Razorbacks Report: Petty ready to tangle with old pals

SCOTT CAIN
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Jermaine Petty's homecoming has been a long time coming, four years to be exact.
Petty, a junior defensive end, will return to his home state Saturday when Arkansas plays at 24th-ranked South Carolina.
It's been four years since Petty spent any appreciable time in the Palmetto State because, he said, he has gone to school almost nonstop. And it's not like South Carolina is a quick drive from Arkansas.
"I did go back for one day to get my stuff once, but I haven't been back really for four years," Petty said.
Petty's family has visited Fayetteville three times since he arrived last year from Butler County Community College. He went to the Kansas junior college after high school in Inman, S.C., where he played against South Carolina quarterback Phil Petty and tailback Derek Watson.
Jermaine Petty's high school team played Phil Petty's team once in a preseason game. But he played three times against Watson because his team used to compete in the same conference as Watson's high school in Williamston, S.C.
Having played against Watson, Petty knows some of his tendencies.
"I know if you hit him, he'll give it up," Petty said, meaning Watson is prone to fumble. "If you put a hat on him, he'll give it up. And he likes to talk. Whether he's doing good or bad, he likes to talk a lot of trash."
While Watson ranks third in SEC rushing at an average of 102 yards per game, he has had trouble holding on to the ball. He fumbled twice Saturday against Kentucky, losing one, and Mississippi State returned one of his fumbles for a touchdown.

PROD STARTS PRACTICE
Practice started sluggishly for a few Arkansas players but ended on a better note Wednesday.
"We had a good day once we got them going, once we got their attention," Coach Houston Nutt said. "I think we got two back-to-back good work days together. If we can come back tomorrow for another good mental day, that's going to really help.
"We're not good enough to ever shut it down. We're not good enough to say, 'I'll get my assignment on Saturday.' Can't do it. We've got to come to work every day."

METHOD TO HIS MUDNESS
If South Carolina's Lou Holtz didn't have an extensive record of doing this at Notre Dame and every other place he's coached, then it would be easy to assume that he's slinging mud at his own team this week.
Without directly saying he objected to the way Arkansas won 48-14 last year, Holtz continues to lob motivational grenades at the Gamecocks through the media. He's sending messages in typical Holtz fashion, poor-mouthing his team's chances and reminding the players that the Razorbacks beat them "like yard dogs" in Little Rock.
"The main concern I have going into this football game is whether we're going to be strong enough and physical enough to match up with the University of Arkansas," Holtz said Wednesday on the SEC coaches teleconference.
"They're a very athletic team, they're very well-coached and they just manhandled us last year. I mean, it was really a mismatch by any stretch of the imagination, and I'm just not sure how we're going to be able to match up with them because we're not a particularly strong football team."
Holtz couldn't have been thrilled during the fourth quarter of last year's game with the wipeout nearly complete when former Arkansas defensive coordinator Keith Burns sent the first team back in.

ENDURING TARGET
Quick, name the SEC's active leader in career receptions and receiving yards.
If you guessed Tennessee's Cedrick Wilson, Ole Miss' Grant Heard or Kentucky's Quentin McCord, you'd be in the ballpark. But South Carolina's Jermale Kelly has caught more passes for more yards than any other current player in the conference.
Kelly has 135 catches for 1,897 yards. His 18 receiving touchdowns rank second on the SEC's active list.
At 6-2, 200 pounds, Kelly uses his size to outplay cornerbacks, like he did in catching the 25-yard, game-winning touchdown pass against Mississippi State's Kendall Roberson.
Arkansas has been playing a considerable amount of zone and combination coverage, so all of the defensive backs could wind up trying to defend him at different times. Whoever's on Kelly can't be timid.
"You've got to be real physical with those type of receivers and get inside and compete for the ball," cornerback D'Andre Berry said.

GAMECOCK BRUISES
At least one South Carolina starter is considered questionable to play Saturday after missing most of practice this week.
Strong safety Rashad Faison, the team's second-leading tackler, has a bruised shoulder and did not practice until Wednesday and it was limited work. Several players are candidates to replace Faison. Coach Lou Holtz said he believes Faison probably will play but does not know how long he'll last.
Left tackle Travelle Wharton bruised his shoulder in practice Tuesday and worked only a short time Wednesday. Tailback Derek Watson did not practice Wednesday because of a deep thigh bruise suffered Saturday in the Kentucky game.
Both are expected to play against Arkansas.
Even though he's a freshman, Wharton has been the team's most consistent lineman. If his replacement, sophomore Shane Hall, has to fill in it won't be his first start. Hall started at guard last year against Kentucky and Arkansas.

SIDELINES
Tailback Fred Talley had the cast removed from his broken left hand Wednesday night, a day earlier than he anticipated, and he will play now with a pad on the hand. ... Coach Houston Nutt turns 43 on Saturday. ... Four of the five missed field goal attempts by South Carolina's Reid Bethea have come inside 40 yards.

This article was published on Thursday, October 12, 2000

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