Turns out, Arkansas has both a quarterback competition and a sibling rivalry going on this week.

  Coach Bobby Petrino said during his news conference Monday afternoon that senior Casey Dick and redshirt freshman Nathan Dick will compete in practice this week to see which brother will start against Mississippi State on Saturday.

  Casey Dick, who’s two years older than Nathan, returned to practice Sunday night after missing all of last week’s work because of a concussion suffered at South Carolina on Nov. 8. But Petrino said the decision to open the quarterback job up is not just because of the senior’s injury.

  Casey Dick struggled through a dismal performance in the 34-21 loss at South Carolina, and after he got knocked out late with the concussion, Nathan Dick came in and moved the offense. The younger brother led the Razorbacks to their final touchdown.

  Nathan Dick took over as Arkansas’ first-team quarterback in practice last week, and he split reps with Casey Dick during Sunday’s practice. It should make for an interesting week.

  Meanwhile, Petrino said running back Michael Smith returned to practice Sunday and appears to be getting back to his old form after missing all of last week with a shoulder injury. Defensive end Adrian Davis and offensive guard Grant Cook also took part in practice after missing time because of injuries.

 

Just got done filing two stories from Wednesday’s football practice.

It was a defensive day, but the biggest news came from the offense.

Quarterback Casey Dick didn’t practice and wasn’t on the field. That probably wasn’t unexpected after coach Bobby Petrino said Dick didn’t pass the mandatory concussion tests Tuesday. It’s likely that he’ll miss most of this week. Nathan Dick filled in for his brother with the first-team offense Wednesday. Alex Mortensen, Ryan Mallett and Jim Youngblood also got some work.

Here are some other nuggets:

• DE Adrian Davis was in uniform and took part in some individual work after missing the past two games with a sprained knee. Davis said he feels good and plans to be ready for the MSU game. Arkansas is taking it easy with him this week, but Davis said he should be full speed by next Tuesday’s practice.

• DE Damario Ambrose and S Jerico Nelson were both out. But they were on the sideline for the first time since suffering their knee injuries. Nelson was riding a stationary bike, while Ambrose was jogging. There’s no word on their status for the MSU game, yet.

• Defensive coordinator Willy Robinson spoke today and said the defense was “soft” against South Carolina. Especially in the second half. It’s an area the Razorbacks are planning to correct with more physical practices this week. In fact, a couple players told me it had a preseason vibe to it. There was more hitting and more first-team vs. first-team work. We’ll see if it pays off.

The Razorbacks will be back on the field Thursday for their final practice of the week (I think). The offensive players will be available for comment along with coordinator Paul Petrino. We’ll let you know what they say.

  Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino finished talking with reporters after an abbreviated practice Tuesday evening. The starters didn’t do much but run. However, some noteworthy items came out of practice.

  Petrino said running back Michael Smith will take the entire week off to let his injured shoulder, as well as several other aches and pains, improve. Petrino hopes the SEC’s leading rusher will be able to return to practice next Tuesday when Arkansas begins preparing for Mississippi State.

  “I think the rest will really help him. I think it will help him not only with his shoulder but his legs and getting everything back,” Petrino said. “But it’s an injury, there’s no question about it and it hasn’t come back as quick as you would like. So he definitely needs the week off.”

  Meanwhile, quarterback Casey Dick didn’t practice Tuesday as he continues to be bothered by a possible concussion. The senior was injured on a helmet-to-helmet hit late in last Saturday’s loss at South Carolina.

  “Casey would not have practiced today,” Petrino said. “He didn’t get the test passed, so he would not have practiced.”

  Redshirt freshman Nathan Dick will get reps with the first-team offense this week if his older brother remains out because of the head injury.

  Petrino did offer some good news, though. It appears that defensive end Adrian Davis, who missed the past two games because of a sprained left knee, will return to practice Wednesday and be ready for next week’s game.

  ”Adrian should be back. He’ll get some work tomorrow and Thursday, get some of the individual work and get some one-on-one work,” Petrino said. “(But we’ll) keep him out of the team drills. And then he should be full-go by next Tuesday when we come normal game day practice.”

Arkansas gets a chance to take a breath and heal some wounds after playing eight straight weeks. However, it’s not going to be a good week after the 34-21 loss to South Carolina. How bad was the performance? Well, let’s review the five keys and find out.

1. Protect the Football: Arkansas committed three turnovers against South Carolina. All three were Casey Dick interceptions. Two of them led to 10 points for the Gamecocks. The biggest blow came in the third quarter when Arkansas had the ball trailing 20-14. Dick threw an interception and things unraveled for the Razorbacks after that. So KEY NOT ACCOMPLISHED

2. Cover Up Cook: Midway through the second quarter, with Arkansas trailing 10-7, I realized South Carolina tight end Jared Cook had been relatively quiet. Then he caught a pass and took off running, beating some bad tackling en route to a 66-yard touchdown. Cook finished with just two catches for 82 yards, but the score was big for the Gamecocks. So KEY NOT ACCOMPLISHED

3. Rekindle the Run Game: For the second straight week Arkansas had trouble running the football. The Hogs finished with 54 rushing yards on 31 attempts. That’s 1.7 yards a carry. Part of the trouble had to do with Michael Smith’s untimely exit in the second quarter with a shoulder injury. But that wasn’t it. There was good news: Backups Brandon Barnett and Dennis Johnson had some success. But KEY NOT ACCOMPLISHED.

4. Put Pressure on Garcia: The Razorbacks sacked South Carolina’s quarterbacks twice on Saturday. Both were by defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard. But overall, the Razorbacks didn’t put much pressure on Chris Smelley and Stephen Garcia. The quarterbacks had ample time to throw the ball and, if they weren’t off most of the day, had chances to tear up the Razorbacks’ secondary. So KEY NOT ACCOMPLISHED.

5. Succeed in Short Yardage: Arkansas may have found its answer to short-yardage problems Saturday when Michael Smith left the game. Brandon Barnett stepped on the field and helped the Razorbacks pick up some big third downs in the second half. In fact, Arkansas was 3-for-4 on third-and-short on its 15-play touchdown drive. The one they didn’t get, they converted on fourth down. So KEY ACCOMPLISHED.

Guess who just contributed to Arkansas’ scoring drive?

Running back Brandon Barnett and fullback Mitchell Bailey.

That’s right. Bailey just caught a four-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Casey Dick, while Barnett handled the ball in some short-yardage situations to help the Razorbacks pull to within 20-14. It was an impressive drive by the Hogs — 15 plays, 62 yards, 8:12 — and has given them some hope.

Arkansas converted on third down three times on the drive. And fourth down once. Interestingly, there were four, third-and-one situations. The Razorbacks got those three times. The one time they didn’t make it, they got the first down on fourth down.

Like I said, it was a big drive for the Razorbacks

Arkansas got on the scoreboard with a big play a few minutes ago. The problem is, South Carolina just answered with a big play of its own.

Quarterback Casey Dick threw a 70-yard touchdown bomb to receiver Jarius Wright to help the Razorbacks pull to within 10-7. It seemed like a big moment for the Razorbacks, who had trouble doing anything. But Dick hit Wright in stride and the Arkansas sideline erupted. It was the longest touchdown pass of Dick’s career.

But the Gamecocks just answered with the longest pass play of their season. Quarterback Chris Smelley threw a pass to tight end Jared Cook, who turned it upfield and raced 66 yards for a score. There was some bad tackling on the play from safety Rashaad Johnson. He had a chance, but didn’t get it done.

That makes it 17-7 here in the second quarter.

There’s good news for Arkansas: The first quarter is over.

The Razorbacks trail 10-0 and are in danger of letting this one get away from them.

The offense has struggled to move the ball. Casey Dick is off target and has thrown one interception. He has been sacked three times already. And Michael Smith can’t seem to find much running room. The defense looked awful on its first series, giving up a quick touchdown before settling down and playing better.

But if Arkansas’ offense can’t get in gear, this is going to be a long, long day for the Razorbacks.

Arkansas quarterback Casey Dick has been named SEC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts in Arkansas’ 30-23 win against Tulsa.

Dick completed 25 of 38 passes for 385 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The 385 passing yards was the second most in school history, behind Clint Stoerner’s 387-yard day against LSU in 1997.

It’s a good honor for Dick. But there’s one thing I’m wondering: What happened to Dennis Johnson.

The league didn’t honor Johnson with its special teams award despite his game-winning, 96-yard kickoff return. It’s hard to believe there was a more important special teams play that that one. The honor went to South Carolina punter Spencer Lanning.

Arkansas picked up a big win against Tulsa on Saturday night. Surprisingly, it was the defense and special teams that led the way in the second half. Arkansas didn’t allow a touchdown in the second half and scored the game-winning touchdown on Dennis Johnson’s 96-yard kickoff return.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s how the five keys went:

1. Pick Up the Blitz: Arkansas quarterback Casey Dick nearly set the school record for passing yards. A good chunk of that has to be given to the offensive line, which did give him some time. However, Dick was sacked three times to add to Arkansas’ growing total. But I’ll say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

2. Take Away the Run: Tulsa rushed for 184 yards against the Razorbacks, leaning on their misdirection to slip through holes. At one point, the Golden Hurricane ran the ball play after play and seemed to be wearing down the Hogs. But Tulsa couldn’t run the ball when it mattered most at the end of the game. Arkansas stuffed the Golden Hurricane inside their 10 to win the game so MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

3. Get Long, Successful Drives: The Razorbacks opened the game with an 80-yard drive. They added a 65-yarder a little later and were dominating time of possession in the first half. The offense had a 13-play drive in the third quarter, too, which led to a field goal. But there is a problem. Arkansas got into Tulsa’s red zone seven times. It scored five times. Only two were field goals. So MISSION SOMEWHAT ACCOMPLISHED

4. Put Pressure on Johnson: Arkansas attacked right out of the gates to set the tone. Tulsa’s quarterback was sacked on the first two plays from scrimmage. The Razorbacks didn’t get to him much after the first series and finished with three sacks, but it was an important start. So MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

5. Make Plays on Special Team: Finally, Arkansas had something positive happen on special teams. Dennis Johnson’s 96-yard kick return was the play of the game. Alex Tejada took advantage of his second chance, hitting three field goals and three extra points. The only blemish was Tulsa’s 81-yard kickoff return in the second quarter. But it’s not enough to ruin their score. So MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

The first quarter has ended with Arkansas trailing 3-0. It is the sixth time in eight games the Razorbacks have not scored in the first quarter.

Arkansas had 81 yards in the quarter. The problem was, 67 of them came from a 41-yard pass to D.J. Williams and a 26-yard run by Michael Smith. The Razorbacks have been bumbling around other than that.

One problem is obvious: The Razorbacks are losing the battle in the trenches so far. Quarterback Casey Dick was sacked on the last play of the quarter, has been hit a few other times and under plenty of pressure.

If Arkansas doesn’t find a way to protect him, it won’t be able to get much done on offense.