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.

Good morning from NW Arkansas. The Morning News/Hawgs Illustrated crew had a late night, getting in from Dallas at about 1:30 a.m. But after getting some sleep, we’re back to work today to recap the Razorbacks’ 47-19 win over Texas A&M in Cowboys Stadium.

Let’s start with some links. Here are the stories we wrote from the press box in Arlington:

• Alex’s game story focuses on the offense rebounding from the Alabama loss to overwhelm the Aggies.

• I wrote a sidebar on Jerry Franklin’s 85-yard fumble recovery and how important it was in the game.

• Ryan Malashock explored Arkansas’ efforts to neutralize A&M’s Von Miller after his dominant start.

• Kurt Voigt covered a variety of things in notes, including DE Jake Bequette’s impressive performance.

I’m still working on my final story for the week. One that will appear in tomorrow’s paper. But wanted to take a break from putting it together to run through all of the leftover notes, quotes and tidbits. It’s a weekly thing I like to do here on the blog. So let’s get started:

• Saturday’s game is shaping up to be a very interesting battle between head coaches. Arkansas’ Bobby Petrino is regarded as an offensive mastermind, whose team is rolling (especially through the air) this season. Alabama’s Nick Saban, on the other hand, is well-known for his defensive background. And the Crimson Tide has one of the nation’s best defense. It has clearly impressed Petrino this week.

“They’re really good on defense,” Petrino said Thursday. “They have real good players. They have a great scheme. They challenge you. They come up and try not to give you anything easy. They make you earn it. They have great schemes to attack your protections and your pass protection. I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for what they do defensively and what he’s always done defensively.”

• The anchor of ‘Bama’s defense is nose guard Terrence Cody, who has given teams fits the past two years. After all, the guy is a 360-pounder and plugs up the interior. Not an easy thing to deal with. Arkansas guard Mitch Petrus talked about the challenge Tuesday.

“I’ve never played against him, but I know he’s big. I know he can move,” said Petrus, who was ineligible for last year’s game. “We don’t have anybody on the offensive line that’s 360. We’ve got to really make sure we use good technique and come off the ball. … You can’t go in there and get all freaked out and go in there and get scared. You can’t let him dictate where you go. You’ve got to hold him off the best you can.”

• We touched on it a little earlier this week, but defensive coordinator Willy Robinson indicated that S Elton Ford could be ready for playing time this weekend. Ford hasn’t played since his severe neck injury last October and an ankle injury slowed him the past couple of weeks.

But getting Ford back could help a secondary that struggled. Robinson said it has been a long process for Ford, though.

“He’s starting to come back,” Robinson said. “He’s starting to get healthy and he’s starting to put it all together. The mental aspect of it and the assignment aspect of it. We’re bringing him back. The thing is, we’re bringing him back slowly. It’s still a major situation. I think there was a confidence issue with him. Even thought I thought earlier there wasn’t, I think there was.”

• Along the same line, it’s clear Anthony Leon is getting closer and closer to contributing more. Robinson said he played about 30 snaps against Georgia and the Razorbacks want to see him continue to improve. Leon reported to campus later than most incoming players and it has taken time for him to get adjusted to the Razorbacks’ system.

“I think he had over 30 snaps and played pretty decent,” Robinson said. “He had two mental errors at the end of the first half that were kind of costly, but you live to play the next day I guess. He got more production last week than he’s had. So that was good.

“He’s starting to settle down. It’s coming to him. He’s had a really good week of practice.”

• Arkansas freshman LB Terrell Williams was put in a tough spot last week. He replaced Jerry Franklin when the sophomore was ejected. Georgia went right after him, too. Williams made a mistake on the 80-yard touchdown run.

But position coach Reggie Johnson said Williams can learn from the experience, as rough as it was.

“He is a good football player and he’s going to bounce back and he’s going to make some big plays for us this year,” Johnson said. “We’ve just got to get him in the right situations. He’s got to continue to grow and learn in the defense as we go with this thing. Again, he’s going to come back and have some big-time ballgames for us. We’re not down on him by any stretch of the imagination.”

• Arkansas’ defense didn’t play well. We know that. But the Razorbacks weren’t totally discouraged. In fact, I got to talk to DE Adrian Davis about the run defense the other night. Outside of the 80-yard touchdown run, it was good. Georgia had 75 yards on 35 other attempts.

“That 80-yard run hurt,” Davis said. “But we held them other than that. We feel like we’ve got a better defense than what we had last year.”

Arkansas will find out how good it is against the run Saturday, though. ‘Bama is averaging 267.7 rushing yards a game.

• Last week, Georgia WR A.J. Green had a field day against the Hogs. This week, the secondary gets the pleasure of covering Alabama’s Julio Jones. We got a chance to catch up with Matt Harris, who spoke about the challenge Wednesday.

“It’s just the SEC,” Harris said. “Every week we’re expecting a different opponent with another star player. So it’s nothing that we fear.”

Harris was asked to explain the differences between the two receivers: “A.J. Green, I think has a litlte more speed than Julio Jones,” Harris said. “But Julio Jones is a big body guy. He can go up there and run across the middle and make you play.”

• We know Arkansas can throw the ball. But we don’t know if they can sustain success on the ground. Michael Smith’s injury left that a question mark last week, but Smith said he’s ready to go. And he said Arkansas is ready to balance out its attack at ‘Bama.

“We have to,” Smith said. “We don’t want them to just sit back deep and wait on the crossing pass, wait on the deep route. We want to come up every now and then so we can hit the play-action pass or sit back deep and run right down the middle. That’s what we’ve been working on since December, to become a more balanced offense. Now it’s time to start putting it together.”

OK. I think that about does it. I’m going back to writing my story for Saturday’s paper. I’ll check in later today if something newsworthy pops up.

If not, we’ll be bringing you more from Tuscaloosa, Ala., tomorrow. Make sure to check the Hog Blog and follow us on Twitter.

We all know Arkansas’ defense was shredded by Georgia, leaving plenty of questions about this group as it enters the Alabama game.

The run defense played well except for one costly, 80-yard touchdown run. The pass defense was woeful, giving up play-and-play-after-play to the Bulldogs. Defensive backs were beaten in coverage numerous times. Defensive linemen didn’t put much pressure on the quarterback. There were assignment errors. Missed tackles. Mental busts. It’s something we’ve been writing about and will continue to do so.

But there is one thing that did go right Saturday night. For awhile anyway.

Arkansas forced three Georgia turnovers in the first half. One came on special teams, when Wendel Davis pounced on a muffed punt and it led to Arkansas’ first touchdown. Then there was a fumble recovery by Arkansas defensive end Adrian Davis. And the third turnover came when Tramain Thomas intercepted a Joe Cox pass (It was the play that led to Jerry Franklin’s ejection).

Arkansas has forced five turnovers in two games. Not bad if you think back to last year, when the Hogs didn’t force a turnover until the fourth quarter of its 49-14 loss to Alabama. That was the third game of the season. It’s one positive Bobby Petrino did point out this week.

“We did get three turnovers in the game,” Petrino said Monday. “We are on the plus side of the turnover battle, which is good.”

Arkansas is plus-3 in turnover margin so far this season, which is tied for third in the SEC with Ole Miss and LSU. Auburn leads the league at plus-7, while South Carolina is at plus-4. Georgia is last at minus-7.

Even more important, Arkansas has done a good job of cashing in on the turnovers. The Razorbacks have scored 28 points off the five turnovers forced so far. The only time they didn’t score was after Thomas’ interception last Saturday.

Thomas leads Arkansas with two interceptions in two games. Wendel Davis has a fumble recovery and an interception.

Interestingly, Davis was holding a football during post-practice interviews yesterday. I asked the senior how he has been around the ball.

“I’m just hustling and getting to the ball,” Davis said. “That’s what defense is all about. It felt good for the first couple of games, getting hold of the ball. Hopefully I can make a third one (Saturday) and just keep it going.”

Arkansas linebacker Jerry Franklin issued an apology tonight for his actions during last Saturday’s game against Georgia.

Franklin, who spoke to the media for the first time since the incident, said he took full responsibility for the two penalties that led to his ejection in the second quarter. One of the flags was for bumping into an official after a play.

“I’d like to apologize about what happen,” Franklin said. “I take full responsibility for both penalties. Pushing the players wasn’t right and bumping into the referee wasn’t right. I apologize to the officiating crew. I sent a letter to the chancellor and the officiating crew both, apologizing about the incident and what happened. I hope to use this as something I can learn from so it will never happen again.”

We were given an opportunity to ask Franklin three questions after his statement.

I asked Franklin how he felt watching things unravel after his ejection.

“It was heartbreaking watching your team go out there and battle and know you can’t be with them,” Franklin said.

He also was asked how his teammates responded.

“My teammates, they have my back,” Franklin said. “Even though they tell me I was wrong with what happened, they still have my back.”

Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said Franklin’s actions against Georgia was out of character for the sophomore.

“Jerry’s a quiet guy. For him to lose his control the other day was not his nature to do that. You know, he’s a very quiet, humble guy,” Robinson. “So vocally, off the field, he’s not going to say much. He’s where he’s supposed to be, doing the things he’s supposed to do.

“He’s been very disciplined. I’m sure throughout the course of that, as that game went on, I’m sure the emotions were flying high. So it’s something out of the extraordinary for him to do something like that. But he’s really a good guy off the field, and he’s a fine football player on the field. He does everything like he’s supposed to do.”

 Make sure to check RazorbackCentral.com for more on Franklin tomorrow.

  Need something to read on a wet Tuesday morning?

  For starters, here is my story in today’s Morning News about Alabama running back Mark Ingram, who’s leading the Crimson Tide’s four-headed running attack. Robbie Neiswanger has a notebook, in which he writes about linebacker Jerry Franklin not being suspended, wide receiver Lucas Miller coming back and running back Michael Smith feeling fine.

  As far as Alabama in concerned, Gentry Estes of The Mobile-Press Register discusses the Crimson Tide’s “Pistol” formation in this item. And Don Kausler Jr. of The Birmingham News discusses Alabama’s retooled offensive line in this report. To read everything Alabama, check out al.com.

  And don’t forget: You can follow Robbie (NWARobbie) and myself (@NWAAlex) on Twitter. 

Just walked back in the door from Arkansas’ press conference. Bobby Petrino, QB Ryan Mallett, WR Greg Childs and DE Jake Bequette were selected to participate today. Here are the biggest things we learned:

1. LB Jerry Franklin, indeed, will be back on the field Saturday. Petrino confirmed what the SEC office told us earlier today, saying Franklin won’t be suspended for his ejection. However, Petrino said reviewing the film showed that Franklin did bump an official and deserved to be ejected. He said it will serve as a lesson to Franklin and anybody else who was watching. Franklin will be disciplined in house according to Petrino, but will be back in his starting spot Saturday.

2. Arkansas’ WRs will get some help Saturday from senior Lucas Miller. The senior will be back on the field after missing the first two games with a broken collarbone. It should help, considering Petrino believed his sophomore trio of Greg Childs, Joe Adams and Jarius Wright were worn down in the second half. The Razorbacks plan to get Miller and freshman Cobi Hamilton more work, giving them at least five receivers they can count on against the Crimson Tide.

3. Petrino said there are a handful of players that need more playing time. The three he mentioned — freshman running back Ronnie Wingo, freshman offensive tackle Greg Oden, and junior safety Anthony Leon. Not sure if it means those three will find their way into starting roles (OK, not Wingo). But we’ll know more when we take a look at the first 20 minutes of practice. Petrino did say that Wingo’s lack of playing time is on him. He just didn’t want to put a freshman in a game like that and in a situation like that. Instantly, I thought of Houston Nutt’s decision not to play Darren McFadden and Felix Jones vs. Vanderbilt in 2005.

4. Speaking of running backs, Petrino was asked about Broderick Green and the goal line. He put the blame on the offensive line for not opening any sort of path for Green to run. Remember, the big back was stuffed a couple of times in the second half. Arkansas eventually scored on the drive, but the inability to run the ball into the end zone remains obvious.

  Good news for Arkansas. 

 SEC spokesman Charles Bloom just sent us an email saying that Arkansas outside linebacker Jerry Franklin will not be suspended because of his ejection in Saturday’s 52-41 loss to Georgia. Franklin was ejected for allegedly pushing two Georgia players in the face and then bumping into an official.

  Franklin’s ejection was a severe blow for Arkansas’ defense, and there was some uncertainty as to whether he would be suspended for some or all of this Saturday’s game at No. 3 Alabama because of the ejection.

  Arkansas began two-a-day practices today, so I thought I’d drop a few tidbits from the morning practice on the blog before I eat lunch and then head back for the afternoon practice at 4 p.m.

  Tight end Ben Cleveland missed much of the morning practice after suffering an apparent left arm injury. It looked like he hurt his shoulder and was forced to sit out the team portion of practice.

  Linebacker Bret Harris continued to work with the first-team defense. Meanwhile, fellow sophomore Jerry Franklin is back with the first-team defense, but he has moved over to the middle linebacker spot. Senior Wendel Davis, who coaches have criticized over the first week of practice, is still working with the second-team defense.

  Offensive tackle DeMarcus Love had a scary moment when he went down with an apparent left knee injury. It didn’t look good, but after a few minutes down, he was able to get up and walk around on his own power. Redshirt freshman Matt Hall filled in for Love on the offensive line.

  There was some running back news as well.

  Adrian Moore continued to miss practice because of an academic issue. Meanwhile, Dennis Johnson and Broderick Green have been slowed by injuries over the past two days. 

  And finally, quarterback Tyler Wilson continued to have problem taking the snap. He fumbled two snaps, both of which were recovered by defensive end Jake Bequette.

  I know there are plenty of fans out there wondering how Arkansas’ football players have been doing during their offseason workout program.  Well, I sat down with Arkansas strength and conditioning coach Jason Veltkamp for around 20 minutes on Friday to get his take on how the program is going.

  Here is the lengthy article I wrote for Sunday’s newspaper on some of the progress being made by Arkansas’ players in the weight room. The Razorbacks started their offseason workout program two days after their last-minute win over LSU. 

  I have to admit I’m a fan of Veltkamp calling a workout that focuses mainly on pumping up the arms the “Gun Club.” Anyway, here are some other highlights from the article, as well as a few things that didn’t make the story because of space.

  Veltkamp said defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard has put on around 16 pounds. Defensive end Damario Ambrose is up 20 pounds. And the defensive linemen are on average 15 pounds bigger than they were only a few months ago.

  “We were probably the most undersized (defensive) line in the league last year, I would say without a doubt. I had never coached one that small at three different schools,” Veltkamp said. “Now we moved pretty well, we ran well, but we were just too small. And across the board, we’re probably 15 pounds heavier right now on our (defensive) line alone. And a lot of that, to be honest with you, is their bodies catching up to what we want to do.”

  Arkansas’ linebackers will also look much different when the team opens spring practice next month. Veltkamp said sophomore Jerry Franklin has gained 10-12 pounds. Redshirt freshman Tenarius Wright is up 13 pounds, and junior Freddy Burton had added 15 pounds to his 6-foot-2 frame.

  When I asked Veltkamp to name a few players who have surprised him with the amount of progress they’ve made in the weight room, he said offensive linemen Wade Grayson and DeMarcus Love.

  “The changes they’ve made in one year’s time have been unbelievable, just in their ability to bend and move alone,” Veltkamp said of Grayson and Love. “Strength gains on top of that, they’ve been outstanding.”

  Veltkamp also added that offensive lineman Seth Oxner  has also made “huge strides.”

  “I probably had never had a team attack an offseason the way this one has,” Veltkamp said. “Obviously, the win against LSU played a big part in that.”

  Hope that answers some of your questions about the offseason.