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)

There wasn’t much news out of Arkansas’ practice tonight. But we can still find three things worth talking about, right?

Of course. So here we go.

• Injury updates: RB Michael Smith was on the field again Wednesday, but didn’t do much in the portion of practice open to the media. Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said earlier Wednesday that the hope was that Smith could do more in practice. Maybe he did after we left. WR Jarius Wright was on the field practicing, but did wear a yellow, non-contact jersey. Wright was running well and should be ready. Another guy that was dinged up Saturday, S Elton Ford, was on the field Wednesday and said he’s doing fine. Ford hurt his ankle when teammate Matt Harris collided with him in the second half. Ford missed some time, but did return to the field later.

• Tim Tebow talk: Since it was defensive day, plenty was said about Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. The Razorbacks will get their second crack at trying to beat the Tebow-led Gators, but know it’s a big, big challenge. Defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said no matter what happened to Tebow at Kentucky, the quarterback’s game won’t change. “His nature is to compete and compete and compete until the final bell.” Robinson, who typically refers to players by their numbers, said Tebow has his respect, too. “He’s No. 15, but with great respect. I know who the young man is. He’s a fabulous football player. I admire the heck out of him. I think we all do.”

• Jerico Nelson a hot topic: LB Jerico Nelson was a popular guy, doing plenty of interviews after his 10-tackle performance against Auburn. We’ll have a feature on Nelson in tomorrow’s paper, but here’s a good quote from Willy Robinson on the sophomore’s big hit against Auburn: “He’s one of those guys that, all of a sudden, you say, ‘Woah,’ to after he’s hit you. That play that he made on saturday, it ignited us on defense.” And here’s one more from position coach, John L. Smith. “After you watch Jerico and you watch his work ethic and you watch him work out a little bit, pretty soon, it doesn’t take you long to say, ‘Yeah, we can find a spot for this guy in a lot of places because he’s got a great attitude and a great work ethic.’ He just goes to the field and gives you what he has.”

Just got in from the portion of practice open to us media folks. There is injury news to pass along:

• Defensive end Damario Ambrose wasn’t on the practice field after suffering what appeared to be a knee injury against Tulsa. In addition, Adrian Davis didn’t practice again after missing all of last week (and the Tulsa game) because of a sprained knee. Without those two, Antwain Robinson and Jake Bequette were working with the starters at defensive end. Lavunce Askew and Chris Berezansky were with the second team. And it looked like linebacker Ryan Powers was sticking around with the defensive ends after getting a few snaps there last Saturday.

• Another defensive player, linebacker/defensive back Jerico Nelson, didn’t practice. Nelson hurt his knee against Tulsa and the severity of the injury is unknown. It’s bad enough that he can’t practice, though. Nelson has started seven games at a variety of positions. He has been a good hybrid guy.

• There’s better news on the offensive line. Tackle Ray Dominguez was back on the field and looked like he was moving around pretty well. Dominguez missed last week’s game with an ankle injury. He was replaced by Michael Aguirre, who had been hurt for a couple weeks too. Not sure if Dominguez will get his starting spot back or not. At the very least, it looks like he could be ready to play.

We’ve kind of let this slide lately, but the pregame Q&A is back for Florida week:

Q: How’s the weather?

A: Well, I wasn’t sure when I heard a loud boom at 7 a.m. But the rain this morning has gone away. It’s still overcast, but great football weather right now. So there’s no excuse for staying home because of the weather.

Q: Are there any lineup changes today?

A: It looks and sounds like there will be. Wendel Davis is out there working with the first-team defense in pregame drills. So is strong safety Dallas Washington. Those two will be replacing Elston Forte (a team captain) and Jerico Nelson, respectively. Oh, and don’t forget: Freshman Zach Stadther is starting in place of Ernest Mitchell, who is out for the next few weeks after undergoing knee surgery.

Q: Is Tim Tebow here?

A: Uh. Yes. And he looks very fired up. I just watched him run an option play during warmups. After handing the ball off, Tebow sprinted down the field, stepped on the goal line, turned and head butted his teammate. I think it’s safe to say the Razorbacks are going to see the Heisman Trophy winner at his best today.

Q: Will Arkansas score in the first quarter?

A: That I cannot answer. But I will say this: The Razorbacks better or else it could be a long, long day.