Arkansas Scales Back Game Plan

Razorbacks on both sides of the ball had less to think about during practice this week. Arkansas’ coaches shrunk the game plan for its game against No. 12 Florida at 11:30 a.m. Saturday compared with the Hogs’ first four contests.

After a 70-minute practice on Thursday, coach Bobby Petrino said he hoped cutting back would eliminate assignment errors.

“(We cut) the number of plays (on offense) and schemes on defense,” Petrino said.

He said the Razorbacks looked especially tentative in their 52-10 loss last Saturday at Texas.

“What we saw on video was hesitation and that probably means they don’t know something well enough,” Petrino said. “So, you cut back and try to know it better.”



Pay-Per-View Details

The Arkansas athletic department announced on Thursday the details for pay-per-view details for the Razorbacks’ Oct. 11 game at No. 13 Auburn, which will start at 4 p.m.

Cost is $34.99 for the game. The contest will be available on cable systems in Arkansas and Alabama. DirecTV or Dish Network customers in the two states also can purchase the broadcast. The Arkansas-Auburn game also will can be seen nationally through the ESPN GamePlan package.

“We are excited to bring the Arkansas-Auburn game to the Razorback fans,” Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long said in a statement. “After preliminary reports of nearly 8,000 subscribers for our first pay-per-view game against Louisiana-Monroe, we were thrilled when final calculations resulted in 17,000 subscribers.

“The record response reflects the passion our fans have for following the Razorbacks.”



All About Attitude

Petrino opened his comments after Thursday’s practice by talking about his team’s mindset.

“We came out this week and worked on our attitude, made sure we had a good attitude,” Petrino said. “Our players responded to that. We practiced hard. We practiced with good effort.

He said he didn’t want the Razorbacks “sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves” and credited several leaders for their roles in that. Petrino mentioned seniors Jonathan Luigs and Elston Forte and juniors Michael Smith, London Crawford and Wendel Davis.



Imitating Tebow

The Arkansas scout team used three different quarterbacks to mimic Florida’s Tim Tebow in practice this week — redshirt Ryan Mallett, freshman Jim Youngblood and senior Alex Mortensen.

“(Tebow) does a lot and there is a lot of running involved, so we split it up among those three,” Petrino said. "They did a good job of getting in the film room, studying what he does and executing it for our defense.”



Quick Hitters

Petrino said the “scope” on senior defensive tackle Ernest Mitchell’s left knee went well. He said he hoped Mitchell could return sooner than his four-to-six weeks diagnosis. ... Petrino also said sophomore defensive end Damario Ambrose, who missed a practice this week with an undisclosed injury, had another good practice and would play Saturday. ... Junior receiver Lucas Miller also is expected to return Saturday after missing the game at Texas with a concussion.