Hurting for a victory

SCOTT CAIN
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- So many players are injured that Arkansas could field a starting offense and defense with its lame.
So comprehensive is the list of fallen that the Razorbacks not only have lost their starting tailback but their backup and a reserve.
So rotten is the team's fortune that cornerback Harold Harris was lost for the season to a broken arm -- on a hit inadvertently administered by one of his teammates.
Somehow, the Razorbacks (3-1) have cobbled together a two-deep lineup that they hope can deliver a much-needed victory and stay healthy tonight at Reynolds Razorback Stadium against Louisiana-Monroe (1-4).
After tonight, 22 players will have missed at least one game because of injuries. That's one-fourth of the scholarship roster. Of those, 11 are out indefinitely, 7 are out for the season and 4 have returned. Fifteen of the injured-and-out are starters or backups.
Besides avoiding injuries, Arkansas enters its final nonconference game in need of restoration in several areas after being flattened by Georgia 38-7 last week.
Priorities include putting quarterback Robby Hampton back on track, establishing the running game, tackling, creating turnovers, playing with intensity and winning big.
Louisiana-Monroe would seem to be the perfect opponent. The once-proud NCAA I-AA program, which made the jump to I-A in 1994, is going through an overhaul that should prepare it for Sun Belt Conference football next year but is painful now.
Four losses have come by an average of 38 points and the Indians are coming off a 27-7 loss to Southwest Texas State, a I-AA program. Tennessee hammered ULM 70-3 two weeks ago.
For Louisiana-Monroe to be successful against Arkansas, a number of elements would have to fall precisely into place.
"We can't give them any cheap ones," Indians Coach Bobby Keasler said. "We've got to play awful good on defense and not give up big plays. And we've got to play errorless. And we've got to get lucky."
Luck has run short for the Razorbacks lately.
Tailback Cedric Cobbs, whom the offense centered on, separated a shoulder against Alabama and needed surgery. His backup, Fred Talley, broke his hand in the same game, and reserve Andre Ackee tore a knee ligament in a preseason scrimmage.
Defensive end Randy Garner, who was supposed to be one of the defense's two premier players along with linebacker Quinton Caver, has played barely two quarters.
Both starting cornerbacks, Harris and Orlando Green, have been injured.
The list goes on and on.
And the 22 players who have missed games don't tell the whole story.
Key players who have been impaired in the last week but will play at less than 100 percent are Caver (dehydration), tight end Marcellus Poydras (dehydration), right guard Kenny Sandlin (neck/shoulder), receiver Sparky Hamilton (bruised knee), linebacker J.J. Jones (sprained knee), receiver Richard Smith (strained shoulder) and right tackle Gary Hobbs (neck stinger, wrist strain).
Several others are playing with various bumps and bruises.
"When you have a year like this, it knows no race, creed, color or body part or status," trainer Dean Weber said. "It's scholarship players, walk-ons, defense, offense."
Even support staff. Kevin Trainor, Arkansas' sports information director, needed treatment before the Georgia game after a bee crawled into his soft-drink can and stung his tongue.
Just when they thought things couldn't get any worse, four players were sidelined by a combination of injuries and dehydration Wednesday.
"You're thinking, 'Oh man, what's going to happen next?' " Sandlin said. "But you realize that's why you have backups and that's why there are more than 22 guys on the team. It's times like these that the true character of a team comes out."
Coaches moved tight end Nathan Ball to tackle for Shannon Money; Alvin Ray and Brandon Holmes are tag-teaming at tailback; Raymond House has filled in at end for Garner; Eddie Jackson and D'Andre Berry have taken over the cornerback spots; and Jeremiah Harper will start at bandit.
Other decisions were more difficult.
Sandlin and Poydras would have been candidates to sit out this game if there was any experience behind them. Depending on how he's doing during warm-ups, Sandlin might have to sit out anyway, which would elevate redshirt freshman Scott Davenport to a starting role.
Coaches didn't want to risk aggravating Garner's injury tonight. But his ankle improved this week enough for him to practice, and defensive line coach Bill Johnson said he'd like Garner to play 15 or 20 snaps to knock off the rust before going to South Carolina next week.
All that shuffling and uncertainty contribute to the kind of sloppy play that marked last week's disaster against Georgia.
Weber, in his 28th season at Arkansas, can't remember many seasons like this one. They're difficult to compare.
Injuries piled up in the 1977 and 1996 seasons. The 1977 team went on to the Orange Bowl back when teams had dozens more scholarship players than the current 85 limit and, consequently, more replacements on hand. The 1996 team finished 4-7 with about 15 players missing at least a game because injuries.
Trying to explain why the injuries come in bunches is futile.
"It runs in cycles," Weber said. "It's bad luck, karma, whatever. One year you'll have a lot of ankle injuries. One year it will be shoulders. One year it will be knees. And this is universal in college football and football at any level."
For now, Arkansas' corner of the universal training room is suffering from overpopulation.

This article was published on Saturday, October 7, 2000

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