FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ depth on line tested
Arkansas will rely on its depth at the interior defensive line spots with starting tackle D.D. Jones likely to miss Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt after he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance Wednesday.
“We’ve got plenty of great D-tackles that can play,” Razorbacks defensive end Jake Bequette said. “One of the things we’ve been blessed with all season is good depth in the interior.
“A lot of guys have been rotating in, pretty much getting the same amount of reps as the starters. So I don’t think there’s going to be much of a drop-off.”
Lavunce Askew was working at Jones’ first-team spot during Wednesday’s practice and figures to start inside along with nose guard Byran Jones. Also rotatinginside will be Alfred Davis, Zach Stadther and Patrick Jones.
Stadther missed the first five games for an undisclosed reason, but returned against Auburn on Oct. 16. He started a combined 18 games the previous two seasons.
Patrick Jones was sidelined by a knee injury earlier this season, but said he’s “feeling great” now.
“I think we’ll be just fine,” Patrick Jones said. “I’m expecting a lot from myself, and I know my coaches are.
“D.D. is a big part of our defense ... and he’s like a little brother to me. But we’re just going to have to step up our game and play more reps.”
Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said he feels good about the defensive interior players.
“We play the guys that’ll dress for us on Saturday and that other issue will be handled internally,” Robinson said. “So we’ve just got to move on with that.”
Personnel report
Leading receiver Greg Childs returned to practice Wednesday and went through early team drills with both ankles well wrapped. Childs, who sprained his ankle against Ole Miss last week, leads the Razorbacks with 41 receptions for 572 yards and 6 touchdowns this season.
Fellow receiver Joe Adams missed his second consecutive practice after spraining his ankle last week, lessening his chances of playing Saturday.
Junior Isaac Madison continued to work with the starters at the field cornerback spot, with sophomore Darius Winston back on the second team.
Winston has made three starts this season to Madison’s four, but Winston was beaten on long pass plays last week, including two touchdowns.
Vandy DB out
Vanderbilt junior Jamie Graham, who is listed as a starter at nickel back, underwent knee surgery Wednesday and is expected to miss three to six weeks.
He suffered a torn meniscus in last week’s 21-7 loss to South Carolina.
Freshman Steven Clarke is expected to replace Graham when the Commodores play five defensive backs.
Third down
Arkansas leads the SEC by holding its opponents to 31 of 99 (.313) on third-down conversions. That figure ranks 13th in the nation.
On the flip side, the Razorbacks converted just 3 of 11 third downs on offense against Ole Miss and slipped to 36.1 percent for the season.
Arkansas ranks 95th nationally in that department and 10th in the SEC, ahead of only Tennessee (28.7 percent) and Vanderbilt (23.6), who is Saturday’s opponent.
Quarterback runs
Arkansas will face a fourth consecutive running quarterback in Vanderbilt’s Larry Smith, whose 66 rushing attempts are tied with Warren Norman for the team lead. Smith has 313 rushing yards - without sacks or lost-yardage plays included - and 3 touchdowns, with a long run of 57 yards.
“That’s the day and age right now, is the running quarterbacks,” Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said.
“I’m kind of used to it by now,” Arkansas linebacker Jerico Nelson said. “In the conference we play in, that’s normally what you’ll see is somebody who is really athletic at quarterback.”
Arkansas held Mississippi’s Jeremiah Masoli down relatively well last week until the fleet-footed transfer broke off runs of 23 and 46 yards - 70 percent of his 98 rushing yards on the day - late in the game. Masoli averaged just 2.2 yards per carry on his other 13 attempts.
The week before, however, Auburn’s Cam Newton riddled the Razorbacks with 188 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
“[Smith] is obviously not of the same size as Newton and might not be as fast overall as Masoli, but he’s awfully quick and he does a good job of running the ball,” Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said.
The series
Arkansas leads Vanderbilt by a 5-2 margin in what is the least-played rivalry among the SEC’s current institutions.
The Razorbacks and Commodores have met only four times as SEC opponents, with the Hogs holding a 3-1 edge in those meetings. The teams went 10 consecutive years without playing between 1995 and 2005 as the league’s rotating schedule underwent a change prior to the 2002 season.
Sports, Pages 22 on 10/28/2010