FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas practiced indoors at the Walker Pavilion on Tuesday to start adjusting to the sea of cowbells they'll experience on Saturday in Starkville, Miss.
The practice included loud music and the sound of cowbells roaring over the loudspeakers.
"It gives you a little headache, but you've got to have it," offensive tackle Brey Cook said. "That's just part of it."
Quarterback Brandon Allen said the offense handle the noise well.
"We have real loud speakers in the indoor, so it just kind of echoes and we didn't have any issues," Allen said. "We usually don't have any issues with noise while we're on the field.
"We're all loud and we all communicate with each other. I really don't see the cowbells being that big an issue for us."
Collins bounce-back
Sophomore Alex Collins rebounded from poor performances against Alabama and Georgia to rush for 82 yards on 15 carries against Alabama-Birmingham.
"Today was probably the best I've seen him run throughout this whole season," said tailback Jonathan Williams, who had a career-best 153 yards against the Blazers.
Prescott's boot
Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott is being intentionally vague about the walking boot he was sporting during post-game interviews on Saturday.
"It's nothing really," he said Tuesday on ESPN. "Just kind of a little ... I'm wearing the walking boot for fashion. Nothing there, nothing to see, nothing to worry about. I'll be ready to play."
Asked a follow-up question about the injury, Prescott replied, "Like I said, it's nothing serious. So I'll be ready to go, ready to lead my team out there Saturday."
Smith stands out
Defensive end Preston Smith, a 6-4, 277-pounder, leads Mississippi State with eight tackles for 48 yards in losses, including six sacks. He also has two interceptions and a forced fumble.
"He's a very talented football player," offensive tackle Brey Cook said. "Very big, strong.
"He's definitely a guy that stands out on film. I've watched a lot of film on him so far and will continue to do so."
Smith has been named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week three times.
Good day
Quarterback Brandon Allen said the Razorbacks got a lot accomplished Tuesday.
"We had a real physical, fast-paced practice," he said. "We got a lot of things installed, a lot of things going for us this week. We flew around, did a real good job today."
Goal-line stop
Arkansas' reserves on defense bowed up after a special teams fumble gave Alabama-Birmingham the ball at the Razorbacks' 26 early in the fourth quarter.
The Blazers quickly moved to the Arkansas 2 on consecutive runs by Jordan Howard, but the Razorbacks were hard to budge after that.
Bijhon Jackson and Rohan Gaines combined to stop Howard at the 1-yard line on first and goal, then Mitchell Loewen and Deatrich Wise stopped Howard in his tracks on second down. Loewen and Daunte Carr teamed up to tackle D.J. Vinson for a 2-yard loss on third down, then pressure from Wise forced quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe to rush an incomplete pass on fourth down.
"We made a big deal out of that in our meeting," defensive coordinator Robb Smith said Sunday. "If you're in that defensive room, then we have a belief in you that you can play at the highest level or you wouldn't be in there. It was great to see those guys rise up to the challenge and keep somebody out of the end zone in that situation."
1B struggle
Mississippi State calls its second unit on defense the "1Bs," but the group clearly played like second-stringers in last Saturday's 45-31 victory at Kentucky.
Coach Dan Mullen said the starters, which he calls the 1As, took 50 snaps and the 1Bs played 22 snaps against the Wildcats.
"In those 22 plays, the 1Bs gave up more yards and more than double the points than the 1As gave up in twice as many plays," Mullen said. "Our discussion with those guys on that is, your reps are contingent on how you perform in games."
Mullen said defensive coordinator Goeff Collins expressed his dissatisfaction with the group as well.
Got it back
Arkansas wasn't the only SEC West team to struggle with fielding punts last week. Mississippi State's Jamoral Graham muffed a punt return, but was able to recover the football during the Bulldogs' 45-31 victory at Kentucky last week.
"We feel pretty confident in Graham fielding punts, especially while [Jameon] Lewis was hurt," Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen said on Monday.
Lewis, who returned last week on a limited basis from a foot injury, is expected to contribute more against Arkansas.
Sports on 10/29/2014