s 6 p.m. game between No. 10 Arkansas and No. 15 Auburn.