BELLA VISTA — A freshman old and a freshman new provide the Razorbacks a fresher presence for their SEC return against the 5-0 17th-ranked Auburn Tigers in Saturday’s 11 a.m. ESPN televised kickoff at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

Arkansas freshmen Tenarius Wright and Ronnie Wingo stepped up when the 2-2 Razorbacks stepped out of conference to rout the Big 12’s Texas A&M Aggies, 47-19 last Saturday night at the Dallas Cowboys’ Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Redshirt freshman defensive end Wright was named the SEC’s Defensive Lineman of the Week Monday by the SEC Office in Birmingham, Ala.

True freshman running back Ronnie Wingo of St. Louis “separated himself from the other guys,” Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said in the yards he made after contact in 3 carries for 24 yards. That separation didn’t even include Wingo separating from everybody. Upon juking an Aggie at the line on his fourth and final carry, Wingo separated untouched for a 62-yard touchdown. The freshman finished with 4 carries for 86 yards.

For an Arkansas program down in the 0-2 SEC dumps after 52-41 and 35-7 losses to Georgia and Alabama, beating the Aggies was “a must win,” several Hogs said.

That “must” started with the heavy artillery the Hogs call “Tank.” Tenarius “Tank” Wright dislodged the fumble from A&M quarterback Jerrod Johnson that sophomore linebacker Jerry Franklin recovered and returned for an 85-yard touchdown start to Arkansas’ 23 point second quarter.

That wasn’t all of Tank’s “Wright stuff.” The backup defensive end, twice now converted from linebacker, also forced a fumble on the game’s last play and made two tackles behind the line, one a big hit on Johnson for a quarterback sack.

“Tenarius Wright had a great game for us,” Petrino said Monday. “He really played well. I thought all four defensive ends played well. Jake Bequette and Tenarius Wright. Adrian Davis did a great job rushing the passer. (Damario) Ambrose did a nice job against the run. he needs to pick up his get-off a little bit for his pass rush.

But he really does a nice job on the run, on using his hands and holding his gap. he’s a very good player against the run.”

Third-year sophomore Bequette, also logging his best game against A&M, says Wright is just getting started.

“Once he combines experience and technique with his speed and Godgiven ability,” Bequette said, “he’s going to be something special. You can see every day in practice just how much he’s improved.”

Everyone oohed and ahhed on Wingo’s touchdown, but apparently Petrino smiled the most watching the 6-3, 218-pounder turn on the power for some tough inside yardage.

“Where Wingo separated himself from the other guys,” Petrino said, “is he made a lot of yards after contact, not even including the long run, on the other touches he had during the game.”

Wingo learned early that while white collar touchdowns impress coaches and win games, bulling those blue collar runs also win games and may impress coaches even more because those yards usually are tougher to get.

“A lot of defenses are oriented to stop the run,” Wingo said. “So you have to have a lot of what they call bull yards, yards after contact.

That’s one of the dimensions of a running back, yards after contact.”

He said his blockers gave him the luxury to make key cutbacks on the 62-yard TD.

“It started with the other 10 guys all on the same page with me,” Wingo said. “I made a lot of different cuts and different moves so they had to hold their blocks for a long time for that play to develop.”

Petrino said tight end D.J. Williams and receivers Jarius Wright and Reggie Fish all threw especially key blocks.

Wingo was asked about scoring his first Razorback touchdown in the Dallas Cowboys’ brand new stadium.

“It’s a dream come true for me,” Wingo said, “because the Cowboys have been my favorite football team since I was knee high.”

You mean the St. Louis native doesn’t root for the St. Louis Rams?

“I was in 2000,” Wingo, smiling, said of the Rams Super Bowl championship season. “Not no more.”

Wingo said celebrating Hogs precluded him seeing his touchdown replay on the Cowboys’ world’s largest video screen.

“I didn’t have the chance,” Wingo said.

“My teammates were beating me up on the sideline.”

Freshman cornerback Darius Winston of Helena-West Helena Central was set to play considerably against A&M, Petrino said, but injured an ankle last week. Winston’s availability is unknown versus Auburn.

Also, the availability of kick-returner Dennis Johnson (bruised thigh against A&M) is undetermined against Auburn.

Sports & Recreation, Pages 14 on 10/14/2009

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