Petrinos expecting rough go

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino knows what kind of reception to expect from fans at Commonwealth Stadium when the Razorbacks play at Kentucky on Saturday.

Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino and Paul Petrino held the same positions, respectively, at Louisville from 2003-2006, when the Cardinals beat the Wildcats four consecutive times.

“They don’t like us very much because we beat them every year, so you’ll see all kinds of people as you drive in there on the bus,” Paul Petrino said. “They’ll be doing everything you could ever think of, and they won’t be very happy to see us.

“ And hopefully we can keep it that way.”

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Kentucky and Louisville play for the Governor’s Cup, with the winning team taking home the prize.

“We kept it in a trophy case,” Paul Petrino said. “They never got to see it when we were there.”

Kentucky has the Governor’s Cup now after opening this season with a 27-2 victory over Louisville. Any chance of Arkansas bringing home the Governor’s Cup with a victory Saturday ? “I don’t think we can get it,” Paul Petrino said. “That’s between those two schools.”

Dominguez back Arkansas sophomore offensive tackle Ray Dominguez played well in the Razorbacks’ 25-22 victory at Auburn last week after missing most of the Texas game because of an ankle injury and all of the Florida game because he was visiting his ill grandmother in Bainbridge, Ga. “That was a huge game for him last week,” Arkansas offensive line coach Mike Summers said. “He fought back from a lot of adversity.” Dominguez said his grandmother is recovering from brain surgery. “She’s doing a lot better and told me to come back up and help my team out,” he said. Little help, please

Arkansas’ coaches would prefer that junior tailback Michael Smith not have 35 carries as he did at Auburn in rushing for 176 yards, but they needed Smith to carry a big load.

“It was just one of those games where we had a great chance [to win ] and he was playing real good,” offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said. “So feed the stud, and that’s what we did. We kept feeding him, and he produced.”

Petrino said freshman tailbacks Dennis Johnson and De’Anthony Curtis should get a few more carries against Kentucky to take some pressure off of Smith. At Auburn, Johnson had one carry for 5 yards, and Curtis didn’t have any carries.

“I think each week that goes on, we feel a little more comfortable with them being in there,” Petrino said. “I think this week you’ll see the two of them in a little bit more.” Childs gets message

Freshman wide receiver Greg Childs got back in the groove against Auburn with three catches for 61 yards. After having six receptions for 88 yards in the opener against Western Illinois, Childs had only three for 22 over the next four games. “I kind of got mad at him two weeks ago and didn’t play him much [against Florida ], and that made him a little hungrier and he’s practiced real hard since then,” offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said. “I think he’s going to keep improving if he keeps practicing like he did [Tuesday ].”

Takeaway time For the first time all season, Arkansas posted more than one takeaway in a game by grabbing three turnovers — all interceptions — against Auburn. The Razorbacks didn’t win the turnover battle against the Tigers, which would have been their first such victory of the season, but they tied in that department for the second time.

Two Razorbacks made their first career interceptions. Linebacker Wendel Davis nabbed a second-quarter pass from Kodi Burns (Fort Smith Northside ) that was thrown high and tipped by Terrell Zachery, ending a 50-yard Auburn drive inside the 20.

Safety Matt Harris’ diving interception at the Arkansas 27 came on Burns’ throw on Auburn’s last offensive play with 29 seconds left.

Junior end Adrian Davis notched his third career interception on the final play of the third quarter after Malcolm Sheppard pressured quarterback Chris Todd into a bad throw.

Arkansas converted its takeaways into three points on Shay Haddock’s 44-yard field goal, while Auburn turned its three turnovers into 13 points.

The Razorbacks maintained a minus-8 turnover margin, an average of minus-1. 3 per game that ranks 114 th nationally. Punter’s paradise

Saturday’s game will match up the SEC’s top two punters.

Kentucky’s Tim Masthay leads the league with his 45. 2-yard average. Arkansas senior Jeremy Davis averaged 52 yards on four punts in last Saturday’s victory at Auburn to leap to second in the conference with an average of 44. 24 yards per punt. Davis’ average ranks 11 th in the nation.