FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas tailback Knile Davis is expected to be tackled for the first time in a year during the Razorbacks’ preseason camp.
Davis, who broke his left ankle during a scrimmage Aug. 11, 2011, returned to practice on a limited basis late last season and said he was full speed last spring.
But Arkansas’ coaches chose to have him sit out any contact drills or scrimmages last spring - except for the first play of the Red-White game when Davis ran a pass route and didn’t have the ball thrown anywhere near him.
The Razorbacks’ first day in full pads will be Monday, and they have scrimmages scheduled for Aug. 11 and Aug. 18 with a mock game set for Aug. 24, a week before opening the season against Jacksonville (Ala.) State on Sept. 1.
“During spring practice, Knile wanted to go play,” Arkansas running backs coach Tim Horton said. “We kind of had to - particularly the first scrimmage - pull the reins back a little bit, but we made the determination that he will get a few hits in the fall so the first hit won’t be against Jacksonville State.
“We just hope and pray he can stay healthy. ... We’ve got to be smart about it.”
Davis, a red shirt junior, led SEC running backs with 1,322 rushing yards in 2010, and he is a preseason All-SEC first-team pick by the coaches and members of the media.
“I’m ready to go,” Davis said at SEC media days July 18. “It’s been a long time since I’ve played.”
Arkansas Coach John L.
Smith has said he believes Davis needs at least a little contact in preseason practice.
“I think Coach Smith is of the opinion, and we’re going to do it obviously, that he wants to get him hit some,” Horton said. “We’ll hold ourbreath while those hits take place, but I don’t see him getting hit 30 times during fall camp. I’d like to think it’s 10 or 12.”
Smith has said it might be more like three or four hits.
Horton said “ball security” also is a reason for Davis to take a few hits in practice so the first time he’s tackled this fall isn’t in a game.
“When you don’t get hit and then all of a sudden you’re getting hit ... you’ve got to be able to take care of the football,” Horton said.
“The thing that probably can get you beat quicker than anything is putting the ball on the ground.” Poll talk
This may be an election year, but who really cares about political opinion polls when college football preseason polls are getting released?
The Razorbacks are ranked No. 11 by CBSSports.
com and No. 18 by The Sporting News in two top 25 polls released this week.
CBSSports.com and The Sporting News each have the same teams in the top four spots: No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Southern California, No. 3 Alabama and No. 4 Oklahoma.
There are three SEC East teams in each poll in addition to the three SEC West teams.
CBSSports.com includes No. 6 Georgia, No. 8 South Carolina and No. 23 Florida.
The Sporting News has No.
9 South Carolina, No. 14 Georgia and No. 25 Florida.
The USA Today coaches’ poll will be released today.
The Associated Press poll will be released Aug. 18.
Confident freshmen
Senior fullback Kiero Small said he was impressed by how Arkansas’ freshmen worked in the summer after they arrived on campus.
“They’re hard workers, and they’ve got some confidence,” Small said. “We haven’t put on the pads yet, but as soon as they got in the workouts with us, they were running hard, lifting hard.
“The older guys took them under their wings, so they’re comfortable.”
Sports, Pages 21 on 08/02/2012