FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas will begin the second round of Bobby Petrino, this time as interim head coach, when they head to face No. 12 Tennessee on Saturday.
Petrino was appointed interim head coach following Arkansas' 56-13 loss to Notre Dame. Tennessee (4-1, 1-1) and Arkansas (2-3, 0-1) are both coming off a bye week.
"I think our players are excited about the challenge that we have a head of us," Petrino said. "We’re going in to play a very good football team in Tennessee in all three phases in front of a hostile environment, so it presents quite a challenge. But our players have had a great attitude and have worked extremely hard coming off a bye week. I feel good about where we’re at. We’re just looking forward to going in there and playing good football."
In Tennessee, Arkansas will face a team that plays with pace. That is a concern for Petrino and his defensive staff.
"Yeah, it’s something that obviously they’ve been very good at for a long time," Petrino said. "They’re good at executing and moving fast. It’s important for us to make sure we have great communication, get in the right stances and get our eyes where they belong. It’s something we’ve been working on for the last two weeks. Obviously it presents a challenge but it’s something that I think we’ve been doing a good job of at practice."
Last season, Arkansas upset Tennessee 19-14 in Razorback Stadium. The defense kept the Vols offense in check most of the night.
"I mean you always go back and watch the year before and put it into all your breakdowns, all your cutups and everything like that," Petrino said. "We did do a nice job of playing defense. The key to always playing Tennessee is to be able to have a way to stop the run and not give up big, explosive plays running the football. They do such a good job of spreading you out and throwing it that the run is really a major concern. We’ve definitely spent a lot of time on what we did in that game, and then who they are this year. They’re always a little bit different year-to-year on what they emphasize and what they do."
Petrino is trying to turn Arkansas' fortunes around. They are 7-19 in one-score games since Sam Pittman arrived as head coach. They also had opportunities to defeat both Ole Miss and Memphis, but late fumbles caused the team to lose.
"I mean, what we're working hard at is doing our jobs," Petrino said. "Everybody, all 11 guys, working together as one, trying to really play with a lot of effort and speed and understanding that we play one play at a time, but that everyone does their job, and then whether you did it properly or didn't do it properly, you put it behind you. The most important thing is the next play. I think we need to really learn that and understand that as the game goes on, we have no time to put your head down if you got beat. You got to just line up and shake it off and go win the next battle."
The first chance for Petrino to turn the fortunes around will be at Neyland Stadium. That is a challenge that Petrino is looking forward to.
"It's awesome," Petrino said. "You know, you always want to go into a hostile environment and have fun with it. So, I felt like at Ole Miss, we did a really nice job by handling the noise, the communication. Knock on wood, didn't have pre-snap penalties. I thought the experience for Taylen and those guys were right on. So, I feel like, you know, we'll go in there and handle it well, I'm optimistic. We'll go in there and handle it well. It is different. It'll be louder, it'll be more hostile than Ole Miss was, but we've got to do a good job preparing for it. And what that says is that you come off the practice field with a headache every day because that noise you play out there is awful. Now you don't play that, but just the noise that you have to make, you know, between plays and all that, so you can call the play and it's it makes for a stressful time and but it's fun."
Edge Quincy Rhodes Jr. was one of the Razorbacks who played against the Vols last year. He expects Tennessee to have extra motivation for this game.
"I’m definitely expecting a lot of chaos, just from the crowd," Rhodes said. "I know that’s probably one of the loudest college football stadiums in America from what I know of. From the players, they lost last year so I definitely expect them to come in with a chip on their shoulder to get their revenge back."
Rhodes is impressed with Tennessee's quarterback.
"(Joey Aguilar is) definitely a competitive guy," Rhodes said. "They have a great offense but again, like I say all the time, it’s just a matter of how we present ourselves toward them. Anybody can be beat, so we shall see."
Rhodes has fond memories of Arkansas' win over the Vols before a packed house in Fayetteville.
"That’s probably like one of the top three best moments of my life," Rhodes said. "I’m going to say something I said in a past interview, but my coaches believed in me, especially to keep me out there in the two-minute drive. My coaches, they thought I was probably one of the best pass rushers on the defense that we had. Landon (Jackson), EG (Eric Gregory) and I, we were told to watch the ball and knock the quarterback off his point. Landon, he did his job. EG did his job and I did my job and shoot, just the whole drive itself and the last play of the game you couldn’t hear anything. So then of course when we stopped them they stormed the field. Again, that’s probably about the best moment of my life."
Like Petrino, quarterback Taylen Green is looking forward to playing in Neyland Stadium.
"It's a great opportunity," Green said. "You know, I heard a lot about it. I know Coach Petrino played when he was at A&M, he coached in that environment. So, he tells me, Coach (Miles) Fishback tells me a lot about it. So, it's a great opportunity. It's one of the reasons why you come to Arkansas – to play in those type of games."
Arkansas and Tennessee will kickoff at 3:15 on Saturday and televised on the SEC Network.
