Razorbacks Lose RB Knile Davis, Must Find Ways to Persevere

This was supposed to be the dream season for Razorback football when all the offensive pieces came together at once.

It was going to be the team with so many weapons, offensive mastermind Bobby Petrino wasn't going to know what to do with himself.

It could have been the year when Knile Davis built upon a scary wrecking ball performance from 2010, running all the way to Broadway in 2011, for a red carpet appearance with Johnny Heisman in December.

And then, last night, in slow and terrifying fashion, the news about Davis started trickling across Razorback nation, one bleeding red fan by one, until, to paraphrase Keyser Soze, it became undeniably clear that "just like that---poof---he was gone."

It would be easy for Razorback fans to play the "woe is me" card, and nobody would fault them for doing that.  But that's not what hurts the most right now.  What hurts the most is knowing that nobody is more heartbroken for Knile Davis than Knile himself.  He was heavily invested in this season, and had clearly emerged as the emotional leader of this offense in the spring, staying that way, from all accounts, throughout the summer.  Coming off a campaign in which he led the SEC in rushing with 1322 yards, the workhorse junior from Texas was expected to tote another hefty load, setting the pace for an inexperienced, though talented, quarterback in Tyler Wilson. 

Considering he'd averaged an incredible 6.2 yards per carry last year, and at 6'1, 240 pounds is built like a bona fide freight train, there'd have been little reason to doubt him.

Until last night's disastrous turn of events at evening practice.

Just seven plays into a full scrimmage, in what was only the eighth day of fall practice, after carrying the football a mere three yards into a "typical player pile-up", according to one assistant coach, Davis went down and didn't get up.

The immediate aftermath was chilling, with Knile's clearly audible screams the first indicator that something horrible had happened.

The word is Knile suffered a fracture of the lower left tibia, which in layman's terms means he has a broken left leg, and for all intents and purposes, will not play football at all this year.

It was a shot to the gut, for the staff, for the fans, for the team itself.  But none more so than for Davis.  His lengthy history of broken bones---a right ankle in high school and again as a freshman at Arkansas, a collarbone as a sophomore, now a left ankle---grows even longer.

"I am extremely disappointed for Knile," head coach Bobby Petrino said.  "He is a captain who was incredibly focused for the upcoming year.  His leadership throughout the offseason was significant in the development of this team.  Our athletic trainers and medical staff are the best in the country, and Knile's mental toughness will be an asset to him during the recovery process.  I am fully confident in the mindset of our running back group and their ability to perform."

It was highly appropriate that Petrino, now in his 4th year with the Hogs, closed his brief statement with an encouraging glance at Ronnie Wingo, Dennis Johnson and Kody Walker.  The talented lightning flashes were set as the alternates to Davis' tempo-setting thunder.

Now they are the main event.

From a touches standpoint, Wingo is likely to be the biggest beneficiary of Knile's absence.  The shifty tailback is visibly bigger and broader than a year ago, and will need to be, running through the behemoth lineman filling the trenches of the SEC.  He's got the swagger and confidence to have a great season, but there's no way he can withstand the wear and tear of being an every down back all the way through.

Fortunately, he won't have to be, as junior Dennis Johnson returns from his own injury early last season.  DJ is a great kickoff returner, but now will get a likely ten plus carries per game too.  Surely he's excited about the chance to be even more involved on offense.

Freshman Kody Walker is inexperienced, but looks confident so far in practice.  He's got a dart to his step, and Petrino will have no qualms about giving him a shot early now.

The young tackles will have to find their groove in a hurry, to buy time for the offense to make plays down the field.

Obviously the spotlight now shines even brighter on junior quarterback Tyler Wilson, as if there was ever any evading it in the first place.  Tyler will have to be sharper earlier with less of a sure thing behind him.  He must find his quartet of gamebreaking wideouts---Greg Childs, Joe Adams, Jarius Wright and Cobi Hamilton---whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Another positive spin on a bad situation is the fact the injury happened during fall practice, and not during the course of the season when there is little time to get new personnel into the mix.  Make no mistake, Petrino and his staff will use every inch of August to adjust the playbook as much as they can.  They will have to get even more creative offensively, and Petrino will probably secretly relish the challenge, as much as one can after watching his stud tailback suffer a devastating injury.

Even with the loss of Davis, the 2011 University of Arkansas football team remains deep and highly talented.  It will be harder to close out games without a go-to clock grinder, but I still believe they have a realistic shot of getting to a BCS game for the second straight year.

But the margin for error just got a whole lot smaller.  And there's definitely no time to be wasted sitting around bemoaning a dream that could have been.  The reality of this season can still be sweet.

You have to believe Petrino will find ways to persevere, and so will the rest of these Razorbacks.

They must take a tragic turn and find a way to make it make them stronger.

That's the nature of life in the SEC.  There's no other choice.

-JAB