FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas safety Alan Turner would like to go home to Spearsville, La., this Christmas season and have his chest out with a Razorbacks victory over LSU to talk about.
"This is a big game for me," Turner said about Saturday's 7 p.m. matchup with No. 17 LSU at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. "I have a lot of family members that root for LSU. So every time I come home, there's always a little trash talking. But just for us as a team, it's a big game because we want to play in December or January and make it to a bowl game."
A handful of Arkansas players will be facing their home-state school Saturday.
"We all grew up with everything purple and gold, and we all had a couple high school teammates go there, so it's a big rivalry for us," said defensive tackle DeMarcus Hodge, a native of Monroe, La. "It's going to be fun to get around some of the people I grew up with and hear them talking in my ear."
Freshman cornerback Henre Toliver went to school with freshman LSU receiver Malachi Dupre for two years at River Ridge (La.) John Curtis before transferring to Metairie (La.) Archbishop Rummel.
"I know a lot of dudes on that team," Toliver said. "They talk a lot, like 'Why didn't you come to LSU?' Stuff like that, so I have something to prove."
The Louisiana-born Razorbacks have yet to beat LSU, as Arkansas will take a three-game series losing streak into Saturday's game. Turner and offensive lineman Luke Charpentier of Cut Off, La., were redshirts when Arkansas defeated LSU 31-23 in Little Rock in 2010 to clinch a Sugar Bowl berth.
Lots of linemen
Coach Bret Bielema said Wednesday, with tongue apparently not in cheek, that if the conditions got extremely cold and wet Saturday, the Razorbacks might trot out a jumbo lineup on offense.
"Shoot, if it's really bad we might put every lineman we can have on the field, you know," Bielema said on the SEC coaches teleconference. "We run formations with eight, nine linemen on the field. That's something that hopefully will be able to benefit us on Saturday, and continue to make a presence of what we want to try to move to in the future."
Fourth-down fails
Only one team in the country -- Alabama -- has been better at stopping opponents on fourth down than Arkansas. The Razorbacks have allowed just two conversions on 13 fourth-down attempts, a rate of 15.4 percent that is second behind Alabama's 10 percent.
The Razorbacks recently stopped fourth-down quarterback runs by Mississippi State's Dak Prescott and Alabama's Blake Sims that could have turned into pivotal moments in those losses.
Alabama had a critical fourth-and-1 stop against Arkansas on a Jonathan Williams' run near midfield, though Coach Bret Bielema could not argue the spot of the ball as had used his coach's challenge previously.
Spaight time
Bret Bielema said he recently walked off the practice field with freshman Dwayne Eugene and suggested the linebacker "immerse" himself in "everything that is Martrell Spaight."
Bielema said Spaight's dedication to the game has been extraordinary.
"Martrell was watching film at 7 o'clock on Saturday night here in our complex," Bielema said. "I was on the road recruiting as well as everybody else, but we had a student assistant in doing some breakdowns, and Martrell Spaight ... what college kid comes over and watches film on Saturday night? But Martrell Spaight does. And I think that's an indicator of what he's all about."
Spaight said he had been at home watching Texas A&M's victory at Auburn before heading up to the Fred Smith Center.
"It kind of frustrated me watching the game, watching teams that we had been beaten by, so I came in and watched film, just so I could be at the top of my game, nitpick the small things I had been messing up and just try to get better."
Sports on 11/13/2014