Beating Auburn on both sides of the ball has rewarded Razorbacks on both sides of the ball with Southeastern Conference weekly awards.

Arkansas junior running back Michael Smith was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week by the SEC Office in Birmingham, Ala., on Monday after his career high 176 rushing yards, including a game-winning 63-yard touchdown run plus 2 catches for 46 yards, during last Saturday’s 25-22 SEC victory at Auburn.

Additionally, Smith is one of four nominees along with Oklahoma State running back Kendall Hunter, Texas wide receiver Jordan Shipley and Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes for the AT & T All-America Player of the Week.

For leading the Razorback defense against Auburn with three quarterback sacks and an interception, Razorback junior defensive end Adrian Davis of Rosenberg, Texas was named the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week by the SEC Office.

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Davis finished what somebody else started against Auburn, having yielded his starting position to sophomore Damario Ambrose.

“ That was a decision made because of practice time, ” Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said of Ambrose starting. “ Adrian missed some practice time with a bruise on his knee. ” Ambrose sharing first-half time with Davis, and Smith, quarterback Casey Dick and the Hogs’ offensive line staying on the field with timeconsuming drives, combined to have Davis burning bright to scorch Auburn quarterbacks Kodi Burns and Chris Todd in the second half.

“ The good thing was he was fresh, ” Petrino said. “ I think they (Auburn ) had the ball 22 snaps in the first half and we’ve been rotating all four defensive ends. They can tee off and go full speed. Adrian certainly had a bunch of big plays. He did a great job. ”

Fresh wouldn’t have described Michael Smith these last two days since the little man’s big ordeal in Auburn, Ala.

“ Sunday wasn’t as bad as today, ” Smith, 5-7, 173, said Monday. “ Today I got up and it felt like a truck had hit me. But I came in and did my regular routine. I actually upped my intensity on it a little this week. I’m feeling better now. ”

Smith ran Sunday night along with everyone else who played against Auburn and said he started Monday’s off day in the training room at 6 a. m. with a variety of stretching, exercises, cold tub treatments and soft tissue massage toward reinvigorating for Saturday’s 6 p. m. (CDT ) ESPNU televised SEC game at Kentucky.

Does he fret he’ll be too stove up to withstand this pace ?

“ No, I’m not worried, ” Smith replied. “ We train the year around. Coach Petrino, from the day he stepped on campus, has overemphasized how physical his teams must be to be able to perform. So the training that we have gone through, I think I will be able to take it. ”

However, even in high school, he never toted it 35 times in a game.

“ It didn’t take 35 carries back in high school to get the job done, ” Smith said. “ That’s a first for me. Saturday I didn’t know it was 35 carries until after the game, but I definitely felt it after the game. ”

Petrino was asked if Smith’s practice workload would be modified with the workouts today, always a hard one in full pads, and Wednesday and Thursday.

“ That’s kind of an ongoing thing, ” Petrino said. “ Every day you try to figure out where he’s at and how he’s feeling. We’ve got to get him 100 percent to Saturday. But as a running back, you like to get those carries in practice because it’s so much instinct. ”

Smith instinctively plays well and practices well, Petrino said, noting the difference against Auburn was the entire offense rising to the occasion.

“ He did what he always does, which is to hit the hole very hard and play with great effort, ” Petrino said. “ As an offense, we blocked better. We sustained our blocks better and got guys cut down on the backside. As an offense, our running game improved. ”

Smith knows what it took to spring him against a great Auburn defense.

“ Give praise to my offensive line and the receivers who blocked downfield, ” Smith said. “ They did a much better job of that this week. We just executed better and it opened up more holes and more alleys to run through. ”

While riding high on the Hog now as the SEC’s leading rusher, Smith still recalls the lows of fumbling in last year’s 42-29 loss to Kentucky in Fayetteville.

“ I am often reminded that I had a fumble that turned the game back to Kentucky, ” Smith said. “ But I am not really worried about it right now. It’s a new year with a different role. I’m just excited about being able to go out there this week. ”