By: Fletcher Page

The media gets to speak with coordinators and assistant coaches each Tuesday. Check the Blawg Post every Wednesday for Bullets from Bobo.

Surprised by the offense against South Carolina...

MB: A little bit. It’s a process. It wasn’t what we wanted. I’m definitely disappointed anytime, whether running or throwing, and you just score six points. Disappointed, didn’t find a way to win, so they only thing you can do is go back to work.

On Caleb King...

Caleb is practicing. Caleb is looking better. I expect Caleb to play this week.

Right now we’re still—they’re still practicing. He’s still trying to get it back 100 percent but I think he’ll be ready by game time.

On the Arkansas game last year...

Last year was definitely one of those games where the dam kind of broke and both teams scored at will. That’s how it happens sometimes. Some times both teams are stopping somebody and that’s how a game goes. Some times a teams breaks something and it kind of opens the floodgates for both. It was one of those games. It was back-and-forth. We definitely put ourselves in a hole early, but were able to come back. They kept scoring. It was one of those games where we felt like we had to score every time. We were fortunate enough to win. That game gave us a little confidence. I hope it gives us confidence going into this week.

Bottom line is, we have to score more points than them. If they put up 17, we need 18. If it’s 40, we need to score 41. There is no doubt we’d like to score every time we get the ball, but in this business you just have to find a way to win, whatever it takes week-in and week-out. And you don’t apologize for winning. If you lose you just have to go back to work and figure out how to win the next football game.

On the Arkansas defense...

I think they’re very much improved. I think they are running to the ball well. They are extremely fast defensive football team. They have two inside guys that are bigger and physicaler (Fletcher here: This was Bobo’s word. I know, right?) than last year, and they have a lot of confidence. Obviously being ranked high has given them confidence, but most of those guys are back and played last year. The middle linebacker, 34, he’s back. They got a few other key guys that are back. Those two inside guys are going to pose a problem. We have to play well to control the line of scrimmage.

The difficult thing is how to gauge how they might line up to some of the formations that we might line up in because they played two spread teams. That’s the difficult team. You can see the team’s speed and you can see how fast they run around, no matter who you’re playing. You can see guys playing with great effort.

Where has Aron White been...

I think it might have been 75-to-25, or 65-to-35 the first game. The second game it was how the game went. We didn’t have any possessions. And two of them were one minute drives and one of them was Aron’s and one was Orson’s. It will probably be more like it was the first game, or more 50-50. The last game it was more how the game went and just a lack of possessions and us going three-and-out. That didn’t help.

On Aaron Murray....

Well, you know he’s still a young guy. I think those first two games gave him some confidence. He hasn’t put us in a bad situation with his play. We’ll just allow him to play a little more, and not necessarily protecting him. Our whole game going into this year was to reduce the penalties and not give the game away by turnovers. Despite how the game went last week, obviously not how we wanted, but we still got a chance to tie the game there at the end if we don’t turn the ball over. We just have to keep playing. I don’t really know how you’re going to open it up with him. I guess just allow him to make some more plays would be the answer.

On if having A.J. Green would help open the offense...

No comment. (laughter). He’s one of the best players in the country. It is what  it is. We’ve got enough caliber players here. We’ve got to give them the opportunity to make plays and when the opportunities present themselves, they got to make the plays, whether it’s throwing, hitting the guys that’s open or making a tough catch or getting the ball in the open field. You’ve got to make plays and we’ve got some guys out here that have to step up and make plays.

On the offensive line...

Well, Trinton Sturdivant is coming. He got three plays on one series last week. It would have been more but there was a third-and-short and we didn’t convert. We have to get him going, and I think he’ll help us offensively. Chris Burnette will be back. I don’t know how much he’ll play this week, but he’s a guy we thought would get in the rotation a little but this year. He was out with a concussion, I think, for 15 days. That set his progress back.

On Sturdivant...

I believe its confidence. He’s healthy. Any time you go through two major knee surgeries, it’s hard for anybody to understand what he might be thinking. He’s out there practicing. He’s out there getting better every day. I think it’s going to click sooner or later.