Practice Report

First Down: Blocking Von Miller Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman joked that having Von Miller play for his defense has been a blessing and a curse.

The blessing? Miller leads the nation with eight sacks in three games. The curse? He has created all kinds of problems for Texas A&M’s offensive line in practice this season.

“He’s destroyed the confidence of our left tackles,” Sherman said Monday. “Those guys are having nervous breakdowns.”

The good news for Sherman is that Miller will be Arkansas’ problem Saturday. One of the Razorbacks’ biggest concerns will be blocking the linebacker, who has excelled in a “jack” position that was created with him in mind this offseason.

In it, Miller has harassed quarterbacks. Arkansas tackle Ray Dominguez said Miller will present a difficult challenge.

“They’ve got him standing up the entire time on defense and that really plays a big part,” Dominguez said. “We’re going to have to set the offensive line where we slide towards him a little bit. He’s going to be our main focus as a line.”

Miller usually wears No. 40, but will don No. 24 on Saturday. He and teammate Cyrus Gray are wearing the number in honor of a DeSoto (Texas) High football player who was paralyzed in May. Miller and Gray both graduated from DeSoto.

But Arkansas hopes to keep Miller from having a big day.

“We know it’s going to be a battle and we’re going to go out there and try to win that battle,” tight end D.J. Williams said.



Two-Minute Drill

• Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino didn’t name a starter, but said both Elton Ford and Tramain Thomas will play Saturday. Thomas has started the first three games, but Ford played much of the second half at Alabama. Petrino said the sophomores have split first-team work in practice this week.

• Arkansas tackle DeMarcus Love practiced for the second straight day and is expected to hold his spot in the starting lineup Saturday. Love, a Texas native, missed Tuesday’s workout because of a knee injury he suffered at Alabama.

“He needed to take Tuesday off just to let the swelling go down,” Petrino said. “(Wednesday) he practiced real well. He felt better (Thursday) and he’s spent a lot of time this week getting ready to go. He’s excited to go home and play well.”

• Petrino said he has been impressed with the way players have responded in practice this week.

“The coaches haven’t had to do a lot of the encouraging,” Petrino said. “It’s been other players on the team doing the encouraging. And that’s been good. That shows pride and that shows that they really want to get this thing right.”



Inside Scoop: Preparing For Jerry World

Petrino said the Razorbacks are altering their schedule this week because they’re playing Texas A&M in Jerry Jones’ new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Arkansas will fly to Texas today and squeeze in a walk-through in the stadium, trying to get used to its ambiance.

“That’s why we’re doing it,” Petrino said. “I usually don’t like to do that. I like to do our work here and then get on a plane and get there and let them relax a little bit and have our normal meetings. But because it is that atmosphere, that stadium, we’re going to go down.”

Dallas’ $1 billion stadium features a high-definition video screen that stretches from one 20-yard line to the other. Petrino said the Razorbacks should get an opportunity to see what the “super JumboTron” looks like, because it is expected to be turned on during the today’s walk-through.

But Petrino also said Arkansas’ punters won’t get a chance to hit it during the team’s practice today.

“We’re not going to punt the ball,” Petrino said.