Usually, my notebook is loaded with football leftovers. But this hasn’t been a normal week.

Basketball duty pulled me away from football practice on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Alex Abrams was there for the entire week, but it has left me searching for some leftover stuff worth sharing here on the blog. The good news? I think I found some.

• We all know that Arkansas running back Michael Smith will be a gametime decision before of his hamstring injury. It’s a situation Florida has been keeping track of, apparently. Florida coach Urban Meyer said earlier this week the Gators are paying attention to Smith, especially since he played so well against the Florida defense last season.

“I guess he’s got a little hamstring injury that we’re keeping an eye on because that’s how much respect we have,” Meyer said. “He ripped us apart last year. I’d never really heard of him until we played him, and I saw firsthand a hard guy to tackle, has great acceleration through the hole. They’re a big zone running team, and he’s perfect for it. No, we think he’s one of the top five backs in the league, no question.”

• Remember what Arkansas did with its punt return team last week? The Razorbacks dropped both Jerell Norton and Michael Smith back deep to catch the ball the entire game. Well, I asked John L. Smith about it on Wednesday night and he said it was something the Razorbacks came up with because of what the Tigers did. Auburn’s punter shaded the ball to the side and was getting extra yards on the roll.

“If we can eliminate the 10-, 20- and 15-yard rolls, then that’s going to save us and make us a lot of ground,” Smith said. “I told them our goal this week for us is to not let a ball hit the ground and we did that. Even though it doesn’t show in the stat as a 10-yard return or whatever, it shows up.”

No word on if the Razorbacks will try the same thing Saturday. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

• Arkansas LB Jerico Nelson has gotten plenty of publicity this week. And he deserves it, too, after his performance against Auburn. But there’s another reason for Arkansas’ defensive resurgence the past couple weeks. S Elton Ford has been back in the lineup and playing well. Defensive coordinator Willy Robinson was asked about Ford on Wednesday night.

“I think he’s done a great job tackling,” Robinson said. “There’s still some liability with him in pass coverage. But I think he’s doing a great job of tackling the catch, showing up on the run. He’s starting to stay on his feet when he tackles and great tacklers do do that. They stay on their feet when they tackle. That’s something he’s made great strides in since these last two games as opposed to the last couple of games he played”

• It doesn’t really need to be said that Robinson and the Razorbacks have plenty of respect for Florida QB Tim Tebow. Who doesn’t, right? Well, here’s what Robinson had to say about Tebow and the way he leads the Gators’ offense even after the concussion.

“He runs that offense and he loves being the leader of that offense,” Robinson said. “So regardless of his injury or what it once was, he’s still going to be that competitor. So even though they might say, handoff, or be cautious here, that’s not part of his nature. His nature is to compete and compete and compete until the final bell.”

• Arkansas WR Greg Childs has really played well this season. His performance against Auburn was even more important because the Razorbacks were without Joe Adams and Jarius Wright. Childs will be needed once again against Florida. Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino explained how much confidence Childs has and how important he will be against the Gators.

“Childs right now, he’s begging guys to come up and press him,” Petrino said. “That’s how you want it. You want to have that type of confidence. Come on and play me man and I’ll get the opportunity to make plays. More times than not he’s made the play and we’ve been pretty accurate with the throws. It balances out and opens up your run game. That’s kind of the balance you see. When you run the ball better, you can throw it better. When you can beat man coverage and beat one-on-one coverage, then that allows you to be able to run the ball better because they have to get out of the man coverage.”

• Finally, how does Arkansas feel about playing the No. 1 team on the road? The Razorbacks are looking forward to it, of course. Here is QB Ryan Mallett’s take from Monday’s press conference.

“I mean, there’s always a little bit extra when you’re playing a ranked team, getting ready to prepare for it,” Mallett said. “And then coming in No. 1 and playing the No. 1 team, it’s a big deal for our program. We need to go out there and come home with a win.”

If all goes as planned, this will be the last you hear from me today. I’m hoping to take the rest of the day off after a busy, two-sport week.

If that’s the case, I’ll check back in with you from Gainesville, Fla., tomorrow.

Make sure you follow us here on the Blog and also on Twitter (@NWARobbie, @NWAAlex and @NWAOnlineHogs)

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said on the SEC Teleconference last week that his team was in great shape, injury-wise.

Well, it’s a little bit different today.

Petrino, quarterback Ryan Mallett and running back Dennis Johnson met with the media this afternoon and most of the conversation had to do with the health of several key offensive players. Here’s the rundown of what was said:

• We’ll start with WR Joe Adams, who Petrino said suffered a “minor stroke” last week. Petrino said Monday Adams is doing better. In fact, he feels well enough to practice. However, that won’t be happening for now. Petrino said Adams continues to undergo tests and is being monitored by doctors. He doesn’t know how long Adams will be out, but is pretty certain he won’t be playing at Florida on Saturday.

“I’m not sure how long he’ll be out,” Petrino said. “But it will be up to the doctors. But the main thing is, he’s doing good, he feels good, he has no headaches. He feels like he wants to practice. Obviously, he can’t at this time.”

• Adams’ position mate, Jarius Wright, seems to be doing well after leaving early in the second quarter with a concussion Saturday. Petrino said Wright was scheduled to do some exercising today and his performance will determine if he’s ready to go for the rest of the week.

• Arkansas isn’t so sure about Michael Smith, who tweaked his hamstring in the second half against the Tigers. Petrino officially labeled his status as “day-to-day” this afternoon. No word on whether he’ll be out at practice tomorrow. If he doesn’t (and if he can’t play Saturday) that means the Razorbacks will probably lean on its freshmen, Ronnie Wingo Jr. and Knile Davis, to carry the load at Florida.

In non-injury news:

• Petrino said the Razorbacks should be much better prepared for Florida than they were during the 35-7 loss at Alabama a few weeks ago. For starters, Arkansas has put together two important wins. Confidence is up. But Petrino said it will be important to make sure the Razorbacks actually believe they can beat the Gators before stepping on the field Saturday.

“We’ve had two good games back to back,” Petrino said. “We’ve seen ourselves perform well on video. We went out and played extremely well in three phases. It will be the challenge to really believe, everybody in the building, everybody that gets on the plane, believe that we can go win the game. And then play with our technique and play with our fundamentals and match their speed. I think that will be the key to the game.”

• He also was complimented Arkansas’ special teams play for setting up three touchdowns Saturday. Two of them came on Johnson’s big returns. The other came on a kickoff, when Andru Stewart force a fumble that was recovered by Jerell Norton.

“That’s huge when you set up three scores with your special teams,” Petrino said. “You’re certainly winning the battle there.”

It’s that time of week again — with a twist.

Instead of just giving you the five keys review, we’re also going to close out each game week with a new feature here on the blog. We’ll be awarded offensive, defensive and special teams players of the week awards. Why? Just because. So here we go.

1. Run the Football: The Razorbacks had trouble getting their run game going in the first half, but finished with a season-high 163 yards on the ground. More important, Arkansas averaged 5.3 yards a carry. Most of the rushing total came on Ronnie Wingo’s 62-yard touchdown run late in the game. Clearly, the run game needs more work. But for one night … KEY ACCOMPLISHED

2. Beware of Johnson: Jerrod Johnson’s ability to scramble and buy time was a big concern of Arkansas’ in practice last week. Johnson proved to be dangerous, too, throwing a 60-yard touchdown pass after scrambling around in the first quarter. But the Razorbacks did a good job keeping a close eye on the quarterback, chasing him from sideline to sideline. He finished with 21 rushing yards. … KEY ACCOMPLISHED

3. Make Early Statement: The goal was to get off to a great start, putting Texas A&M on its heels in its first big test. Well, it was the Aggies who came out firing. Texas A&M jumped out to a 10-o lead and could’ve done even more if not for an ill-timed drop ball. The good news for Arkansas is that it recovered from the shaky start. But the start was not pretty … KEY NOT ACCOMPLISHED

4. Win in the Trenches: Once again, this was a pretty one-sided key in the first quarter. But after struggling up front early on, Arkansas’ offensive and defensive lines took over the game. Especially the defensive front, which pressured Johnson off the edge nearly every snap. The offensive line did a good job, too, adjusting after Von Miller created havoc in the first quarter … KEY ACCOMPLISHED

5. Solid Special Teams: Give punter Dylan Breeding some credit. The true freshman had his best week as a Razorback, averaging 43.5 yards a punt Saturday. Alex Tejada made a couple of field goals, too, to improve to 6-for-6 this season. But Tejada missed an extra point and Jerell Norton fumbled a punt that could’ve been a killer if not for a defensive stand … KEY NOT ACCOMPLISHED

As for the Players of the Week:

Offensive Player of the Week: WR Joe Adams — The sophomore turned in one of the biggest plays of the game when he hauled in a pass from Ryan Mallett and beat Texas A&M for a 67-yard catch and run in the first quarter. The Razorbacks had been awful on offense until that point, but the catch led to a touchdown. Arkansas rolled after that. Adams finished with 3 catches for 110 yards.

Defensive Player of the Week: DE Tenarius Wright — Don’t get me wrong, DE Jake Bequette was impressive all night. But so was Wright. The redshirt freshman continues to improve and produced, arguably, the play of the game when he knocked the ball out of Jerrod Johnson’s hands. Jerry Franklin scooped it up and scored to give the Hogs a 21-10 lead. Wright finished with 1 sack and 2 forced fumbles.

Special Teams Player of the Week: P Dylan Breeding — You could count on one thing with Breeding in the first three games. Inconsistency. The freshman would boot a good punt, then shank one. But there weren’t any 9-yard punts Saturday. Breeding was consistent throughout, averaging 43.5 yards on his four attempts. His shortest was a 35-yarder. His best was a season-best, 54 yarder.

  The biggest question regarding Arkansas’ football team wasn’t answered Thursday evening.

  Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said he’ll wait until Friday to tell senior Casey Dick and redshirt freshman Nathan Dick as to which brother will be the starting quarterback for Saturday’s game at Mississippi State.

  Petrino said he has an idea about which one he’ll start, but he didn’t want say following Thursday’s practice. However, he added that he intends to play both quarterbacks this weekend.

  “I haven’t decided who will be the starter just yet,” Petrino said. “I kind of have it in my mind who it’ll be.”

  Nathan Dick has spent much of the week working with the first-team offense, and he might have the upper hand on the starting job with his older brother getting over a concussion. 

  “I think they’ve worked real hard to get themselves ready,” Petrino said. “That’s a reason why I’ll probably play both of them.”

  I guess we’ll just have to wait until Saturday to see which Dick brother takes the field for the first snap.

  In other quarterback news, Petrino said freshman Tyler Wilson has been cleared to take part in non-contact drills after being sidelined with mono. Wilson threw passes during Thursday’s practice, and Petrino said there is a chance the freshman will be able to get a medical redshirt this season.

  “He’s better. He’s improved. He got the (clearance) to start working out a little bit,” Petrino said of Wilson. “Obviously, he came out in his helmet and threw the ball around a little bit. He can’t be around any contact, so he just threw some routes.”

  Cornerback Jerell Norton, who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, has also returned to practice. But Petrino said Norton won’t play again this season.  

In case you hadn’t heard, cornerback Jamar Love is going to undergo surgery for a thumb injury and will not be on the field for the Razorbacks this weekend. Without him, backup Ramon Broadway will start.

Love is the second cornerback and third defensive player to go down in the past two weeks. In addition, Jerell Norton (hamstring) and defensive tackle Ernest Mitchell (knee) are out. That’s never a good thing for a young defense that is struggling to stop opponents this season.

Here is what Bobby Petrino had to say about Love on the SEC Teleconference this morning:

“It’s hard on him in particular because he’s put so much into it. He did a lot of extra work in the summer. When other people had their breaks and left, he stayed and lifted weights and worked on his technique and quickness. So I feel bad for him.

“Now, we’re hopeful that the good news comes out. They can either go in and put a couple of screws in it and he might be back in two weeks. If they have to put a pin in it, then it could be up to six weeks. So we’re hoping that it’s a two-week deal.”

“Broadway has played a lot. We’ve rotated him and he’s played a lot. He really understands what we’re doing. So he can step in there. We also have Shedrick Johnson and Tramain Thomas.”

After some waiting around, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino and several players wrapped up their weekly Monday news conference not too long ago.

Here are a few tidbits before I begin writing an article for tomorrow:

Petrino said cornerback Jerell Norton could be out for an extended period of time after re-injuring his hamstring injury in practice last week. Norton was Arkansas’ primary punt returner as well as a backup cornerback, but he has been sidelined at times over the past few months because of hernia surgery and the hamstring injury.

Petrino said it’s uncertain when offensive tackle Michael Aguirre will return to the lineup after he sprained his knee and ankle when the entire pile fell on him during the first play of last Saturday’s 38-7 loss to then-No. 12 Florida. Aguirre started at offensive tackle because Ray Dominguez left to visit his sick grandmother, but Petrino said Dominguez has returned to the team.

Meanwhile, Petrino indicated that offensive guard Grant Cook, who filled in for an injured DeMarcus Love last week, will get his second consecutive start at No. 20 Auburn on Saturday.

Arkansas defensive end Adrian Davis had a few interesting things to say, particularly that he could tell by his teammates’ body language that they thought they were going to lose to Florida, even when the score was 17-7 heading into the fourth quarter. Davis said some players had their heads down, never a good sign for a team hoping to pull off an upset.

That’s it for now. Time to start writing.