1 You see a lot of acclaimed high school quarterbacks who don't make it at the college level. Given your run of success with QBs, what is the secret to evaluating these guys?
PETRINO: The first thing we try to do is start with their leadership abilities and their competitiveness. I really do believe that if you're special in those two areas, you can work with the ability and put an offense together for them.
2 Last year your team won and lost a few close games. How do you feel like that's going to prepare you for the season as far as overcoming adversity?
PETRINO: When we played at Alabama last year, we did not execute and play as well as we would like, as well as we're used to playing. I think it really did come down to the fact deep down we didn't believe we could win the game. We made a huge step forward when we went to Florida and executed and played very well.
3 There have been a lot of comparisons made between the expectations for Arkansas this year and for Ole Miss last year. Have you used Ole Miss as an example with your players of how to handle or not handle expectations?
PETRINO: No, not at all. We always try to worry about ourselves. I like the high expectations. I think that's why you're in the profession. You want to have people think you're going to be good.
4 What went behind the decision to put Ryan Mallett on the press guide cover? Was that part of the deal with him coming back?
PETRINO: The number one thing I wanted to make sure we did with the cover was not have me on it. Ryan is much better looking. He's certainly a guy we feel like has an opportunity to lead our football team.
5 You're the only one who has a bye after playing Alabama instead of right before. How much of an advantage is it having a bye before playing an opponent?
PETRINO: We messed that up, didn't we? It's an advantage to be able to spend that time in game-planning and freshening your team up. The good thing about the bye is that you get a couple days away from everybody as a student-athlete.