Hogs back says he’s good to go

FAYETTEVILLE — Michael Smith has been fitted with a new neck roll to protect his “stinger” injury, and after a week off, Arkansas’ junior tailback feels like a new guy.

Smith was back at practice Tuesday after being knocked out of the South Carolina game two weeks ago with a neck and shoulder injury.

“It’s not going to be 100 percent at this point right now, but it feels a lot better than it did two weeks ago,” Smith said. “It’s not 100 percent, but neither is my left shoulder. I can do what I need to do.”

Smith, Arkansas’ 5-7, 170-pound workhorse, has started to show the wear and tear of his SEC-high 21. 4 carries per game. He was knocked out of the Kentucky game with a concussion, and his legs have been sore for several weeks.

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“My legs haven’t felt this good in a long time,” Smith said. “I feel like a kid again, so I’m going to try to use that to my advantage on Saturday.”

Smith, the SEC’s secondleading rusher with 112. 4 yards per game, is one of several Razorbacks on the mend for Saturday’s game at Mississippi State. Quarterback Casey Dick (concussion ), defensive ends Adrian Davis (knee ) and Damario Ambrose (knee ), offensive guard Grant Cook (knee ) and cornerback Jerell Norton (hamstring ) wore full gear for the early periods of practice.

Bowl run Arkansas doesn’t want to see its streak of two consecutive bowl seasons come to an end, but to get there, the Hogs have to beat Mississippi State and LSU the next two weeks.

“I’ve been here two years and I’ve played in two bowl games, so I can’t imagine not playing in one this year,” junior defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard said. “Hopefully that doesn’t stop this year. Nobody wants to be sitting at home around Christmas and watching everybody else play.”

Coach Bobby Petrino said everyone knows the magic number is six to be bowl eligible.

“It doesn’t mean you’re going to get in a bowl game, but to be bowl eligible,” he said. “You know you have to win this one first.

“ We certainly, being a new staff, a new offense, a new defense, would love that extra work, but we have to go earn it.”

There are 60 teams with the six victories necessary to qualify for the 68 berths available in the 34 bowl games. The SEC added two teams to the mix last weekend, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, giving the conference eight bowl-eligible teams.

Arkansas (4-6 ) and Auburn (5-6 ) can still qualify, while Mississippi State (3-7 ) and Tennessee (3-7 ) have been eliminated from postseason consideration.

Williams gets call Sophomore D. J. Williams found out Monday he is a semifinalist for the John Mackey Award, given to the nation’s best tight end.

“I felt pretty good about it, just thinking about all that hard work from spring,” he said. “It’s nothing that I’ve thought about all year, then I got a call yesterday saying I made the semifinalist list. “ It just makes you feel pretty good and, for me, just made me want to come out and work even harder.” Williams leads the Razorbacks and ranks second in the SEC with 4. 8 catches per game. His 613 receiving yards are also a team high, the most ever for an Arkansas tight end, and his 61. 3 yards per game ranks fifth in the SEC.

Miller ball Junior Lucas Miller has grabbed nine passes in the past two games, more than doubling his season total to that point. Miller caught a season-high five passes for 57 yards in the Razorbacks’ 34-21 loss at South Carolina. The week prior to that, the Greenwood product had four receptions for 63 yards in a 30-23 victory over Tulsa.

“I’m definitely starting to get a little in the groove, getting over this concussion stuff, trying to get the kinks out,” Miller said. “Obviously, the quarterbacks have done a great job of getting us receivers the ball.”

Miller did not play against Texas after sustaining a concussion the previous week during a loss to No. 1 Alabama, then went without a catch for three consecutive games. Since then, Miller has caught 11 passes for 137 yards and 1 touchdown. Miller was the receiver of choice for Nathan Dick on the final drive against South Carolina, grabbing three passes for 32 yards, including an 11-yarder inside the 1-yard line that set up Brandon Barnett’s touchdown run. He was the target on two other passes, including an apparent 20-yard touchdown that was called back because of a penalty.

Finish the route Some of Arkansas’ younger receivers have been spotted failing to finish off their routes on occasion on plays when it’s apparent they won’t get the ball.

“That’s something we’ve worked on,” offensive coordinator and receivers coach Paul Petrino said. “That’s something that’s different, because usually when you’re in high school you’re the guy they’re going to all the time.

“ Most of the time they all have a chance to get the ball, so they all should be.... I just think it’s a whole process of learning how to play the game better and learning exactly how to run the routes and understanding by the coverage the different ways they’re going to run it.

“ That’s something we’ve worked hard on. We’ve made strides. We’ve improved, but obviously we can improve a lot more.”