Love to have surgery : Hogs corner may miss action while healing thumb

BY NATE ALLEN Northwest Arkansas Times

Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008

URL: http://www.wholehogsports.com/nwat/69910/

Arkansas starting senior cornerback Jamar Love of North Little Rock will undergo surgery today to repair an injured thumb, it was confirmed by Arkansas media relations director Kevin Trainor after Tuesday’s practice.

Love did not practice Tuesday.

Presumably, Love is out indefinitely and will miss Saturday’s 4 p. m. pay-per-view SEC West game against Auburn in Auburn, Ala.

Since junior top reserve cornerback-punt returner Jerell Norton already is out because of the hamstring injury that sidelined him before last Saturday’s SEC loss to Florida, third-year sophomore Ramon Broadway likely will start with senior Shedrick Johnson and freshman Tramain Thomas in reserve.

Broadway has one of this season’s two interceptions for the 2-3, 0-2 in the SEC Razorbacks.

The Hogs had some good news Tuesday. Senior starting defensive tackle Ernest Mitchell, having undergone arthroscopic knee surgery last week, already was doing some rehab workouts on the sidelines of Tuesday’s practice inside the Walker Pavilion.

Mitchell remains sidelined for this game as freshman Zach Stadther of North Little Rock will make his second straight start at defensive tackle.

Auburn’s defense seems about as apt to score on you as its offense.

Between interception and fumble returns, Auburn’s defense has scored three TDs, just two less than the Tigers ’ rushing offense and four less than their passing offense.

The Tigers’ oppor tunistic defense besets Arkansas play-calling head coach Bobby Petrino and offensive coordinator Paul Petrino a double pronged problem. Make sure the Hog offense doesn’t give anything away while somehow converting those opportunities inside the 30-yard line that Arkansas wasted in SEC home losses to Alabama and Florida.

“ That’s how they have won a lot of their games, ” Paul Petrino said of the Auburn’s defense turning offensive. “ We have to do a good job taking care of the football and not give their offense any short fields. ”

Does that make your offense approach it cautiously ?

“ No, ” Paul Petrino replied. “ You just have to play smart and take care of the ball. ”

Paul Petrino was asked about remedying the Hogs penchant for bogging down at about the 30.

“ We’ve got to not beat ourselves, ” Paul Petrino said. “ A couple of times we got down there and had penalties. We can’t do that. That’s when the execution has to be a lot sharper. You don’t have as much room. You’ve got to be more accurate and precise on everything you do and you have to bust a couple of runs to get it in. We’ve moved the ball really well and then not been good enough to that point when we get down there. It’s something we have made a big emphasis on to improve. ” TAKING NOTHING

FOR GRANTED Don’t take for granted Grant Freeman’s playing weight. The Razorback redshirt freshman, filling in for the family-illness excused junior weakside starting tackle Ray Dominguez last Saturday against Florida and now competing against Dominguez for the start against Auburn, says he’s a beefier 6-foot-7 Hog than listed in the program.

“ They got me listed in the program as 275, ” Freeman said, “ but I am 285 now. Next year I want to play at 305 or 310. I still have got a ways to go, but I’ll get there. ”

However he’s gained a lot, given he first reported in 2007 to the UA out of Paris as a 6-7, 250 tight end.

Still even 285 is on the light side these days for an offensive tackle.

Did Freeman feel undersized against Florida’s defensive line ?

“ I definitely feel I held my own but a little more weight would have helped and I would have held my ground a little bit better, ” Freeman said. IGNORING ALL-PURPOSE

STATS ON PURPOSE No starting Razorback appears more undersized than Michael Smith, 5-7, 173. Nor is any Hog playing any bigger. The fourthyear junior running back leads the SEC in all purpose yards. “ That’s the first I’ve heard of it, ” Smith said after practice. “ You make sure you don’t look at stats during the season, because you just need to keep playing. Right now we’re just trying to get a win. So I’m not really worried about stats right now. ”