For longtime Razorback football fans, it’s still a little hard to believe.  And with those years (and years…and years) of run-oriented history still fresh, you’ll have to forgive us when we chuckled at what Coach Petrino said after Tuesday’s practice.

“We’re just getting thin [at receiver]. We can’t afford to have another injury there, that’s for sure.”

Thin?  Seriously?  Yeah…because if we lose another one…we might only be able to complete passes to 11 different players in a game instead of 13?  Only 300+ instead of 400+ passing yards?!

Coach Petrino is fairly new to these parts, so we wouldn’t expect him to completely understand.  But you see here at Arkansas, Coach, we had formed a little different perception over the years about what the word ‘depth’ meant.

But now that’s all changed.  Chris Bahn summed it up well in a column he wrote earlier this week.

Gone are the days when a single injury could derail the team and its hopes for the season.  Remember the shockwaves that went through Razorback Nation when Marcus Monk blew out a knee prior to 2007?

Remember how fans and coaches counted down the days until he returned?  Remember how people were convinced that Monk was the difference between BCS or B.S. bowls?

He’s not kidding.  We were there at practice on the day that Monk was injured.  You would’ve thought the world was about to end based on the glum faces of coaches and fans as they left the practice fields that day.

Now…the juggernaut just keeps rolling on.  No excuses are made.  If a receiver goes down in practice or a game, it’s a story for a day.  And while it might give Coach Petrino some cause for concern, it doesn’t derail him…or the team…or the fan base.

Don’t misunderstand…like all Hog fans, we hated to see Lucas Miller, London Crawford and Chris Gragg go down with injuries.  Two of those guys are seniors and surely want to cherish every game left in their college careers.

And all three have worked hard and paid the price and should be rewarded for that sacrifice with the opportunity to contribute on Saturdays.  Certainly all Hog fans will be happy and excited for them (and the team) when they’re able to get out there again.

We just won’t be counting down the days anymore until they return.

• Toiling under hot but breezy conditions, the veterans looked sharp and conditioned, while the newcomers struggled to keep up.  One thing you realize when you watch a Bobby Petrino practice…he is a big believer in keeping a certain tempo.  If anyone or anything slows that down, you will defintely be hearing about it.
• All of the quarterbacks are still looking to find their rhythm.  Ryan Mallett looks great on the play-action passes in the pocket, but continues to struggle with accuracy when the fake carries him outside of the pocket.  Mallett’s footwork and ability to throw on the run are still areas in need of improvement.
• As for Tyler Wilson, he looks good but still seems to be uncomfortable taking snaps from under center.  On one play during Sunday’s practice, we unfortunately had an mini-flashback of the “Stoern-over” after Wilson took the snap and immediately tripped and fell (but didn’t fumble!) in the backfield.
• Broderick Green doesn’t look anything like the guy who showed up from USC and averaged less than two yards per carry in the spring game.  He is quicker, faster, leaner, and actually looks comfortable carrying the 248 pounds.
• Paul Petrino likes his freshman receivers, but they’ll quickly learn to run up field after making a catch in practice…or they will feel his wrath.  We saw Cobi Hamilton and Lance Ray get a “friendly reminder” from Petrino on Saturday when their run-after-catch efforts were subpar.  To their credit, both Hamilton and Ray only had to be reminded once.
• It was good to see senior wide receiver Lucas Miller back on the practice field after offseason knee surgery.  Miller still doesn’t look to be 100 percent, but should be close after another three weeks of preseason work.
• About 300 fans watched as the Hogs worked in shoulder pads for the first time on Saturday.  There were a bit fewer at Sunday morning’s practice, which was the first held in the stadium on the new turf.  (It looks good, by the way.)
• As for the stadium itself, the scaffolding to support the installation of the new LED ribbon boards around the perimeter of the club level is going up.  We can’t wait to see those on September 19th against Georgia.

More on the defense and special teams in our next post.

TipsterHog and HogBlogger also contributed to this post.

Junior Lucas Miller had a career game for the Arkansas football team with 10 catches and an 87-yard touchdown but despite his efforts and those of the Razorbacks, Arkansas fell to the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis-Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss., on Saturday afternoon, 31-28.

Also:

• ESPN.com: Mississippi State halts Arkansas’ nine-game rule
• ArkansasSports360.com: Two-Minute Drill, Harris: Little Brother Stands Tall for Razorbacks Despite Defeat

Razorback Central

• Alex Abrams: Mississippi Blues
• Robbie Neiswanger: Redshirt Freshman Plays Well In First Start
• Vernon Tarver: Frustration Mounts For Arkansas Defense
• Nathan Allen: Fans Undecided On Croom’s Results
• Harry King: Razorbacks Miss Too Many Tackles

WholeHogSports.com

• Tom Murphy: Wide and denied
• Rob Keys: Freshman QB keeps his poise, Catching on nicely
• Chris Givens: Dixon puts it all together, powers Bulldogs, Instant replay
• Chris Cocoles: Tackling trouble plagues UA defense
• Wally Hall: Arkansas’ defense drops ball, deserves blame
• Nate Allen: Home for Christmas
• Terry Wood: Consistent execution eludes Hogs all season

Other Sites and Blogs

• The Clarion-Ledger: Bulldogs dig deep for big win, Wild ending leaves Dogs dazed, relieved
• Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal: Bulldogs hang on for victory, No fancy footwork as ‘Dogs run wild

Updated 11/23/08 10:30 a.m.

You know…just another Razorback Saturday.  The stadium field gets a name; the legendary Keith Jackson stops by to ‘Call the Hogs’; Felix rushes for 174, DMac rushes for 321 and we completely steamroller Steve Spurrier.  Ho hum?  Yeah, right.  It was a magical night.  What an honor it was to be there to see an ‘Instant Razorback Classic’ in person.

And thanks to YouTube (and GTHogFan), there’s really no need to say anything more.

Felix Jones 40 Yard TD

Felix Jones 72 Yard TD

Casey Dick TD Lucas Miller

DMac TD to RoJo

DMac 80 Yard TD