SEC picks two Hogs for honors

FAYETTEVILLE — The feel-good vibe from Arkansas’ 25-22 victory at Auburn carried into Monday as running back Michael Smith and defensive end Adrian Davis picked up SEC honors.

Smith, a junior out of Tallahassee, Fla., was selected the SEC offensive player of the week after playing a huge role in the upset of the 17-point favorite. Smith rushed for 176 yards, amassed 232 all-purpose yards, and delivered the key blow, a 63-yard touchdown run up the middle midway through the fourth quarter.

Davis, a junior from Rosenberg, Texas, was named the SEC’s defensive lineman of the week after making three sacks, forcing a fumble and intercepting a pass in a dominating second-half showing.

“It’s an honor to be SEC player of the week,” Smith said. “I don’t take that lightly. Auburn was a great defense.

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“ I just have to give praise to my offensive line and the receivers who blocked downfield. They did a much better job of that this week.”

Smith is one of four nominees for AT&T All-America player of the week, joining Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes, Texas receiver Jordan Shipley and Oklahoma State running back Kendall Hunter. The winner will be determined by fan voting. Fans can sign up to vote by sending the text message VOTE to 51234 on their cell phones before today’s 10: 59 p. m. Central deadline.

Smith took over the SEC rushing lead with his big outing, his 119. 8 yards per game ahead of Alabama’s Glen Coffee (118. 0 ) and LSU’s Charles Scott (114. 0 ).

Smith also maintained his lead in the SEC’s all-purpose rankings, boosting his average to 166. 4 yards per game.

Davis’ interception set up an Arkansas field goal early in the fourth quarter. He had back-toback sacks on a fourth-quarter Auburn possession that netted minus-22 yards and forced an intentional grounding penalty at the Auburn 3-yard line. “He really made a lot of plays,” Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said. “The three sacks, the interception, the fumble. He did a great job.” Davis is the first player in the SEC to make three sacks in a game this season, and he’s the first Razorback to do it since Jamaal Anderson in 2006.

Return of Bobby Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino downplayed his return to the state of Kentucky for Saturday’s 6 p. m. game against the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington. Petrino had a 4-0 record against Kentucky during his stint at Louisville from 2003-2006.

“I think they like me there,” Petrino said with a grin of the Kentucky fan base. “It was a good rivalry.... We had some hard-fought games and were fortunate to come out on top.”

Petrino said Monday he still doesn’t wear blue very often.

Because of Kentucky ?

“Yeah,” he said.

Kentucky tailback Alfonso Smith was asked what the reaction of Louisville and Kentucky fans would be to Petrino’s return.

“I hear it from both sides,” Smith said. “It’s like the UK fans really don’t like him, and the U of L fans don’t like him. Everybody’s coming to me like, ‘Please, please win this game.’” Cats see hot Hogs

Kentucky Coach Rich Brooks acknowledged his team is catching Arkansas with the Razorbacks starting to find themselves after Saturday’s victory at Auburn.

“That was a huge win for them on the road,” Brooks said. “They moved the football on a very good Auburn defense and ran it extremely well, and they smothered Auburn’s offense.”

Much like Auburn, Kentucky is trying to work through issues on offense. The Wildcats gained only 218 yards and converted just 1 of 16 third downs in their 24-17 home loss to South Carolina on Saturday.

TV talk The Arkansas-Ole Miss game Oct. 25 in Fayetteville will generate buzz aplenty in the two states involved, but the story line of Houston Nutt returning to Arkansas didn’t convince the SEC’s broadcast partners to pick up the game. CBS Sports, ESPN and Raycom Sports passed on the game Monday, freeing the UA athletic department to offer it on a payper-view basis. The game will kick off at 6 p. m. at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. “With the Ole Miss game already a sellout, we wanted to give fans who do not have a ticket the opportunity to watch the Razorbacks play a key Southeastern Conference game,” Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long said in a news release. “The outstanding turnout for home games and the response we received from the two previous pay-per-view offerings made this an easy decision.”

Iron Mike Tailback Michael Smith carried a career-high 35 times against Auburn on Saturday. Smith needed to take fluids intravenously at halftime, but he said he wasn’t too sore Sunday after taking a load of big hits. “Sunday wasn’t as bad as [Monday ],” Smith said. “Today, I got up and it felt like a truck had hit me.” Cats scratches The headliner injury for Kentucky right now is the loss of receiver Dicky Lyons Jr. to a knee injury, but the Wildcats are beat up in several other areas.

Receiver and backup quarterback Randall Cobb returned from a high ankle sprain against South Carolina, but he’s still not 100 percent.

Kentucky Coach Rich Brooks ruled out right tackle Justin Jeffries and right guard Stuart Hines (knee ) for the Arkansas game. Also, receiver DeMoreo Ford (shoulder ), linebacker Mike Schwindel (shoulder ), receiver Kyrus Lanxter (shoulder ) and tight end Maurice Grinter (ankle ) are questionable.