Injury bug takes more bites out of Hogs' starters

It's hard to believe things could get any worse for Arkansas injury-wise, but they did during Wednesday's practice.
Three starters -- linebacker Quinton Caver, bandit Derrick Johnson and offensive guard Kenny Sandlin -- all left practice early with a variety of injuries.
Caver's case was the most puzzling. He reported for practice, but became dizzy and disoriented and was taken to a hospital for tests. Coaches and trainers were unsure what happened to Caver.
Johnson left practice with a pinched nerve in his neck, and Sandlin left with a stinger in his neck and left shoulder.
Coach Houston Nutt and the Razorbacks already were working toward Saturday's homecoming game against Louisiana-Monroe without the services of no less than eight players who began the season healthy.
Nutt was dismayed by the newest injuries.
"We started out having a good practice until (Caver) gets dizzy, Sandlin gets a stinger, Derrick Johnson gets a stinger," Nutt said. "It's just, you know, it's amazing."
Nutt was, however, pleased with the way the healthy Hogs responded.
"The ones that were left out here, we had a real good day for the (game) plan for Monroe-Louisiana," Nutt said. "We finished with the speed and the tempo that we wanted."

QB'S CONFIDENCE INTACT
Robby Hampton insists his confidence hasn't been shaken despite completing 19 of 37 passes for 162 yards and having an interception returned for a touchdown against Georgia. It was the worst performance of his short career as a starter.
Instead, Hampton said his approach to the Louisiana-Monroe game is the same as it was when Arkansas opened the season nearly five weeks ago.
"I made some mistakes last week, but I didn't lose any confidence," he said. "I still feel good about myself and feel good about this football team, so this game's not any different than the ones we've played before. You want to go out and win it, play hard and not make mistakes.
"Everybody has a bad day, and that's what I chalk that up to. We had a bad game as a team, and you're going to have those. You just get on with it and go to the next one."
Coach Houston Nutt likes the way Hampton returned to the practice field on Sunday, and has continued to prepare himself since then.
"We've always said he's mature, and he is," Nutt said. "I really loved the way he came back Sunday with a great attitude and got right in there and took it like a man."

WHO'S THE MAN?
It remains unclear whether sophomore Pervis Osborne will start in place of junior Sacha Lancaster at defensive tackle against Louisiana-Monroe.
Defensive line coach Bill Johnson said both players "made some little strides" in Arkansas' 38-7 loss to Georgia, but that "we've got some heavy evaluating going on."
Lancaster didn't play up to coaches' expectations in victories over Boise State and Alabama, but his 16 tackles rank fifth on the team. Lancaster moved inside to defensive tackle after playing defensive end last season, a move that included his adding roughly 40 pounds. He also has been nagged by a sore shoulder, but Johnson refused to make any excuses.
"I can't attribute it to anything," Johnson said of Lancaster's play. "All I know is what the position calls for. All I know is that there's a certain standard we've got to perform at, at that position. But to both of their credit, they're trying to make the right strides."
Johnson said he isn't sure who will start Saturday, and that more changes could come when injured defensive end Randy Garner returns to the lineup.
"We're 3-1, going to be 4-1," Johnson said. "I guess that can go on (Louisiana-Monroe's) bulletin board, but we're going to find a way to win this one and see what a week's time does, and see what it looks like."

MORE THAN A PRETTY FACE
Little Rock's Celia Anderson has been chosen as a member of Arkansas' 2000 homecoming court. Anderson is a senior communications major on track to graduate in May. She also is an active member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Anderson might be more recognizable to some, however, as a member of the Lady Razorbacks basketball team. Anderson has lettered for Coach Gary Blair for the past three seasons and was a member of the 2000 All-SEC Academic Team.
Leslie Cobbs of North Little Rock is this year's homecoming queen. Other court members are Lindsay Bourns of Benton, Megan Boyd of Stuttgart and Kelly Kunkel of Conway.

CAVENESS REPRESENTS
Former Arkansas linebacker Ronnie Caveness, a two-time All-American and member of the 1964 national championship team, will represent the Razorbacks at the annual Southeastern Conference Legends Dinner, which is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 1, at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.
Caveness served as a team captain on the 1964 team that finished 11-0 and defeated Nebraska 10-7 in the Cotton Bowl to claim the school's only football national championship. As a senior that season, Caveness earned All-American and All-Southwest Conference honors for the second consecutive season and led a Razorbacks defensive unit that recorded five shutouts and yielded a total of just 64 points.
A member of the Arkansas All-Century Team, Caveness was inducted into the Razorback Hall of Honor in 1999. His 357 career tackles rank second in Razorbacks history, and his 29 tackles against Texas in 1963 and 25 against the Longhorns in 1964 rank first and second, respectively, on Arkansas' single-game tackle list.
Caveness will be joined by Alabama's Dwight Stephenson, Auburn's Stacy Danley, Florida's John Reaves, Georgia's Kevin Butler, Kentucky's Lou Michaels, LSU's Roy Winston, Ole Miss' Robert Khayat, Mississippi State's Kent Hull, South Carolina's Harold Green, Tennessee's Steve DeLong and Vanderbilt's Herb Rich.
The SEC Legends Dinner is held in conjunction with the SEC Football Championship Game, which will be played Dec. 2 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

This article was published on Thursday, October 5, 2000

RETURN to main page

Copyright and permissions
Copyright © 2000, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved.
This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.