Why is the blog practice report so late? It’s Auburn offensive lineman and former Rogers High star Lee Ziemba’s fault!

Let me explain: I spent about 15 minutes talking to Ziemba on the phone after practice tonight, gathering several items for stories/notes/blogs that I’ll use later in the week. So I couldn’t get to the blog until a few minutes ago. (By the way, I’m not really blaming Ziemba. That would be dumb since he’s much, much bigger than me. I appreciate the phone call Lee!)

Anyway, on to the practice notes:

• Arkansas receiver London Crawford is tired of watching games from the sideline. But if things go well the rest of the week, Crawford might be back on the field against Auburn on Saturday. Crawford said he went through contact work during Tuesday’s practice for the first time since breaking his collarbone during the season opener against Missouri State.

“It felt pretty good to be out there with my teammates, being able to run around,” Crawford said. “The past few weeks I had to be kind of a cheerleader, which I didn’t really have a problem with. But seeing those guys out there running around made me want to be out there making plays with them. For me to be out there running around (Tuesday), making plays with them, it felt great.”

Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said the Razorbacks will continue to be cautious with Crawford, though. He said the receiver did shed his yellow, non-contact jersey during practice. But they want to see what he does the rest of the week before playing him Saturday.

“It means we keep an eye on him all week and see how he’s going,” Petrino said. “He was able to practice today and not in yellow. That was good to see. We’ll judge him each day, see how he comes along and make our decision at the end of the week.”

• Big news: Paul Petrino said the running backs topped the receivers in Arkansas’ bull yards competition. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Arkansas calculates yards after catch for receivers and yards after contact for running backs. The receivers had dominated the competition the first three games, but RB Ronnie Wingo helped the backs Saturday thanks in part to his 62-yard touchdown run.

I was surprised to hear that, especially since WR Joe Adams had such a big day running in the open field after catches. Petrino said Adams did account for plenty of bull yards, but didn’t have much help. (Program note: Check for more on bull yards in The Morning News later this week)

• Arkansas’ offensive line turned in its best performances against Texas A&M. In particular, Petrino said center Seth Oxner played his best since getting the starting job. He added that DeMarcus Love and Mitch Petrus played well, while Ray Dominguez performed better.

“They all probably had their best games run-blocking wise,” Petrino said.

Petrus was tougher when he spoke to the media. He said Arkansas’ line made mistakes that could prove costly against a team like Auburn. “We did all right,” Petrus said. “Better than we did at Alabama. We strive for perfection, but it’s unrealistic a lot of times.”

• Finally, Petrino was asked about QB Ryan Mallett’s development in his ability to make checks and changes at the line of scrimmage.

“He’s done a nice job,” Petrino said. “It’s a process. As the year goes on he’ll get better and better. He’s a smart football player. I think that’s one of his strengths. He does a good job of understanding football and does a good job of checking for us.”

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino is known for being brutally honest. Cornerback Ramon Broadway isn’t shy about expressing his opinions. And offensive guard Mitch Petrus is someone who doesn’t mind telling it as it is.

In fact, Petrus isn’t one to hold back when something’s on his mind.

The offensive guard had plenty to say following Tuesday’s practice, and all of his harsh words were directed at his own offensive line. As he answered questions from reporters, the senior looked like he wanted to punch someone out of frustration over how the offensive line has played over the past two weeks.

Of course, Petrus didn’t. But he held no punches when it came to the O-line. Here’s what he had to say:

Do you look at this game with Texas A&M as a chance to build a new rivalry?

“I’m not trying to build a rivalry. We’re just trying to go out and get a win. I’m not out there looking to go piss somebody off. We’re trying to win a game. The O-line is focused on correcting our mistakes and stop costing this entire team. It’s our fault. So that’s what we’re focusing on right now, is getting that correcting.”

Several players said (Tuesday) was a good day of practice. How do you think it went?

“Offensive line wise, we didn’t do good and we got to get better. We got to stop accepting average and being normal. We got to raise the level of play and got to hold each other accountable for our responsibilities. And we’re going to get better and we’re going to get it done. It’s going to happen; we’re just not getting it done yet.”

You seem ticked off about the penalty situation.

“I’m pretty ticked off about the whole thing. The offensive line is costing this whole team right now, so we got to stop. (Ryan) Mallett’s back there, standing there, getting hit every play and that’s on us. It’s not one player; it’s a reflection of all of us. That’s gotta change. That’s unacceptable. This crap happened last year. It’s gotta stop. You got to make up your mind what you’re going to put into it. Our guys are going to get it right. We got some young guys in there playing. We got (Anthony) Oden in there playing right now, but he’s playing hard. We got to eliminate the mental mistakes.”

Last year the offensive line struggled in pass blocking, now it’s run blocking.

“You know? I’m not worrying about, well, we’re not getting enough yards running or we’re not getting enough passing yards. That doesn’t bother me. Right now, I’m worried about getting our problems fixed with penalties, giving up sacks and missed assignments and that’s concerning me. I don’t sit here and worry every day, ‘Well, what do we got to do to run the ball better?’ That’s not what we’re worried about. We’re trying to stop costing this team from penalties and missed assignments and letting guys beat us. That’s what’s costing us. That the offensive line’s fault. That’s what we’re concerned with getting fixed. It’s not about stats or statistics.”

Is there anything you can put your finger on that’s causing the penalties and missed assignments? Is it the excitement or the noise?

“Man, we’re not going to make excuses. It’s our fault, man. That stuff doesn’t help, but ultimately it’s our fault. We got to make sure when we’re in an environment like that (Alabama), we got to put extra focus in because it’s not going to come easy. You’re not playing a sloppy team. You got to make sure that every time you get an opportunity to go out there and get it done, that you get it done because you might not get it back with a team with a defense like that. So we have to make sure we are doing our part. Yeah, the noise is going to be there, but that’s just something that’s part of it. So we got to work through that.”

Not bad, huh?

It’s hard to argue with Petrus’ criticism. Arkansas’ offensive line has struggled over the past two games with penalties, pass protection, missed assignments and run blocking. It’s always refreshing to hear a player come out and criticize his own unit in the way that Petrus did.

Today is Wednesday, which means I leave tomorrow for Dallas and what should be an entertaining game in a stadium that looks big even on TV. What does a $1 billion stadium look like in person?

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We still have more football to cover in Fayetteville before we leave for the Lonhorn State.

Robbie Neiswanger wrote a story in today’s Morning News about Arkansas piling up penalties over the past few games. The trend has annoyed Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino and left others to scratch their heads. But Texas A&M has seen even more yellow flags this season.

I have a notebook in today’s newspaper. In it, Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino accepts responsibility for last Saturday’s loss at No. 3 Alabama, offensive guard Mitch Petrus goes off on his own offensive line and changes are made to the first-team offense and defense.

The Dallas Morning News has a rather lengthy article on Petrino embracing Fayetteville and Arkansas fans. The (Other) Morning News reporter was in town last week doing interviews for the story.

That’s it for now. But I’ll have more after Petrino speaks at 11 a.m. on the SEC coaches teleconference. And you can follow me on Twitter (@NWAAlex).

I just got back from Tuesday’s practice, and it was interesting.

Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino, who didn’t speak to reporters following Saturday’s 35-7 loss at third-ranked Alabama, took responsibility for how the game turned out. He said he thought he had gotten his players ready for the Crimson Tide, but apparently he hadn’t done enough.

Petrino said it was his fault, which comes after Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino accepted the blame for not getting his players to believe they could beat Alabama.

“We just didn’t get it done, that’s my fault. We didn’t get it done last week, and I take that all on myself,” Paul Petrino said. “I didn’t do a good enough job of getting them ready during the week, but we’re going to be ready to play this week.”

Later, Arkansas offensive guard Mitch Petrus was steaming. He said the offensive line was responsible for the offensive woes against the Crimson Tide, adding that he’s tired of the O-line continuing to mess up.

It appears the Razorbacks want to shake some things up following the lopsided loss. Backup safety Elton Ford and cornerback Andru Stewart were working with the first-team defense during practice. Ford took snaps at sophomore Tramain Thomas‘ spot, and Stewart worked at junior Ramon Broadway’s cornerback position.

There was also some changes along the offense line. Offensive tackle DeMarcus Love was absent from practice, freshman Antony Oden continued to work at offensive tackle and junior Zhamal Thomas moved up to get reps as one of the first-team offensive guards. We’ll see how this plays out during the week.

And finally, wide receiver London Crawford, who has been sidelined with a broke collarbone, practiced in a yellow jersey. Paul Petrino said Crawford hasn’t been cleared for Saturday’s Southwest Classic against Texas A&M, but the senior is coming along nicely.

“He’s not cleared yet, but he’s running around and he looks good running around,” said Petrino, who also coaches the wide receivers. “He’s got those fresh legs. He looks fast.”

That’s it for now. But check back on the blog and on Twitter (@NWAAlex) for more on the Hogs.

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.

I’ve been away from the laptop for a couple of hours and haven’t been able to post this:

Four Razorbacks were named to the Preseason All-SEC Coaches Team earlier today. The four are: RB Michael Smith (first-team), TE D.J. Williams (second), DT Malcolm Sheppard (second) and OL Mitch Petrus (third).

It’s no surprise Florida leads the way with 16 selections on this team, including first-teamers QB Tim Tebow, OL Mike Pouncey, C Maurkice Pouncey, LB Brandon Spikes, DL Carlos Dunlap and DB Joe Haden.

If you want to see the team in its entirety, click this link.

There will be another preseason, All-SEC team released next week when the media vote comes in from SEC Media Days.

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino and several players wrapped up their weekly news conference not too long ago. Here are a few tidbits:

Petrino said offensive guard Mitch Petrus will redshirt this season because of an undisclosed issue believed to involve academics. Petrus will still be able to practice with the team, but he won’t be eligible to play in any games.

The loss of Petrus is a severe blow to Arkansas’ offensive line, which already lacks quality depth. Petrus was one of three Razorbacks named to the coaches All-SEC preseason team, but he has lost his starting job to sophomore Wade Grayson.

Petrino indicated that weakside linebacker Elston Forte will play Saturday against No. 8 Texas after missing the first two games because of an undisclosed injury, likely his knee. Forte’s return comes at the right time. The senior was voted a defensive captain before the start of the season, and he’ll give the Razorbacks a proven playmaker when they head to Austin, Texas this weekend.

At the same time, sophomore strongside linebacker Freddy Burton will return this week from a two-game suspension, and there is a chance junior middle linebacker Wendel Davis could be back from a hand and knee injury.

Petrino said backup wide receiver Marques Wade will also return this week from a two-game suspension, along with Burton. Both players will be used on special teams and could provide depth at their respective positions.

Finally, starting running back Michael Smith said he got an IV at halftime of last Saturday’s 28-27 win over Louisiana-Monroe because he was feeling drained, adding that he was bothered by cramps throughout the second half. He still finished with a career-high 157 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.

That’s it for now. But there will be a lot more in Tuesday’s edition of The Morning News.

Labor Day isn’t a day off for everyone, especially when the college football season opens a few days before the holiday.

Well, since I’m working, I thought I’d drop a few highlights on the blog from Arkansas’ news conference with coach Bobby Petrino and four players earlier today.

Petrino has made a few changes to the depth chart. Freshman Greg Childs has been named the starting “X” receiver, filling the spot held by junior London Crawford before he suffered a concussion in last Saturday’s 28-24 win over Western Illinois.

Childs showed he could make plays as a freshman, leading the Razorbacks with six catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. It remains to be seen how long Crawford is bothered by the effects of the concussion. Petrino said he saw the junior earlier Monday, and Crawford told him he was feeling better.

Meanwhile, offensive guard Mitch Petrus isn’t listed anywhere on the depth chart. This isn’t much of a surprise since Arkansas officials are still trying to get him cleared to play. Petrus is eligible to practice, but there is an undisclosed issue that’s preventing him from playing in games.

Petrino said there is no change in Petrus’ status since today is a holiday and school is closed.

Not surprisingly, running back Michael Smith has returned to the starting lineup after missing the season opener because of a minor NCAA violation for misuse of textbooks. His return should help jumpstart a running game that managed only 76 yards against Western Illinois.

Labor Day is all about barbecues... and sleeping.

I hope everyone enjoys his or her day off. On that note, I should get back to work if I hope to test out my new barbecue grill later tonight.

Well, another Arkansas player who was expected to contribute in today’s season opener will not.

Arkansas offensive guard Mitch Petrus has been ruled ineligible for the Western Illinois game because of an undisclosed issue, Arkansas associate athletic director Kevin Trainor said Saturday evening.

Trainor said the issue at hand is unrelated to an NCAA violation, but Petrus still hasn’t been cleared to compete in games. He can still practice with the team, and Trainor said the university is working on getting Petrus eligible.

Petrus was expected to be one of Arkansas’ starting offensive guards, but he lost his job to sophomore Wade Grayson.