Nod goes to Wright at receiver FAYETTEVILLE — Jarius Wright is listed as a starter ahead of fellow freshman wide receiver Joe Adams, but both figure to play a lot for Arkansas in Saturday’s opener against Western Illinois at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. “I just think [Wright ] has been a little more consistent,” said Paul Petrino, the Razorbacks’ offensive coordinator and receivers coach. “There’s not a whole lot of difference between him and Joe. “ They’ll probably play almost the exact same number of snaps, but Jarius has probably graded out higher each scrimmage in effort.... and that’s how I determine who starts. “ So right now he’s got a little nod, but it’s an every-day battle. That doesn’t mean that’s how it’ll be by game day.” Petrino said Wright responds well to coaching. “He’s a kid you can get on. You can coach him hard, you can get after him,” Petrino said. “Any young kid, at times, he’ll have days where he’ll come out here and struggle a little. [Wright ] did yesterday [Monday ]. He struggled a little bit. But he came back today and battled hard.”

Curtis available Freshman tailback De’Anthony Curtis missed some practices earlier in preseason camp because of a sprained knee, but he’s worked the past few days and should be ready to play Saturday. “I thought he looked good,” offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said. “The last two days have been very encouraging with De’Anthony.” Local Leatherneck Ed Roberts, a fourthyear junior from Little Rock McClellan, is listed as Western Illinois’ second-team strong safety. He has played in two games combined the previous two seasons for the Leathernecks.

Harrison visits Harrison High School Coach Tommy Tice brought his team to Tuesday’s practice, and the Goblins got to see former Harrison standout Wade Grayson work at starting guard. Grayson, a sophomore, moved ahead of senior Mitch Petrus early in fall camp and has held onto the job. When Grayson played for Harrison, he also was on teams that came to watch the Razorbacks practice. “It’s always been exciting for me,” Grayson said. “And for them to come and watch me today, that’s really exciting for me.” Notable changes A handful of players changed jersey numbers with the start of game week. Among the changes: linebacker Wendel Davis (from 47 to 12 ), linebacker Freddy Burton (46 to 6 ), linebacker Ryan Powers (41 to 39 ), defensive tackle Patrick Jones (95 to 94 ), defensive tackle Brian Gregory (94 to 60 ) and safety Matt Marshall (44 to 22 ).

Bua selected Former Razorback Tony Bua has been selected as honorary captain for the Western Illinois game. Bua will be honored on the field before the game and will accompany the Razorbacks’ team captains to midfield for the coin toss. Bua, Arkansas’ alltime leading tackler with 408, also will appear at the Legends Tent approximately 90 minutes before kickoff. The Razorbacks will name an honorary team captain for each home game this season. Bua, a four-year letterman (2000-2003 ), was a first-team All-SEC player as a senior and a second-team pick the two previous years. An outside linebacker and safety, Bua played on four bowl teams with the Hogs and was taken in the fifth round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. Worth noting Arkansas did not make an announcement Tuesday regarding a game being televised on pay per view, as had been expected. Tight end Lance Thompson practiced for the second consecutive day Monday after suffering a groin injury early in camp. Punter Jeremy Davis has won the duties as holder on place kicks, a development not noticed by media since the closing of camp. Coach Bobby Petrino said Davis has been working with the kicking unit for a couple of weeks. “The comfort level was just a lot better for [kicker Alex ] Tejada with Jeremy hitting the spot,” Petrino said. “You could see his confidence level rise when Jeremy was in there.”

Mr. Perfect There is at least one position on the depth chart where Western Illinois has an edge on Arkansas: place-kicker. That’s no offense to Arkansas sophomore kicker Alex Tejada, who made 17 of 23 field-goal attempts and 58 of 60 extra-point attempts last season. Tejada is good, but Leathernecks senior Taylor Rowan is perfect on 117 extrapoint attempts in his career and hit 19 of 31 field goals, including a long of 56 yards in 2008. “If we get close, we feel good about Taylor giving us a chance to get points on the board, no doubt about it,” said Mark Hendrickson, Western Illinois’ acting head coach and offensive coordinator. “When he goes on the field, we’re very confident.” Running Barr No one is likely to confuse Western Illinois sophomore Matt Barr with Matt Jones, but Barr did rush for 385 yards in 2007 to set a school single-season record by a quarterback. Barr was the first Western Illinois freshman to start at quarterback since 1990, leading the Leathernecks to a 5-5 record in his 10 starts.

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