FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said the offensive staff would re-examine their short-yardage schemes after being stopped on critical fourth-and-1 run plays late in each of the past two games by Texas A&M and Alabama.
"We've kind of restructured a lot of things," Chaney said. "We're looking at different items. It's still about getting the ball to the right people and blocking them."
Alex Collins was jammed up on fourth and 1 in overtime of the Razorbacks' 35-28 loss to Texas A&M. After Arkansas stopped a fourth-and-1 try by Alabama near midfield last week, Jonathan Williams was held up for no gain moments later when Arkansas had a chance to regain the lead.
"At the end of the day, whatever play I call we've got to be able to execute," Chaney said. "So I've got to be smart enough to call plays that we can execute into different alignments and different fronts. That's what we've been working on.
"I feel a little more comfortable as we approach this game, but ... you feel comfortable going into every game with your plan, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. When it becomes chronic is when it doesn't work from one game to the next, when you back it up with a poor performance, then ... I'm forced to sit down and analyze what I'm doing and that's what I've done."
Gurley on hold
Georgia Coach Mark Richt tweeted early Thursday that he isn't expecting tailback Todd Gurley's suspension to be lifted for the Arkansas game.
"We will let you know if his status changes," Richt wrote. "Not anticipating it to change this week."
Williams to start
Sophomore Josh Williams has been named as a starter at middle linebacker in place of Brooks Ellis (knee) for Saturday's game against Georgia, Bret Bielema said Thursday on his radio show.
Bielema also said freshman Dwayne Eugene has taken snaps in the middle this week and could merit snaps in the game. Bielema added that Ellis is making progress and would be able to return "sooner rather than later."
More Mitchell
Senior linebacker Braylon Mitchell saw his largest snap count last Saturday against Alabama's power-run game and had five tackles, including a key tackle for loss with Darius Philon on quarterback Blake Sims' failed fourth-and-1 sneak in the fourth quarter.
"It feels real good to go out there and get more snaps," Mitchell said. "It was a little frustrating [early in the season], but I was buying in to the program.
"I like to see my teammates go out there and do well when I'm not out there. I'm the biggest cheerleader on the football team when I'm on the sideline."
Henre's eye
Henre Toliver said the vision in his left eye is getting better nearly three weeks after it was hit by a throw from quarterback Brandon Allen early in the Texas A&M game at AT&T Stadium.
The injury caused Toliver to leave the game in the first quarter and not return.
"I couldn't see out this [left] eye it was so blurry," Toliver said. "Right after halftime I had to get rushed to the hospital. They were really worried about me flying home really, about the pressure in the air. If not, I was going to have to like ride a bus home. I didn't want to do that."
Key drops
Arkansas defensive back Tevin Mitchel dropped a potential interception near midfield late in the first quarter with the score tied 0-0. Punter JK Scott pinned Arkansas back on its 15 on the next play with a 50-yard punt.
Safety Alan Turner's missed interception proved even more costly in the second quarter. Turner was turning in the end zone on a first-down play from the Arkansas 23 when an errant Blake Sims pass came whizzing right into his chest but he couldn't hold on. The Crimson Tide scored two plays later on a third-and-9 pass to back T.J. Yeldon.
Offset upset
Bret Bielema took issue with the SEC officiating crew's decision to call offsetting penalties on Arkansas tackle Dan Skipper and Alabama lineman A'Shawn Robinson early in the third quarter. of last Saturday's game.
Bielema said he sent a clip of the play, during which both players have their hands near each other's necks in a standoff before Robinson gives a two-handed shove on Skipper's helmet and neck and follows with a more violent left-handed shove at the neck, to the SEC office.
"There's so many times where the old [Skipper] would have done something," Bielema said. "I actually sent in ... two plays because he got rocked pretty hard. Once with an upper cut, once with a side cut that ... there's no place for that in our game.
"I thought the one that got offsetting, I just didn't think that he had done much to get that. So I think there's still some repercussions of what he's been. But on the same account, I saw a very nice change in what he did repeatedly throughout the course of the game to control his emotions. I think it's a great sign of things to come."
Road rage warriors
Georgia's 34-0 victory at Missouri last week was the Bulldogs' first shutout of a ranked team at its home stadium in school history. The Bulldogs are 44-14 in road games under Coach Mark Richt.
Georgia is in the midst of a five-week streak without a home game. The streak began last week at Missouri and continues with an open date next week, the Bulldogs' neutral site game against Florida and a road game at Kentucky before Georgia returns home Nov. 15 to play Auburn.
Odds and ends
• Coach Bret Bielema said that linebacker Martrell Spaight will serve as a game-day captain Saturday after quarterback Brandon Allen volunteered to step aside so Spaight, a North Little Rock native, could join the crew of captains (Trey Flowers, Brey Cook and Alan Turne). Spaight said he'd have a large number of family and friends on hand at War Memorial Stadium.
• The SEC Network crew assigned to Saturday's game is Dave Neal on play-by-play, Andre Ware as analyst and Laura Rutledge on the sideline.
• The Razorbacks will honor Breast Cancer Awareness month at Saturday's game by wearing pink socks and other items.
Sports on 10/17/2014