LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -The numbers suggested the last two weeks should have been good ones for Arkansas.
The Razorbacks forced seven turnovers and committed none – which should make any coach smile – but they lost anyway to Florida and Mississippi.
“You really feel like you missed opportunities,” coach Bobby Petrino said. “It’s encouraging in a couple ways. No. 1 is our defense is flying around and hitting and playing the ball well. No. 2, our offense has been able to take care of the ball. We’re not fumbling and we’re not throwing interceptions.
“But you don’t have a lot of years where you’re plus-four in one game and plus-three in another game in turnovers and don’t win.”
Florida fumbled four times against Arkansas on Oct. 17, twice in its own territory. The Razorbacks recovered all four loose balls but scored only seven points off the turnovers. The Gators eked out a 23-20 win.
only three points off them and lost 30-17.
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BYE-BYE BLACK JERSEYS: Kentucky is holding a “Black Out” for Saturday night’s game against Mississippi State, asking fans to wear black on Halloween.
It doesn’t look like the players will be joining in.
“I haven’t seen black in our school colors,” coach Rich Brooks said. “I think we’re blue and white. I’m an old traditionalist, I guess.”
The players view the black jerseys as a rallying point. The men’s basketball team wore black twice last season, and the jerseys became a hot commodity.
“We’ve been trying for a while,” defensive lineman Corey Peters said. “It’s kind of a closed door. (Brooks) won’t show his hand. I’ve kind of given up on it. He knows we want to do it. If he wants to do it, he’ll let it happen.”
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HIGH HOPES: If Tennessee’s Jonathan Crompton keeps playing well, coach Lane Kiffin can see him making it to the NFL.
“I think he’s increasing his draft value by the way he’s playing,” Kiffin said. “He’s making himself some money. How he’ll play down the stretch will have a lot to do with how he’s picked.”
Crompton threw for seven touchdowns in the season’s first four games – five in the opener against woeful Western Kentucky – and eight interceptions. In the last three games he’s thrown another seven TD passes and only two interceptions.
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“When you have confidence about the decision making of the quarterback, there’s times we take some shots,” Kiffin said. “The better decisions you make as far as not forcing the ball, we’ll come back to those. We’ll give you more shots, we’ll give you more opportunities to throw the ball downfield.”
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MISSING PICKS: South Carolina’s backup quarterback is throwing more passes than normal in practice this week.
Coach Steve Spurrier has Andrew Clifford throwing to his defensive backs, so they can work on holding on to the ball.
The No. 21 Gamecocks have five interceptions this season, but they have let nearly twice that number slip through their hands.
“We’ve got to quit dropping interceptions,” Spurrier said. “For us to win some big games, we’ve got to make the plays when they are there.”
Gamecocks receiver Moe Brown is reminding teammates on the other side of the ball that most of them were receivers in high school, so they should know how to hang on to the football.
“When you’re in that moment, you can’t be afraid of it,” Brown said. “You’ve just got to embrace it and look forward to making that play.”
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PROTECTION: After allowing nine sacks in its last two Southeastern Conference games and struggling to run the ball near the goal line, top-ranked Florida is considering changes on the offensive line.
Addazio said Xavier Nixon and Sam Robey, two freshmen, could be in the starting lineup Saturday against Georgia in Jacksonville, Fla.
“I’ve got a few combinations I’m getting ready to work on right now,” Addazio said. “I’m not sure how that’s going to play yet.”
In seven games, Tim Tebow has been sacked the same number of times (15) as all of last season. The line also has failed to open up holes near the goal line. Inside the 10, Tebow has 16 carries for 19 yards and three touchdowns in SEC play this season.
Nixon, a freshman, might start at left tackle. Addazio also said Robey, a redshirt freshman, could start at center.
Georgia tried some new combinations on the offensive line during its off week, still tinkering with an ever-changing group. That said, coach Mark Richt doesn’t expect a major shake-up Saturday.
“We really don’t have a lot of choices,” Richt said. “I don’t see a lot of changes there. The guys who’ve been playing will continue to play. We may move them around a little bit, but I’m not even sure of that.”
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PASSION PLAY: LSU coach Les Miles has been impressed by the attitude of his vastly improved defense, which in five SEC games has limited opponents to averages of 276 yards and 14 points.
uchdown, there appeared to be an uprising on the LSU sideline, and Miles sent his defensive starters back in for a goal line stand.
“You don’t want to risk injury to starters except that the defense, with seconds to go on the clock, is on the perimeter fighting like heck to get in,” Miles explained this week. “I enjoyed (defensive tackle) Al Woods, (defensive end) Rahim Alem and that group on the sideline who said, ‘Are you kidding me? Get me on the field. We don’t want them to score.”’
Auburn scored anyway when backup quarterback Neil Caudle completed a 1-yard pass to tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen with 3 seconds left.
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Associated Press writers Will Graves, Beth Rucker, Jeffrey Collins, Mark Long, Paul Newberry and Brett Martel contributed to this report.
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