FAYETTEVILLE — There is a lot that’s new this spring about Arkansas football, notably the addition of Coach Bobby Petrino and seven assistants.

Gone are 13 starters who ran out of eligibility or left early for the NFL Draft. Two other starters from last season aren’t practicing this spring because of injury or suspension.

One area with some recognizable names is the offensive line.

Four players with starting experience return on the line, led by fifth-year senior Jonathan Luigs, an All-American and winner of the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s top center last season.

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Luigs has 36 career starts, senior guard Mitch Petrus 12, senior tackle Jose Valdez 10 and sophomore guard DeMarcus Love 3.

“It helps to have guys who have seen the field and know how fast those bullets are flying around,” Luigs said. “We’re used to the speed of the game and know what it’s like to play on Saturday.”

Petrus said experience is a plus for the linemen, but added that just like everyone else on the team they’re learning a new offense from new coaches.

“We’ve got a good coaching staff to help us, and Luigs is the smartest guy we’ve got,” Petrus said. “I guess that’s why he’s an All-American. He helps everybody.

“ But we’re all keeping our heads in the playbook.”

Razorbacks offensive line coach Mike Summers, who previously worked with Petrino at Louisville and with the Atlanta Falcons, said he appreciates his players’ willingness to learn and work hard.

“But I think we’ve got a pretty steep mountain to climb before we can feel confident that we can lead this football team as an offensive line,” Summers said. “Everything that we do starts with our fundamentals and techniques, and we have a long way to go before we’ve perfected the techniques it takes to be a good football player — in the run game and the pass game.

“ Every day we come to practice with that goal in mind, to create technical superiority over the defense.”

Summers said he believed the offensive line performed fairly well during Sunday’s practice, which included an 80-play scrimmage.

“I thought our run-blocking intensity picked up as the scrimmage went on, so I was pleased with that,” he said. “I think we’ve still got a lot of work to do in pass protection.”

Summers answered “no” when asked if had been impressed in practice by the Razorbacks ’ line and if he could tell it’s an experienced group.

“I’m hard to impress,” Summers said. “After four days I can start to see one or two plays start to look like they’re supposed to look, and we ran about 80 [Sunday ]. I’m a hard guy to please.”

Luigs is responsible for making the calls at the line that set the blocking assignments for each play.

“My processing speed has got to be a little faster than everybody else’s,” Luigs said. “I’ve got to know what the gist of the play is going to be and where the guys need to go in order to be successful.”

Summers said it’s critical for the center to properly identify the defensive front and scheme and call out the offensive line techniques, and he’s confident in Luigs’ ability to do that.

“He’s been absolutely everything you would want him to be,” Summers said. “He’s been a leader, he’s studied the offense and he continues to develop and get better every day.”

Petrus said the Razorbacks are fortunate to have a center with Luigs’ ability and intelligence.

“If he doesn’t make the right calls, it screws everybody up. But he usually doesn’t miss,” Petrus said. “We all make our calls off him, and he does a great job of keeping everybody in line and doing what they’re supposed to do.”

In addition to working on new plays and techniques this spring, the linemen are learning new terminology for the calls.

“I would say the hardest part is the [new ] vocabulary that we use,” Luigs said. “Granted, I’m going into my fifth year, but I had it beaten into my head that ‘this means this,’ and now they’re telling me ‘this means that.’

“ Coach Summers is putting in a lot of time and effort in the meeting room to try and get us right. The quicker we can pick it up, the better we’ll be as an offense.”

So far this spring the firstteam line on most snaps has included Luigs, Petrus, Valdez, Love and sophomore tackle Ray Dominguez, but Sanders said nothing is set.

“I told them everybody’s job is up for grabs, so however they want to take it, they can take it,” Summers said. “There’s a core group of guys that potentially could be pretty good some day.

“ But we’ve got 11 more practices in the spring and we’ve got 29 practices in the fall [before the first game ], so it’s too early for me to say.

“ We’ve still got too much work to do.”