Thursday Notes: Don’t punt the scoreboard
Content provided by The Slophouse.
Arkansas’ safety situation is still up in the air, but Elton Ford and Tramain Thomas will both play Saturday against Texas A&M, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said today.
OT DeMarcus Love sat out practice Tuesday, but is ready to play in Saturday’s game, Petrino said. Love’s knee swelled in the second half the ‘Bama game.
Here are some other notes:
Arkansas junior punter Briton Forester kicks during an August practice at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/WILLIAM MOORE)
— Punters Dylan Breeding and Briton Forester told me in August that they were pretty sure they could hit the large scoreboard hanging over the turf at Cowboys Stadium. They said they may even try to sky a few to the bottom of the board, which is 90 feet above the turf, during warmups.
But don’t expect Petrino to give them a chance tomorrow afternoon when the Hogs have a walk-through at the $1.2 billion stadium.
“I think they’re even going to turn on the jumbotron — super jumbotron, whatever it’s called [during the walkthrough],” Petrino said, cracking a smile before adding, “But we’re not going to punt the ball. We’re not going to try to hit it when we punt.”
– How does Arkansas handle late kickoffs on the road? Well, they shift things a bit with meetings and wake-up calls.
On Saturday, the agenda will look something like this:
• 9:15 – 9:30 a.m.: Wake-up call and breakfast
• Morning walk through at a local high school or maybe even the hotel parking lot
• A special teams meeting in the morning, instead of Friday night as usual.
Other than that, “we try to do some things to make the clock tic a little quicker,” Petrino said. “It still seems like it won’t go very fast.”
— Petrino says this has been the best week from a team leadership standpoint all season. Obviously, they want to bounce out of a 1-2 hole.
“The coaches haven’t had to do a lot of the encouraging,” Petrino explained. “… That’s been good. That shows pride and that shows they really want to get this thing right.”
— Brandon Marcello
