FAYETTEVILLE Arkansas tailback Michael Smith apologized Tuesday for missing last weeks season opener because of a suspension and said hes eager to put it behind him.

The UA announced before the Razorbacks 28-24 victory over Western Illinois last Saturday that Smith was suspended for one game because of improper use of scholarship textbooks.

Arkansas officials wont comment specifically on the improper use by Smith, and he declined to say exactly what he did that resulted in his suspension.

An improper use of textbooks often involves a student-athlete purchasing books for someone other than himself or exchanging a new book for a used one and keeping the financial difference.

According to bylaw 15.2.3 of the NCAA manual, member institutions may provide a student-athlete cash for each book required for every class in which he is enrolled. There is no dollar limit so long as the cash provided is equal to the actual cost of the books.

ADVERTISEMENT

For violations in which the value of a noncourserelated book is $100 or less, the eligibility of the student-athlete will not be affected if he repays the value of the extra benefit to a charity of his choice.

The student-athlete, however, will remain ineligible from the time the institution has knowledge of the receipt of the impermissible benefit until the student-athlete repays it.

What happened happened, said Smith, who is expected to start against Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday in Little Rock. I served my suspension, and now were getting ready for the next game.

Personnel report

Receiver London Crawford (concussion) worked on the sideline Tuesday, and his status is still uncertain for Saturday. Freshmen Greg Childs and Crosby Tuck rotated in that position at practice.

Cornerback Jerell Norton (hernia) appeared to figure more in the mix during the early portions of practice, as did linebacker Wendel Davis (knee).

Linebacker Elston Forte (knee) is picking up the pace with cutting and flexing on his knee, but he is not expected back this week.

Offensive guard Wade Grayson did not wear shoulder pads during the early group drills.

Blue Tuesday

One after another, offensive players and coaches discussed how Tuesdays indoor workout didnt measure up to the standards set by Coach Bobby Petrino and his staff.

We didnt come out and execute as well as we needed to, offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said. A couple of guys werent into practice like they should have been. Some guys had great effort, but overall it needs to be a lot better.

Receiver Lucas Miller said obviously Coach [Bobby] Petrino is upset with us.

Bobby Petrino does not address the media after Tuesday and Wednesday practices. But his brother took the baton and ran with it in regard to the coaching staffs take on Tuesdays effort.

Tuesday is a hard practice here, Paul Petrino said. Im not sure if they understand that yet, but theyre going to understand it because thats the way its always going to be. They better get used to it. We need to keep pushing them and get it a lot better.

The Razorbacks dont want a repeat of Saturdays effort, when a veteran Western Illinois team got ahead of them and dictated tempo for all but the last 10 minutes of play.

Were going out there against a good team, receiver Carlton Salters said of Saturdays game against Louisiana-Monroe in Little Rock.

We didnt really do what were supposed to do today, but I know the team will rally up and come together and well have a much better practice, tailback Michael Smith said. Young quarterbacks

Ideally, Arkansas would have gotten its backup quarterbacks some snaps against Western Illinois. But senior starter Casey Dick had to take every snap and rally the Razorbacks from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

It wont be a surprise if Dick has to play the entire game against Louisiana-Monroe as well.

Well probably be in another battle to find a way to win the game, Coach Bobby Petrino said. Thats the most important thing, to get the W on the board.

Redshirt freshman Nathan Dick is the No. 2 quarterback with true freshman Tyler Wilson No. 3, but Petrino hasnt revealed whether the plan is to get Wilson some playing time or redshirt him. Rainy day Tuesday

The Razorbacks escaped the periodic rain bands from the remnants of Hurricane Gustav by practicing inside Walker Pavilion. Meanwhile, 350 miles southeast of Fayetteville, Louisiana-Monroe took to the elements. The Warhawks, who do not have an indoor practice facility, were dealing with heavier rain showers through the course of the day, but they worked outside on their ProPlay monofilament fiber turf at Malone Stadium.

One shoe off

If you were paying close attention Saturday, you might have noticed that receiver Lucas Miller came out of his shoe on a 20-yard reception on third-and-10 during the Razorbacks first fourth-quarter drive.

Instead of asking for time, shoving it back on or exiting the field, Miller ran back to the huddle and ran his next route with the shoe off.

That was definitely a first time for that, Miller said. I ended up with a nice little green sock at the end of the game.

Miller explained his logic for running shoeless.

We were in a formation where we were moving the ball, he said. I didnt want to stop that at all. I looked at the official like, Can I continue to play with one shoe on? He kind of looked at me like I was dumb. I threw it off to the sideline and kept playing... and Coach got me a sub.