FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas tailback Rawleigh Williams said he's modeled his style a little bit after former Wisconsin running back Montee Ball.
Last week, Williams joined Ball in the string of running backs coached by Bret Bielema to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. He pushed his season total to 1,004 rushing yards with 49 yards on 13 carries against LSU on Saturday.
"It means a lot," Williams said. "That was a big reason I came here was to play under Coach B and the history that this school has. I wanted to add to it, and I hope to continue that this season."
Seven running backs have combined to post 13 1,000-yard seasons under Bielema -- four at Wisconsin, and Williams, Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams at Arkansas.
Rawleigh Williams has joined Collins, Jonathan Williams, Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, Peyton Hillis, Cedric Cobbs, Madre Hill and others in Arkansas' 1,000-yard club.
"It gives me chills when you even say those names," Williams said. "Those are legends in one way or another. Hopefully one day I can surpass them because my goal is to be the best."
Lofty standard
Arkansas tight end Jeremy Sprinkle had plenty of opportunities to do his signature "sprinkle" move with dangling downturned fingers last season against Mississippi State.
Sprinkle caught 3 touchdown passes among his 6 receptions for 47 yards in Arkansas' 51-50 loss to the Bulldogs at Razorback Stadium.
"It'd be hard to duplicate the game he had last year," Arkansas tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. said. "That's a hard thing to do, to catch three touchdowns in a game. We need him to play well, nonetheless. Whatever that looks like at the end of the day, if he plays well, then he's going to give us a chance to win."
More cowbell
Offensive line coach Kurt Anderson will be among the Razorbacks hearing the cowbells at Mississippi State in person for the first time Saturday.
"I'm excited to get down there and see it and hear it, and we're preparing for it," Anderson said.
Anderson referenced a Saturday Night Live skit when first asked about facing the bells.
"Probably the night Will Ferrell was on Saturday Night Live and [Christopher Walken] had a fever, and the only prescription was more cowbell, I think there was probably 35 million TVs that were playing at the same time," he said. "I'm assuming that's what it's going to be like."
Anderson said the noise issue reminded him of his coaching days in the Mid-American Conference.
"You'd play at Akron in the old Rubber Bowl and it was literally right next to the landing strip at an airport, so there'd be jets coming down," he said. "So you want to talk about crowd noise and on top of it you're hearing a 747 land right next to the field."
On track
Receivers coach Michael Smith said he's expecting a bounce-back game from the Arkansas passing game this week.
"Like every weekend, it's going to be a tremendous challenge for my guys," Smith said. "For us to get back on track -- we weren't happy with the way we performed last week -- so I know through this week of practice we've emphasized getting back on track with our passing game."
Asked what in particular had gotten off track, Smith replied, "We weren't on the same page, and as a football coach, I didn't do a good enough job to get my guys ready."
Doak cut
Arkansas running back Rawleigh Williams did not make the cut Wednesday as one of 10 semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award.
LSU's Leonard Fournette and Auburn's Kamryn Pettway, who have each missed three games, were included on the list. The other semifinalists are Penn State's Saquon Barkley, Florida State's Dalvin Cook, Texas' D'Onta Foreman, Wyoming's Brian Hill, UTEP's Aaron Jones, Stanford's Christian McCaffrey, Boise State's Jeremy McNichols and San Diego State's Donnel Pumphrey, who is the only senior among the group. Three finalists will be named Wednesday.
Heart hurt
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema gave an assessment of his team's physical health on Wednesday's SEC teleconference.
"The good part about Saturday was the only thing that got bruised was our heart," Bielema said. "We'll come back and play hard on Saturday and get a chance to get going."
Sideline snap
LSU tailback Leonard Fournette posed for pictures with fans by the Tigers' sideline early in the fourth quarter against the Razorbacks last week. The SEC Now show depicted Fournette's picture-taking scene, with 14:07 left in the game, as one of its memorable moments of last week.
On the radio
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema will be joined by junior defensive back Kevin Richardson and sophomore linebacker Dre Greenlaw on his weekly radio show, On the Air with Bret Bielema, tonight at 7. Richardson, of Jacksonville, has been out for the year since the opener with a torn pectoral muscle. Greenlaw had a screw inserted in his broken right foot after suffering the injury against Alabama on Oct. 8. Greenlaw has a chance to participate in bowl practices, Bielema said.
On rankings
Of the 48 games coached by Bret Bielema at Arkansas, 25 of them have come against ranked opponents. Arkansas has a 7-18 record in those games. After an 0-11 start against ranked teams under Bielema, the Razorbacks are 7-7 in their past 14 games, dating to their 17-0 victory over No. 17 LSU on Nov. 15, 2014.
Common ground
Arkansas and Mississippi State have four common opponents this season: Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Texas A&M. The Razorbacks lost to all four teams, while the Bulldogs have a 1-3 mark in those games, with a 35-28 victory over Texas A&M on Nov. 5.
Arkansas played a closer game against No. 1 Alabama (49-30) than Mississippi State did in its 51-3 loss at the Crimson Tide last week. Mississippi State played closer games against LSU (23-20) and Auburn (38-14) than the Hogs, who lost 38-10 to LSU and 56-3 to Auburn.
Sports on 11/17/2016