Game Day - Arkansas

FOOTBALL

QB Joe Cox

On what the last two weeks have been like for him in regards to surrounding speculation.

Pretty funny, actually. Its definitely been interesting to see how crazy it can get just based off of what somebody says, but it hasnt been something that has been a distraction. Its honestly something that weve all kind of laughed about.

On the progress of freshmen wide receivers Marlon Brown and Rantavious Wooten.

I definitely think they can help us, but we want to make sure they know what to do. It gets crazy trying to hear my call in the huddle and then we start moving tight ends and doing certain motions with them. We just want to make sure they have it down. They definitely have the ability, but you dont want to have them come in and miss something important because they werent sure. They are definitely coming along. You can tell they are learning every week and theyre anxious to play. They want to get in, and thats good. I cant wait for them to get in there and help us out because I know they can.

On the importance of having a player like sophomore flanker A.J. Green.

It helps a lot. He takes a lot of pressure off of me, and you can tell how much defenses key on him. They know where he is every single time we break out of the huddle. The thing that is sometimes difficult is you watch teams on film and you think you know what they are going to do, but then you have A.J. Green, and they come up with a totally different thing to try and keep him in check. Hes a blessing to have. Hes an awesome receiver. You all see what he does. Just being able to find ways to get him the ball and watch him make plays is really fun.

LB Rennie Curran

On a night game with Arkansas.

I love the night atmosphere. We have extra time to sleep in the morning. We have time to watch film and to prepare and get our minds right. Its definitely good. The only bad thing is how late we get back from the game. We dont have much time to recover with practice the next day. But we realize that when we travel its a business trip. We try to go over there, take care of business and come back home.

On Brandon Boykin replacing Asher Allen.

A player that was as smart and experienced as Asher you are going to miss a little bit, but Brandon Boykin has done a great job at stepping in, learning his place, and growing as a student of the game. His has an incredible ability to jump, and he has so much ability, and I dont even feel like hes reached his full potential yet. I am excited about him, and I am glad he is on the short side with me.

DB Branden Smith

On his 61-yard reverse run against South Carolina last week.

All I was thinking about was redeeming myself after the fumble I made. I just told the receivers to just give me a crease and just block for a second and Im just going to run through it and score a touchdown.

His preference on offense or defense.

Right now I am staying focused on defense. Just trying to get this game down. I am still studying plays and looking at film.

On kickoff returns.

I think it is a good thing that Coach (Tony) Ball has confidence in me knowing that I have made a couple of bad plays. At Oklahoma State I ran deep from the end zone and fumbled against South Carolina. By him putting me back out there I think that is a very good thing.

On his campus experience this week since last week.

It has been hard walking around campus and people asking for autographs and everything. But right now I am just trying to stay focused on schoolwork. It has been a little weird that no one before asked me for my autographs, but I had a good game Saturday and now they ask me for autographs. It felt a little good.