Hogs Getting Ready For Independence Bowl

On Monday afternoon Arkansas conducted its last full practice before it will face the Missouri Tigers in the Mainstay Independence Bowl on Dec. 31. For a little over an hour the Hogs maintained excellent focus and took on Mizzous offense, and then capped off the day with the two-minute drill. "The guys came out and moved around very well today," Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt said. "They had good concentration and intensity. This was like a Thursday practice for us with the two-minute drill and some clock situations and different personnel groupings. Were just trying to hit on everything that they run and trying to execute." Even though this is Arkansas sixth straight bowl appearance the Razorbacks have won only one of their last 11 bowl games since 1985. Nutt is hoping his Hogs, with the help of leadership from the seniors, can start to turn that record around and come away with a victory on Wednesday. "Theyve fooled me before and we thought they had good intensity," Nutt said. "But again I go back to the seniors. Theyve really put an emphasis on concentrating and doing things the right way. Everyone has been on time for curfews. To me thats the biggest change. Its not that they havent worked hard before or didnt want to win the bowl game. Bowl games are difficult because of the distractions and the period of time youve had off since the last game, plus with the tradition of not winning it makes it hard. Hopefully we can get it going." The last time UA played was over a month ago when it went up against LSU on Nov. 28. Nutt noted that the athletes have enjoyed the bowl atmosphere and are excited to get back on the field. "Theyre ready to go and theyre looking forward to it," Nutt said. "The Independence Bowl people have done a great job. The guys are appreciative of that and theyre ready to play." Kickoff time for the Mainstay Independence Bowl is 6:30 p.m. December 31st. Be sure to watch our Bowl Special Tuesday night from 9pm-10pm for the latest on both the Razorbacks and Missouri`s preparations for the game.