FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas will face the biggest running back it has seen this season on Saturday in Tennessee's Jalen Hurd, a 6-4, 240-pound sophomore who was a four- and five-star signee in 2014 from Hendersonville, Tenn.
Hurd has 86 carries for 402 yards and has scored 7 rushing touchdowns and 1 receiving touchdown. Not only does he charge hard between the tackles, he also can get to the perimeter .
"He's a big, old good-looking joker, and he's hard to bring down," Arkansas linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves said.
"He's a big, strong, physical back, and once he bounces out there he has the juice to be able to take it the distance," defensive backs coach Clay Jennings said.
"It's definitely going to have to be a group effort with him," said Arkansas safety Rohan Gaines, a 5-11, 195-pound senior.
Cheap shot
Arkansas safety Rohan Gaines said the hit by Texas A&M receiver Josh Reynolds that sent him out of the game temporarily in the second quarter wasn't clean.
"Yeah, it was a cheap shot," Gaines said. "Me and him were going back and forth kind of the whole game, even pregame, and he cheap shotted me. It's all in the game though. It's fine."
Handling it
Freshman Santos Ramirez made his first start at free safety against Texas A&M.
"It's really a blessing," he said. "That's something I've always dreamed about. Being a starter, that's something everybody wants to do that plays football."
Ramirez said he found out from defensive backs coach Clay Jennings the Sunday after the Texas Tech game he'd be starting against Texas A&M. Ramirez played some free safety and lower in the box like a linebacker against the Aggies.
"When he said that, I didn't get nervous or anything like that," Ramirez said. "I know I'm prepared to play at the highest level. I just had to step into that role and take charge.
"Anything you throw at me, I can handle it. If you tell me to play linebacker, I'll play linebacker."
Penalty swing
The Razorbacks are No. 92 nationally with an average of 7.8 penalties per game and No. 97 with an avereage of 72.3 penalty yards per game, which is a step back from Coach Bret Bielema's first two Arkansas teams.
Bielema's first team in 2013 ranked No. 12 with 4.1 penalties per game and No. 23 with 38.4 penalty yards per game. The 2014 Razorbacks were No. 35 with 5.2 penalties per game and No. 37 with 44.7 penalty yards per game.
In stark contrast, Arkansas' opponents have been penalized an average of 38.3 yards per game, which ranks No. 115 in the country.
Rowdy Rocky
The Razorbacks are likely to have their fill of Tennessee's fight song "Rocky Top" before they kick off against the Vols on Saturday.
The speakers inside the Walker Pavilion weight lifting area were blaring the song on loop, over and over, Monday.
"It's been blasting a lot here," receivers coach Michael Smith said. "We know we're going to hear it a lot. Those people are great fans, and they love their program like our people do."
Too much?
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said he could see week by week during Arkansas' run of injuries that quarterback Brandon Allen was taking more of the responsibility for trying to make things happen.
Allen said Saturday the blame for last week's 28-21 loss to Texas A&M could be laid at his feet.
"The biggest thing he talked about was me having fun again," Allen said of a conversation with Bielema. "It's tough with some of our leading guys out.
"I think I was trying to step into a bigger role and trying to do more and more. He talked to me about just going back to having fun and playing my game."
150 x 2
With Alex Collins rushing for 151 yards and Drew Morgan catching 155 yards worth of passes last week, the Razorbacks had a runner and receiver exceed 150 yards in the same game for the fifth time in school history.
The others: Cedric Cobbs (174) and Boo Williams (171) vs. Boise State in 2000; DeCori Birmingham (196) and George Wilson (172) vs. Kentucky in 2003; Darren McFadden (219) and Marcus Monk (192) vs. South Carolina in 2006; and Knile Davis (152) and Cobi Hamilton (164) vs. LSU in 2010.
Sports on 10/01/2015