ARKANSAS FOOTBALL NEWS – 9/22/08 (PETRINO’S DICK EXPOSED)

 Send This Story To A Friend

We wondered if Arkansas really was as bad as they looked in last-minute, nailbiter wins over Western Illinois and La.-Monroe.

Yes, they are.

We wondered if quarterback Casey Dick, who threw the ball so well against the Sisters of the Poor in Bobby Petrino’s offense, was ready to play pitch-and-catch against an SEC foe.

No, he isn’t.

And all of that looks awful bad heading into a game with Texas this weekend.  But before even thinking about the Longhorns, the Razorbacks have to put that 49-14 hog-strangling loss to Bama behind them.  “That’s easier said than done, but I’ll give these guys the day to think about this,” said running back Michael Smith.

For the record, Petrino had good things to say about Smith, who accounted for 158 of Arkansas’ 309 yards of offense.  “I thought he showed a tremendous amount of competitiveness, tremendous amount of courage.  You could see him out there fighting for every yard.  That concerns me a little bit because of his size.  He’s going to have to know when to take care of himself, too.”

As for the rest of his team, Petrino is talking baby steps.  “We have got to get where we don’t beat ourselves.  The first part of winning games is not beating yourselves — taking care of the ball, being where you are supposed to be, not having assignment errors, get more big plays than your opponent gets.”

The Hogs might have shot themselves in the foot on occasion, but they allowed Alabama to roll right over them like a Sherman tank.  Try 35 carries for a whopping 328 rushing yards.  Guess what Texas will try to do on Saturday?