Razorbacks Report

Arkansas works on toughness

Georgia defender Damian Swann sacks Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen during a game Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas opened its week of practice for Alabama-Birmingham with a rugged workout Tuesday as the Razorbacks try to re-establish the physical identity they had going earlier in the season.

"We had a very physical inside run drill," quarterback Brandon Allen said. "We're looking to be that physical team that we started out being, especially up front, and just running hard and getting that run game back to where we started."

Arkansas ran for a combined 215 yards in its past two games, losses to No. 7 Alabama and No. 10 Georgia, and its per-game average dropped from 316 to 257 in that span.

"Our practice today actually felt like a camp practice," tight end AJ Derby said. "We got after it today, and we got back to what we needed to do."

Offensive tackle Brey Cook said a loss of focus was a concern over the weekend going into Saturday's nonconference game against the Blazers, a member of Conference USA.

"We've got to bounce back and get everyone in the right direction, and we did," Cook said. "Today was a great practice."

Collins vs. Howard

Arkansas' game against Alabama-Birmingham will pit the nation's top two freshman running backs from a year ago.

Alex Collins led the nation's freshmen with 1,026 rushing yards in 2013 while UAB's Jordan Howard was second with 881 yards, tying Baylor's Shock Linwood.

Collins got off to a strong start again this season with 622 rushing yards through five games, but against the stiff run defenses of Alabama and Georgia the sophomore managed a combined 44 yards on 17 carries. The 5-11, 215-pounder ranks 28th nationally with 665 rushing yards, one spot behind teammate Jonathan Williams, who has 677 yards.

Howard ranks 18th with 752 rushing yards and is 21st with 107.4 yards per game.

Williams' nine rushing touchdowns is tied for 13th, Collins' eight rushing touchdowns is tied for 17th, and Howard's seven rushing scores are tied for 28th.

Blazer bumps

UAB quarterback Cody Clements sat out Monday's practice with his right (throwing) arm in a sling, and top wideout J.J. Nelson also missed the workout.

The Blazers said they'll be ready to roll with Jeremiah Briscoe if needed.

"I think what we've seen out of him recently is that he has been ripping it," UAB Coach Bill Clark told AL.com. "Jeremiah probably doesn't run quite as good as Cody, but he's athletic and he runs good and he's probably got a stronger arm."

Receiver Maudrecus Humphrey, the former Razorback, told AL.com that the Blazers will be ready come Saturday.

"We're going to put in a lot of good work this week, take a ton of shots in practice and get more comfortable with Briscoe throwing us the ball in the game so we'll be ready," he said.

Clements is believed to have suffered a shoulder injury late in the Blazers' 34-22 loss at Middle Tennessee State last week. Nelson, who has 20 catches for a team-high 446 yards and 2 touchdowns, is also the Blazers' top kick returner and punt returner.

Mitchell ejection

Braylon Mitchell's ejection for a second-quarter targeting penalty on Georgia quarterback Hutson Mason was the first for Arkansas since the rule came into effect.

Coach Bret Bielema said he thought the call could have gone either way, as Mitchell was bearing down just as Mason released a pass and was leaning down into the collision.

"I don't know if you could ask [Mitchell] to do any other thing," Bielema said. "That rule was put into place to deter a certain type of behavior. I think as a byproduct of that, we all said when that rule went in there's going to be some natural football plays that unfortunately are going to fall under this category.

"I don't think Braylon Mitchell took off after that quarterback with the intent to target him."

Going for 200

The last time an Arkansas opponent rushed for 200 yards before Georgia's Nick Chubb did it with 202 yards last week came three seasons ago. Texas A&M's Christine Michael ran for 230 yards in Arkansas' come-from-behind 42-38 victory in 2011 in Arlington, Texas.

Sports on 10/22/2014