Hogs try to get in rush again

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas put a heavy emphasis on cranking up its running game this week as it prepared to face one of the nation’s elite passing defenses in South Carolina.

Arkansas rushed for 154 yards against Mississippi and Tulsa after averaging 188 yards per game against Florida, Auburn and Kentucky.

Coach Bobby Petrino said the offensive line must work together to overcome the loss of tackle Ray Dominguez and guard Grant Cook, who missed last week and are questionable for Saturday’s game.

“Any time you get injuries and have to mix up the line, there is some timing involved and communication involved,” Petrino said. “We certainly improved on that throughout the week.”

Asked if any other players would be returning from injury this week, Petrino said defensive end Adrian Davis has been improving every day and did some full-speed running in Thursday’s practice. “So there’s an outside chance of that,” Petrino said of Davis. “Other than that, I think we’re just going to be playing with the same group we had a week ago.” Arkansas will be without defensive end Damario Ambrose (knee ) and safety Jerico Nelson (knee ).

Johnson’s exit South Carolina defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson had not had time to get to know any of Arkansas’ defensive players during his nearly four-week stint as the Razorbacks’ defensive coordinator last winter. In fact, Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino’s encounters with Johnson had been limited before Johnson jumped at the chance to return to his home state when Steve Spurrier called with a job offer in late January.

Asked if he met with Johnson enough to learn his core philosophies, Petrino said: “Not a whole lot. We didn’t let him out of the building with some of his literature and his start to the playbook.” Headgear optional Arkansas freshman Jerry Franklin intercepted a gadgetplay pass from Tulsa receiver A. J. Whitmore that was intended for Charles Clay to end the first possession of the third quarter Saturday. As Franklin struggled to pull his jersey free from Clay, he had his helmet yanked off, then he broke free just as the whistle blew. The linebacker said he was ready to run the interception back, headgear or not. “There was nothing but red in front of me,” he said. “I knew that was going to be a touchdown.”

Spurrier legacy ? Steve Spurrier has a College Football Hall of Fame coaching resume with a ©-59-2 record in 19 seasons at Duke, Florida and South Carolina.

Perhaps most impressively, he won an Atlantic Coast Conference title at Duke, though Spurrier is best known for winning the 1996 national title and six SEC championships at Florida and going 122-27-1 in 12 seasons with the Gators.

But Spurrier, 63, isn’t ready to start looking back at his career just yet.

“I don’t worry about that too much right now,” Spurrier said. “I’m worried about this ballgame with Arkansas. Whatever your record is, that will be what your record is.

“ Close losses years from now are nothing but a loss.”

Spurrier noted that “if we’re going to have a big year here” the Gamecocks have to learn how to win close games. This season South Carolina is 2-3 in games decided by seven points or less, and the Gamecocks will go a 17 th consecutive year without winning an SEC East title. “If we win some close ones here and win some championships, I’ll have a pretty good legacy,” Spurrier said. “How’s that ?”

Open-field stop Arkansas junior safety Matt Harris was in on the last three tackles inside the Arkansas 7 in last week’s 30-23 victory over Tulsa. Those plays were impressive to Bobby Petrino, but Harris also scored a key open-field stop on Damaris Johnson. “He played very, very fast,” Petrino said. “He didn’t hesitate. When he recognized run, he was coming full speed. When he recognized the reverses and the different misdirection things that they did, he came full speed and didn’t hesitate.” Petrino said the tackle Harris made on Johnson on a pitch play after an inside fake “was as good a tackle as you can make. He just ran right through the tackle.”

Grading Garcia Ask him how a player is performing and you typically get exactly what is on the mind of South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier.

This week, a reporter asked Spurrier how quarterback Stephen Garcia has played this year.

“Stephen has done some good things, but he’s obviously not prepared to play extremely well yet,” Spurrier said. “Stephen still has a lot of bad habits. He wants to leave the pocket sometimes when he doesn’t have to. Sometimes he has to, and that’s good.

“ Quarterbacks have to distribute the ball to your playmakers, and the quarterback just can’t take off running every time with it. So that’s what he’s trying to learn right now.”