Razorbacks Report

Berry in line to replace Green against Bears

ROB KEYS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Junior D'Andre Berry is listed as a second-team cornerback behind classmate Orlando Green, but he is on the verge of drawing a starting assignment when Arkansas opens its season at 6 p.m. Saturday against Southwest Missouri State in Little Rock.
Green sustained a hamstring injury during practice last Wednesday, and hasn't worked out since then. If Green can't practice today, co-defensive coordinator John Thompson said Berry almost certainly will start Saturday night.
"We're not going to put a deadline on [Green's return], but he hasn't practiced in almost a week and we've got an open date next weekend," Thompson said. "You've got to factor that in.
"I'm planning right now like we're not going to have Orlando on Saturday night."
Thompson said that after "great consultation" with trainer Dean Weber, he would rather hold Green out for one game than try to rush him back and aggravate the injury.
"I like the percentage of Orlando playing 10 of 11 or 11 of 12 games better than 7 of 12 games," Thompson said. "That's a big, big factor."
Thompson said reserve defensive backs Eddie Jackson, Kevin Baker and Jimmy Beasley also will play against Southwest Missouri State.
"They won't play based on what the score is," Thompson said. "We need to find out what they can do and how they react in a game situation."
DEPTH CHART NEWS
The Arkansas coaching staff released a depth chart -- the first since the conclusion of spring practice -- Monday afternoon and there weren't many surprises.
The most interesting spots are place-kicker and backup quarterback.
Senior Matt Swartz has earned the kicking job thanks largely to a 6-of-7 effort in Arkansas' lone preseason scrimmage and scholarship freshman Brennan O'Donohoe's sore right leg. If Swartz proves he can handle the duties, O'Donohoe might redshirt this season.
Junior Jared McBride, will back up Robby Hampton at quarterback. McBride is listed ahead of freshman Zak Clark, who was practically a lock to redshirt before Gary Brashears transferred to Tulsa. Now, though, Coach Houston Nutt has said he would like to play all three quarterbacks in Saturday's game.
Two positions, tight end and rover, feature co-starters. Sophomores Marcellus Poydras and Nathan Ball share the top spot at tight end. Juniors Derrick Johnson and Corey Harris share the top spot at rover.
Senior defensive end Randy Garner remains No. 1 at his position even though he will serve a one-game suspension on Saturday. Redshirt freshman Raymond House will start in Garner's place.
BIG MAN ON CAMPUS
It seems everyone knows who sophomore running back Cedric Cobbs is, especially Arkansas' opponents. That's certainly true for the Southwest Missouri State Bears.
"Cedric Cobbs is going to be the best player I've ever played against in my career, hands down," said senior linebacker Corky Martin, who has 383 career tackles. "I'm excited for the challenge and to play against that level of competition. It's going to be fun."
Mike Gailey, a junior safety from Russellville, said he respects Cobbs but won't be intimidated by him.
"He's a great player, and I'm glad he's succeeding at Arkansas," Gailey said. "But he's an opponent I've got to go out and play against him, and I'm going to do my best to make him have a horrible game. Hopefully he won't get into the secondary, but if he does, we'll deal with it."
WHERE DO WE GO?
The Great Stadium Debate that sparked arguments throughout Arkansas also stretched beyond the borders of the Natural State. The debate, it seems, drew interest at least as far away as Springfield, Mo., home of the Southwest Missouri State Bears.
After all, Southwest Missouri State needed to know in which direction to point its bus for Saturday's season opener. Other than that fact, though, Bears Coach Randy Ball said he had no preference on where the game is played.
"We knew we were going to be someplace in Arkansas and we were going to be playing the Razorbacks," Ball said. "That's all we needed to know."
SIDELINES
Southwest Missouri State is a Division I-AA program and a member of the Gateway Conference. Other members of the conference are Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Indiana State, Northern Iowa, Western Illinois and Youngstown State. ... Arkansas is 3-0 all-time versus Southwest Missouri State. The Razorbacks won the last meeting 47-0 in 1924. ... Arkansas is 2-0 in season openers, 6-0 in games played at Little Rock and 12-0 in all home games under Coach Houston Nutt. ... This is Arkansas' first opener in Little Rock since 1994.

This article was published on Tuesday, August 29, 2000

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