HOOVER, Ala. — The Arkansas media guide features an intense-looking Ryan Mallett clutching the ball with the words "Get Ready" looming over his right shoulder.
It's good advice for both the Razorbacks quarterback and a team facing higher-than-usual expectations.
"We're embracing the expectations," coach Bobby Petrino said Thursday at Southeastern Conference media days. "I think that's a good thing. When you have high expectations, it means that you played good football at the end of the year last year and you have a lot of returning players coming back."
He said he wants the players and coaches to be motivated by, not shy away from, Top 25 projections in preseason publications.
Much of that attention revolves around Mallett's powerful right arm after he returned for his senior season instead of leaving early for the NFL. He led the Razorbacks to five wins in their final six games last season despite a defense that ranked last in the league.
"Especially in the state of Arkansas, expectations are really high," Mallett said. "We have even higher expectations of ourselves as a team."
The preseason buzz is similar to what Mississippi and another quarterback transfer, Jevan Snead, faced before last season. Both had a disappointing season and Snead went undrafted after skipping his senior year.
Petrino said he won't use that outcome as a cautionary tale for his team.
"I think that's why you're in this profession, is you want to have people think that you're gonna be good," he said. "You want our players to understand we have an opportunity to be good, and our coaches to really be driven by that."
Mallett posted the third-highest pass efficiency rating in SEC history (152.5) last year in Petrino's prolific offense. He's got his top targets returning, led by Greg Childs, Jarius Wright, Joe Adams and tight end D.J. Williams.
"It's scary preparing for Arkansas," said Georgia coach Mark Richt, who faces the Razorbacks on Sept. 18. "Coach Petrino, first of all, knows what he's doing. He's got a tremendous amount of skill coming back. When you have Ryan Mallett coming back and all of his skill players coming back, it's just going to be very, very difficult.
"They're going to be better."
Mallett said he will be ready to go when fall camp begins in two weeks. He missed spring after breaking a bone in his left foot in February. Petrino said Mallett started throwing a few weeks ago.
He's still getting most of his conditioning from swimming until he's cleared to run.
"I feel like I'm going to try out for the Olympics," he joked.
His teammates take in stride all the attention being directed toward Mallett.
As for the one-man media guide cover: "He's going to tell you he hates that, but he's loved every second of it," Arkansas defensive end Jake Bequette said. "He deserves it, he's the star, he's going to be a great quarterback for us."