FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said he's warned his players to stay on guard the next two weeks as the Razorbacks try to build on a four-game winning streak by closing out the season with home games against Mississippi State and Missouri.
"Everyone's going to start telling them how good they are and what they are and all this, which is probably some bit of truth but a lot more just hype," Bielema said at his Monday news conference.
"So we've got to keep them grounded. When you're in this environment, you never know who's in their ear telling them all these really good things that they probably don't need to hear over and over. So we'll take on the role as the humbler this week as coaches."
The Hogs' four-game winning streak, punctuated by road victories at Ole Miss and LSU the past two weeks, is their longest under Bielema and the program's longest since the 2011 team won seven consecutive games to move to 10-1 and reach No. 3 in the BCS poll in the final week of the regular season.
10 bones
Bret Bielema said the foot injury suffered Saturday by defensive lineman Mitchell Loewen was the 10th broken bone for an Arkansas player this season.
Loewen will miss the rest of the season. Another player fell on his foot at the 13:35 mark of the second quarter, just after Arkansas had taken a 14-0 lead at LSU. Bielema said Loewen had surgery Monday after X-rays showed the break in his foot.
"Mitch was having a really good year for us," Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith said. "He's a high-motor guy. His care factor is really high."
Smith said cornerback D.J. Dean, who had an interception and a combination sack with Brooks Ellis in limited action against LSU, will probably be held out of some parts of practice this week as he continues to recover from a turf toe injury.
Bielema said running back Alex Collins is fine.
"I just think he got a little bit worn out as the game wore on Saturday," Bielema said. "We have to be very, very careful about our practices this week and make sure we don't tax them too much."
Henry a semifinalist
Arkansas junior Hunter Henry was named Monday as one of eight semifinalists for the Mackey Award, which is given annually to the nation's best tight end.
The other semifinalists are Michigan's Jake Butt, San Jose State's Billy Freeman, Virginia Tech's Bucky Hodges, Stanford's Austin Hooper, Alabama's O.J. Howard, Clemson's Jordan Leggett and Florida's Jake McGee.
Henry is the SEC leader among tight ends with 37 receptions for 490 yards. Henry caught his 100th career pass last week on Arkansas' third play.
The Mackey Award finalists will be announced No. 24 and the winner will be presented with the award live on Dec. 10 at the Home Depot College Football awards show.
Greenlaw again
On Monday, Arkansas linebacker Dre Greenlaw became the first player in the SEC this season to earn conference freshman of the week twice.
Greenlaw had 12 tackles in Arkansas' 31-14 victory at No. 9 LSU last Saturday and had one of the game's biggest plays, a sack and strip on quarterback Brandon Harris that was recovered by Razorbacks linebacker Brooks Ellis and turned into a touchdown for a 21-0 lead late in the second quarter.
Greenlaw, who has led the team in tackles five games since joining the starting lineup in Week 3, has 84 tackles on the season to rank sixth in the SEC.
ESPN had a crew on campus Monday filming a feature on Greenlaw, who played safety at Fayetteville High School last year.
Skipper honored
Arkansas junior Dan Skipper picked up his first SEC offensive lineman of the week award Monday.
Skipper graded at 86 percent in Saturday's victory for the Razorbacks, whose 299 rushing yards were the most by Arkansas in an SEC game since the 2007 team ran for 385 yards in a 50-48 triple-overtime victory at LSU in 2007.
"He played a really clean game," Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos said while praising Skipper's work against LSU end Lewis Neal. "We thought that was a matchup that was going to be difficult for us. Dan did a great job against him."
Skipper is the third Razorback to pick up the award this season, joining Sebastian Tretola and Mitch Smothers.
Moore attention
The Arkansas offensive line was one of 20 named Monday as a semifinalist for the inaugural Joe Moore Award, which will honor a school's entire offensive line.
Representatives for the award, which honors the long-time offensive line coach at Notre Dame and other schools, will announce five semifinalists on Nov. 30, and the winner on Dec. 7. Arkansas is one of three SEC schools among the semifinalists, joining Alabama and LSU.
Pinkel praise
Bret Bielema and Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen each opened his Monday news conference with remarks about the impending retirement of Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel, who is stepping down at season's end to deal with his lymphoma.
"I want to pass on our thoughts and prayers to Coach Pinkel," Bielema said. "He's obviously going through a lot, and what he stands for and what he's done at Missouri is second to none. I will be very honored to have him here next week."
Bielema said he watched some of Pinkel's news conference Monday.
"Hopefully he has many years to enjoy family life and that stuff beyond the game of football," Mullen said. "He's done a lot, and when you look at a place like Missouri, people try to build programs like theirs."
Bowl chat
ESPN.com's Brett McMurphy is now projecting Arkansas to face Northwestern in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1 in Tampa, Fla. ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach has the Razorbacks targeted to play Penn State in the TaxSlayer Bowl, formerly the Gator Bowl, in Jacksonville, Fla., on Jan. 2.
CBSsports.com's Jerry Palm projects Arkansas to face Nebraska in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., on Dec. 30.
Sports on 11/17/2015