Razorback senior defensive lineman Isaiah Nichols (#33) from Springdale splits a double team against South Carolina Saturday afternoon at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

by Otis Kirk

FAYETTEVILLE -- No. 10 Arkansas will take on former head coach Bobby Petrino and Missouri State on Saturday night in Razorback Stadium.

Petrino was 34-17 in four years with the Hogs. The current Razorbacks were young when Petrino was at Arkansas, but redshirt senior defensive tackle Isaiah Nichols who is from Springdale, when asked if he remembered Petrino, said he did.

"Most definitely," Nichols said. "Living in Arkansas and growing up in Arkansas, everybody looks up to Arkansas football. Growing up on Saturdays watching the Hogs, I was around 10 or 11 around those years, and growing up watching that kind of makes you want to play football. That's part of the reason why I fell in love with football just seeing them play and play hard having those two seasons with 22 wins in those seasons. I remember growing up watching the Cotton Bowl. I would say most definitely growing up here and looking up to those guys and seeing the brand of football they played, I enjoy keeping up that tradition of Arkansas football."

Nichols is one of the key members of the defense and was asked if he was familiar with the reputation of Petrino's offenses.

"Definitely," Nichols said. "Coach (Barry) Odom hit on it, too, the genius that Coach Petrino is offensively. We have to get ready to play. They're a good team. They're No. 5 in FCS, so obviously they're a very well-coached team, a very good team offensively. So, we have to prepare this week like we are playing anybody else. Like we are playing Alabama or Georgia, the best in our conference. There's no time to slack, especially this past weekend seeing these top 10 teams losing games they're supposed to be favored in. Our mindset and our level of work ethic and detail [is such] that we have to be intentional every day. There's no time to slow down. This is not an off week. This is not a week to where we can just relax like 'Hey, we're going to go out there and win the game,' because they're coming to play. Anytime teams at their level are playing teams that are at our level, we're going to get their best. So, we have to prepare for that and give them our best."

Redshirt freshman linebacker Chris Paul also is aware of what the Missouri State offense can do.

"Like Isaiah said, they have a great offense," Paul said. "Their coach, Bobby Petrino, he's a great coach. He's a genius of the game. With him over that offense, they have some weapons in their offense with the running back and obviously the quarterback, [Jason Shelley]. He's a great guy. He can run, he can throw, he can do basically what you would love your quarterback to do. Like Isaiah said, we have to take it one day at a time, learn their schemes, which we've been doing a great job of, and play our brand of football."

Offensive guard Brady Latham knows the Bears defense won't be as big as what Arkansas has and will face most of the season.

"Yeah, they’re really well coached and they’ve got a lot of good athletes," Latham said. 'They have a good defensive line and good linebackers. They fly around. They’re a really good team and we need to be prepared for them."

Sophomore running back AJ Green has made an impact this season, scoring a touchdown against South Carolina. He talked about the smaller defenders.

"Honestly, I’d say the same thing," Green said. "Obviously, they’re not as big, but they still play hard. They play hard just like we do, because they’re underdogs just like we were last year and just like we still are kind of, even though we’re ranked 10th, but that really don’t matter. They’re still going to come at us. They’re going to play their hardest. They know they’ve got a chance of winning if they try their hardest. We’ve got to be prepared for anything."

Latham, who is from Jenks, Oklahoma, talked about what he knows about Petrino.

"We know he’s a great coach and we know he had a lot of success here. It brings a lot of hype to the game and that’s awesome. And that makes us excited too that we’re going to go up against such a good opponent."

Green echoed those those thoughts.

"I would honestly say the same thing." Green said. "He’s a vet. He knows what he’s doing back there. He’s coaching a good team. He knows who to put out there and he’s telling them what to do, and he’s doing good at his job. So, he did good here and he’s going to keep doing good everywhere he’s at."

Arkansas (2-0) host Missouri State (2-0) at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17 on ESPN+/SECN+.