Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

10/19/2011 at 1:05pm

Image by Mark Wagner

Dennis Johnson and the rest of Arkansas' available running backs are the healthiest they've been all season.

Houston Nutt summoned a couple of old friends in the coaching business to rejoin him at Ole Miss after last season — David Lee and Keith Burns. Nutt turned his offense over to Lee, the team's quarterback coach, in the offseason. Burns is being asked to bring some of the competitive zeal he showed as a former Razorback player and coach and transfer it to a young Ole Miss secondary that is trying to find its way.

Last week, the Rebels looked lost defensively in the second half of a 52-7 home loss to Alabama. But Nutt sees better days ahead, and he's glad to have a familiar face back to bring those players along. At least there's one positive to Ole Miss' defense this year: The Rebels have as many interceptions now as they had all last season.

"He’s done an outstanding job," Nutt said of Burns on Wednesday during the Southeastern Conference coaches teleconference. "He's brought a lot of passion, energy. I knew that he would do that."

Burns, who coordinated Nutt's first two defenses at Arkansas, when the Hogs won 17 games in two seasons and went to a pair of Jan. 1 bowls, returns to Nutt's staff after working at Kansas State. Tyrone Nix is the Rebels' defensive coordinator.

Nutt said that how his secondary plays the ball this year is "just night and day how much we've improved" over last year.

"When you know someone, worked together, been in trenches together, know how he’s been raised, been taught, it’s a good feeling," Nutt said of Burns. "It's good to have him back and he’s done just an outstanding job."

Nutt understands the Rebels will be tested to the max on Saturday when they take on Arkansas and Bobby Petrino's passing offense. Arkansas' improving running game is also a concern for Nutt.

"We've got to do a good job of stopping the run as well as those dangerous receivers," he said.

Pressed by a reporter as to the "one thing" Ole Miss could do to come out on top (Arkansas is favored by 15 points) Saturday, Nutt said, "There are a lot of things we've got to do. There's not one thing."

He added, "We've got to be ready on special teams. We've got to do a good job stopping the run. They're going to make some catches and we've got to stop the runs after the catch. And we've got to stay on the field when we have the ball and put some points on the board."

The SEC Network is carrying the game at 11:21 a.m. from Oxford.

Nutt and Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino both noted the emergence of senior Razorback receiver Greg Childs against Auburn, when he showed more than flashes of his speed and tackle-breaking ability in the Hogs' 38-14 win Oct. 8. Childs tore a patella tendon last October and was tentative early this season.

"Without question, without question, he looked full speed to me," Nutt said of seeing Childs on tape from the Auburn game. "He’s always been among the most physical receivers, fun to watch, not afraid to go get the ball. He will run over people. Having him with those other receivers, it’s really a good bunch."

Petrino, speaking before Nutt Wednesday on the teleconference, said he wasn't sure Childs was back to full speed, but he was closing in on it.

"Yeah, I don’t think there's any question about it. He's really improved in the last three weeks," Petrino said. "We kept waiting for him to have a breakout game. I think he did that against Auburn."

Nutt hopes that some of his younger defenders such as Senquez Golson can avoid the ESPN highlight reel the wrong way this week. Golson, to his chagrin, was shown over and over as the defender who appeared to stop in his tracks as Alabama's Trent Richardson danced all around him on a 67-yard touchdown run Saturday.

Even Golson had seen enough of the lowlight earlier this week on TV and spoke with Nutt about it, the coach said Wednesday.

"He’s been doing an awesome job," Nutt said. "What an attitude. Naturally he didn’t want that highlight. He talked to me about that yesterday. I'll tell you about Senquez, he’s going to have a lot more highlights before his career is over. He’s coming, he’s really coming. He’s had to grow up in a hurry. He's like a lot of these guys we probably should have redshirted but had to throw into the mix."

Alabama's usual October tussle with Tennessee doesn't have its usual luster, and some national observers may be writing off Auburn's chances at LSU. Those are the big TV games of the weekend. Four SEC teams have the week off.

On the Running Backs
Bobby Petrino offered a few tidbits during his brief segment Wednesday.

In one surprise, apparently freshman running back Kody Walker, who was the designated scorer early in the season on 1-yard plunges, was injured but no one outside the team seemed to know it. Walker, according to Petrino, had surgery on a stress fracture this week and will be out. Arkansas will seek a medical redshirt year for Walker since he played in less than a fourth of the season.

As for the other running backs — with the exception of Knile Davis, of course, who broke his ankle in August — everybody's at full speed for Ole Miss, including Ronnie Wingo, Petrino said.

"He has his speed back and looked real well," Petrino said. "It's nice to have all three backs healthy at one time. If one gets hot, we're going to feed him."

ArkansasSports360.com Power Poll Week 8

1. Alabama (7-0). Crimson Tide offensive line is catching up to the rest of the team, and RB Richardson is enjoying the ride.
2. LSU (7-0). Missing those good ol' days of night games at Tiger Stadium but winning anyway.
3. Arkansas (5-1). This is the spot where Arkansas really took off with its running game last year on the way to the Sugar Bowl, and the legs are fresh again.
4. Auburn (5-2). That much-maligned defense of September is looking more and more like a good Tiger unit these days.
5. South Carolina (6-1). Gamecocks are back to surviving while looking ugly doing it, no matter who quarterbacks.
6. Georgia (5-2). Bulldogs saved their best aggression for after the Vandy game, an ugly scene led by a maniac coordinator.
7. Florida (4-2). Speaking of manic coordinators ...
8. Tennessee (3-2). Volunteers are taking their lumps again.
9. Mississippi State (3-4). Continually exhibiting the thin line that separates losing from winning in the SEC.
10. Vanderbilt (3-3). Franklin's Commodores aren't there yet, but they'll stand up strong.
11. Ole Miss (2-4). Nov. 5 is when all will be settled in the SEC, the best AND the worst.
12. Kentucky (2-4). Read above; Wildcats and Rebels will decide who is No. 12 on Nov. 5. CBS should make it a doubleheader with Alabama-LSU.

Taken Care Of
Georgia Coach Mark Richt wasn't happy with the way the game ended Saturday night in Nashville when his Bulldogs held off Vanderbilt 33-28. While Richt tended to an injured Bakari Rambo at one end of the field as the clock expired, the teams met at midfield and a melee nearly ensued. Vanderbilt Coach James Franklin appeared to take exception to the actions of a Georgia player and pointed his way, and the first coach he encountered was Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham. Suddenly both coaches had to be separated by security and more poised players on both sides.

This went on for several minutes with a lot of jawing going on between the teams as they headed to their respective locker rooms. Richt was seen pushing his players back out of the way from any confrontations.

Richt said Wednesday that it wasn't the first time he'd experienced a post-game interaction like that, pointing out a few meetings with Florida when he was an assistant coach at Florida State. The SEC stepped in today and suspended two Bulldogs players and a Vanderbilt player for the incident.

Richt said on the teleconference he couldn't share what the SEC had told him, nor would he say what he directly had told his players.

"I addressed it with our team immediately after the game. I addressed it in our team meeting on Monday. I may have one more little thing to say about it today and then we’ll be done and move on," he said. "Those are supposed to be private moments, but they're teachable moments."

THE MATCHUPS
Saturday, Oct. 22 (all times Central)
Jacksonville State (5-1) at Kentucky (2-4, 0-3 SEC). 11 a.m., ESPNU. Jack Crowe's team pulled it off last year at Ole Miss; why not at lowly Kentucky this week?

Arkansas (5-1, 1-1 SEC) at Ole Miss (2-4, 0-3 SEC). 11:21 a.m., SEC Network/ESPN3.com. Some fans wondering if this is the last time Nutt will be part of this game.

Auburn (5-2, 3-1 SEC) at LSU (7-0, 4-0 SEC). 2:30 p.m., CBS Sports. Strange things happen in this series, which tells us to watch this one closely even if LSU is heavily favored.

Army (2-4) at Vanderbilt (3-3, 1-3 SEC). 6 p.m., ESPNU. The Army better bring all its artillery; these Commodores will stand and fight.

Tennessee (3-3, 0-3 SEC) at Alabama (7-0, 4-0 SEC). 6:15 p.m., ESPN2. Could this great annual October rivalry game become a victim of conference expansion? Vols might wish it ended already.

OPEN: Florida (4-3, 2-3 SEC), Georgia (4-2, 3-1 SEC), Mississippi State (3-4, 0-4 SEC), South Carolina (6-1, 4-1 SEC).

Tagged: Bobby Petrino, Houston Nutt, Ole Miss Rebels, Southeastern Conference, Mark Richt, Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, LSU Tigers, Kentucky Wildcats, Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs, Vanderbilt Commodores