Practice Report

Oden, Dominguez Will Play Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino didn’t name a starter at tackle after Thursday’s practice, but indicated that both junior Ray Dominguez and freshman Anthony Oden will play against third-ranked Alabama on Saturday.

Petrino said the tackles split work in practice this week and the Razorbacks are still deciding on a starter. Oden worked with the first-team line during the portion of practice open to the media on Wednesday afternoon.

“Both of them have been working hard,” Petrnio said. “Oden has done some real good things and so has Ray. So we’ll make a decision here before gametime.”

Petrino said playing both Saturday should help the tackles stay mentally fresh and cut back on mistakes.

Oden’s opportunity for more playing time increased after Dominguez struggled, committing a handful of penalties against Georgia. Petrino said the 6-foot-8, 328-pound Oden — a true freshman who played at Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy last season — has also improved.

“He’s had a good week of practice,” Petrino said. “He’s a guy who has all kinds of talent. He did a nice job in that first game and has been taking reps all the time.

“He’s going to be a great football player before its over with. We’ve just got to make sure he’s ready now.”



Two-Minute Drill

• Petrino said running back Ronnie Wingo had a good week of practice. So did freshman Knile Davis. He’s expecting both to play against Alabama in hopes of helping a running game that struggled last Saturday.

“We do need to get more running game going,” Petrino said. “The more we can run the ball, the more pressure we can take off throwing it.”

• A weather.com forecast says there’s an 80 percent chance for rain and thunderstorms on Saturday, but Petrino said Arkansas didn’t get in any wet ball work during practice this week. Petrino said Arkansas practiced in the rain during preseason camp and two more times last week in preparation for the Bulldogs.

“I know the forecast is for that, but we have been in it probably five or six times this fall,” Petrino said.

• Petrino said Arkansas’ defense, which struggled against Georgia, has responded well in practice this week. But he wants to see them perform against the Crimson Tide.

“We need to go and have success,” he said. “We need to do things well, get our confidence back, fly around, play with emotion, which we did at times in the Georgia game. We just allowed them to make too many plays.”



Cody the Blocker?

Arkansas’ offensive line knows it will have its hands full trying to block Alabama nose guard Terrence Cody. But it seems Arkansas’ defensive players could have their hands full trying to keep Cody from blocking them Saturday.

Alabama likes to use the 6-foot-5, 354-pound Cody as a blocking back in its goal line packages.

It’s no surprise Cody has been pretty good at clearing space for tailbacks like Mark Ingram, too, Petrino said.

“He’s a big man and he comes through there pretty good,” Petrino said. “They do a nice job with him. That’s something we have to try to keep them off the goal line because they’re very powerful down there.”

Cody’s performance in short-yardage situations has apparently generated laughs in the Alabama film room.

Ingram said watching defenders trying to deal with a 360-pound blocker running at them has been “kind of funny.”

“Not too many guys want to get blocked by him,” Ingram said. “You’ll watch the film on Monday and you see guys running out of the way.”