Hogs hobbled but not halted from playing

When Quinton Caver, Derrick Johnson and Kenny Sandlin left practice with injures Wednesday, Arkansas' injury problem looked to be on the verge of becoming an epidemic.
Thursday, however, Coach Houston Nutt said he is hopeful that Caver will be able to play against Louisiana-Monroe, and Johnson and Sandlin haven't been ruled out.
"We don't know 100 percent, but we're hopeful that Quinton Caver will be out there," Nutt said. "Probably the one that's the furthest away is Kenny Sandlin ... but we'll just wait and see."
Sandlin had two ribs pop out of place during Wednesday's workout, and had to have a chiropractor put them back in place Thursday morning.
"It's making the muscle freak out -- I don't know the terminology -- up there in the shoulder blade and neck," Sandlin said.
Doctors have told Sandlin that the soreness should be gone by Saturday, but that was little comfort to him Wednesday night, when simply breathing was painful.
"Yesterday, it felt like an ice pick through the shoulder blade," Sandlin said.
Caver appeared to have recovered from the dizzy spell he suffered on Wednesday. The Arkansas training staff believes Caver suffered from dehydration and possibly not eating enough.
Neither Caver nor Johnson, who pinched a nerve in his neck, practiced on Thursday.

MORE HEALTH NEWS
Senior defensive end Randy Garner continues to come back from a high ankle sprain, and looks like he'll be able to log some playing time on Saturday.
"Garner's really moving around better," Coach Houston Nutt said. "You'd like to get him a few plays, just so his first game [back] is not next week. So, if he's still moving around and continues to get better, we'll probably try to see if we can get him some snaps."
Sophomore tight end Marcellus Poydras became dehydrated following Wednesday's practice, but is expected to start on Saturday. Senior Tim Craig will back up Poydras.

LINE SHUFFLE
Offensive line coach Mike Markuson has had to shuffle his players as much as anyone during Arkansas' recent bout with injuries. Markuson will have to wait until game time, he said, before he can name his starting lineup.
Nathan Ball, Gary Hobbs, Josh Melton and La'Zerius White will play, but who will play right guard hasn't been determined. Kenny Sandlin will have to go through pregame drills before his status is determined.
"You've just really got to get to game time, warm up and hit with the pads a little bit, and see what happens," Markuson said.
If Sandlin can't go, redshirt freshman Scott Davenport will take his place.
Ball will start at left tackle in place of the injured Shannon Money. Ball had been moved from tackle to tight end during the preseason.
"He only had 22 snaps in the game last week, and he's a good athlete," Markuson said of Ball being moved back to tackle. "He's been out there before, so we just felt like he needed to be the guy. He brings a little more stability, he's a little more sure of himself and he's a competitor, so we just felt like that was the move."

BLAME GAME
Much has been made of 24-year-old quarterback Robby Hampton's maturity, and it was evident in the wake of Arkansas' 38-7 loss to Georgia last week.
Coach Houston Nutt said Hampton tried to shoulder the blame for the Razorbacks' disappointing effort when the team gathered for its Sunday workout. Although Nutt said he clearly wasn't solely responsible for the loss, Hampton said he was simply trying to get his teammates to put the loss behind them.
"We didn't need to have guys moping around and feeling sorry for themselves," Hampton said. "We've got to step it up. We're not as tough as we need to be right now, but we're getting there. We'll do it, but you just don't have time to feel sorry for yourselves."

MILLER TIME?
Senior linebacker Jim Ed Reed has practiced the last two days after being knocked out of commission with chronic tendinitis in both knees earlier this week.
"Right now, thank goodness, he's feeling healthy again," linebackers coach Bobby Allen said. "Hopefully it was just one of those flare-ups that came, and he won't get another one the rest of the year."
If Reed is limited or can't play on Saturday, redshirt freshman Caleb Miller will step in after getting extra work during practice early this week.

This article was published on Friday, October 6, 2000

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