ARKANSAS FOOTBALL NEWS – 10/2/08
October 2nd, 2008 ║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink ║ Tags: Arkansas
How much trouble is Arkansas in this season? Well, they’ve squeaked out wins over Louisiana-Monroe and Western Illinois. They’ve been drilled by Texas and Alabama. And they’ve got an angry bunch of Florida Gators coming to town this weekend.
Now defensive tackle Earnest Mitchell, one of the Hogs’ few returning starters, is now out indefinitely with a knee injury. And the man replacing him is freshman and former fourth-teamer Zach Stadther. Bobby Petrino is having to play high-stakes poker with half a deck this year.
One columnist doesn’t feel that the cupboard is completely bare, but he still preaches patience, just like every other sane person in the Ozarks. Apparently the Hogs’ performance so far and Houston Nutt’s win at Florida last week have left some pig-headed fans (like the one at left) wondering if Arkansas made a mistake in running off Nutt and hiring Petrino. Might be a little soon to make that judgement, don’t ya think?
The Razorbacks’ offense is so bad, perhaps they should consider moving defensive end Antwain Robinson to that side of the ball. Robinson returned a fumble 80 yards for a touchdown against Texas last week… the fourth touchdown the defensive end has scored in his career.
All-American center Jonathan Luigs is trying his best to get his young teammates up to an SEC-ready level of play.
Alex Tejada is no longer the Razorbacks’ starting kicker. After missing three field goals and an extra point in UA’s first four games, Petrino has made the switch to sophomore Shay Haddock. Haddock wasn’t even playing football this time last year.
And finally, sophomore Freddy Burton continues to impress from his outside linebacker position… and on special teams. “He played the way you’re supposed to play: very fast, physical, flew around,” said Petrino.
