THE BIG STORY

Darren McFadden and Felix Jones are arguably the nation’s top running back tandem, so it’s only fitting that they dressed up for Halloween as two cartoon characters known for being pals.

McFadden arrived Wednesday afternoon at the University of Arkansas student union looking like Fred Flintstone in a black wig, blue tie and leopard-print outfit. As usual, Jones played McFadden’s sidekick. In this case, he dressed up as Barney Rubble and walked around campus in a yellow wig and brown ensemble looking like Fred Flintstone’s prehistoric friend.

“I like (the) Mario Brothers myself, but The Flintstones worked,” Jones told the Northwest Arkansas Times, smiling as he posed for pictures with McFadden. Fans voted online to determine what the two running backs should go as for Halloween.

More than 4,000 votes were submitted, and some of the other options included McFadden and Jones dressing up as the Blues Brothers or Sonny and Cher.

“I think they were trying to get me to be Cher,” McFadden said. “They said I had legs like her.” McFadden, Arkansas’ all-time leading rusher and a Heisman Trophy candidate, posed for pictures with students and strutted around like a more muscular Fred Flintstone with tattoos and even yelled “Yabba Dabba Doo!”

The Halloween costumes McFadden and Jones wore Wednesday will be auctioned off on Hogwired.com, Arkansas’ official athletic Web site. The proceeds will go to Boys & Girls Clubs in McFadden’s hometown of Little Rock and Jones’ hometown of Tulsa.

A look at the league:

ALABAMA

Alabama athletics director Mal Moore and compliance director Chris King flew to Indianapolis on Wednesday afternoon to consult briefly with NCAA officials and update them on the school’s in-house investigation on the textbook controversy. There was no official word — positive or negative — on the suspensions for five football players or closure to the school’s inquiry. UA’s investigation into textbook acquisitions for all athletes is still ongoing, according to media relations director Doug Walker. “The purpose of the trip was to state where we are in the inquiry,” Walker said. No announcement has been made on any improprieties uncovered for athletes beyond the five football players, who were suspended the night before the Oct. 20 game against Tennessee for impermissible receipt of textbooks. As each day passes, it looks more doubtful that Antoine Caldwell, Glen Coffee, Marlon Davis, Marquis Johnson and Chris Rogers will be permitted to play Saturday against LSU. Each again held reserve roles during Wednesday’s practice. Asked if Alabama will receive an answer on their status before facing LSU, Moore answered, “What we went up there for was nothing about Saturday’s game.” Moore referred additional questions to Walker. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban pleaded ignorance to the matter again Wednesday, saying, “We’re not trying to keep anything from anybody, but we really don’t know.” “That’s not something I’m good at,” Saban said. “I don’t think I should be the spokesperson for all that stuff anyway.

ARKANSAS

Arkansas receiver Marcus Monk said he has been patient in his comeback from two arthroscopic knee surgeries since August. “It’s a building process,” Monk said. “I’m not going to be the same overnight. But I’m going to go out there and give it my all. If I catch eight or nine balls, I catch eight or nine balls. If I don’t catch any, I don’t catch any. I’m not going to be down. Like I told my teammates, ‘I’m just happy I can run.’” When Arkansas (5-3, 1-3 in Southeastern Conference) kicks off the final month of the season against No. 23 South Carolina (6-3, 3-3) in Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Saturday night, Monk knows this much: He will be in uniform, on the field and running routes for the second straight game. “I’m just being patient,” Monk said. “I’m just going to try to keep getting better every week. Keep doing more. That’s the plan.”

AUBURN

Backup quarterback Kodi Burns has been used mostly as a running QB this year. That could change this week when Auburn plays Tennessee Tech.Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville has said Cox will start, but young players like Burns could see action quickly if Auburn puts points on the board. “We’re going to do some things to see what (Burns) can do, what he can handle,” Tuberville said. “He’s had a lot of practice time with a little playing time.” Burns entered the game in relief of Cox in Auburn’s loss to Mississippi State in Week 3. He started the following week against New Mexico State. But Cox returned in that game, played well and hasn’t relinquished the job since. Tuberville defended the decision to play Burns rather than give him a redshirt and preserve a year of eligibility: “A lot of people would say, ‘Why did you play him?’ But if you look six weeks ago, you know the reason why. “We wouldn’t change. I think it’s given him a little confidence. He will be trying to get the job next year after Brandon is gone. It will give us a little idea of what he can do and what pressure he can handle.”

FLORIDA

If Florida wants to make things easier on itself against the Commodores the key will be stopping one of the conference’s deadliest weapons: junior receiver Earl Bennett. Bennett has scorched UF for 19 receptions for 232 yards and three touchdowns in his last two meetings with the Gators. Stopping Bennett isn’t easy, but it will be even harder for a defense that is giving up 251.63 passing yards a game – good enough for 87th nationally. “He just makes plays,” Florida coach Urban Meyer said. “He’s fast, got good hands, he’s a good-sized receiver and they do a lot of stuff with him.” To take the pressure off of UF’s ailing secondary, Meyer must find a way to generate a decent pass rush from his depleted defensive line. Desperation has set in as Meyer is working freshman backup center Mike Pouncey out at defensive tackle. “He played some defensive tackle today,” Meyer said. “There’s a chance he’ll play some of that in the game. His effort level’s phenomenal, so he’s doing good. Plus, he’s a big body.”

GEORGIA

Georgia receiver Sean Bailey says he has a partial meniscus tear in his left knee but plans to put off surgery and finish off his last year as a Bulldog. “It being my senior season I don’t want to go out and get surgery and miss it,” said Bailey, who plans to play Saturday against Troy. “I’m going to play and put it in the Lord’s hands. If it’s meant for me to make it through the season, I will. If not, I’ll get the surgery.” Bailey ran routes on Wednesday and said the knee felt good. Wide receivers coach John Eason said Bailey will start Saturday if he can practice today. “If I play, it’s not going to do anything worse,” said Bailey, who hurt the knee early against Florida and finished with a team-high three catches for 44 yards. “I’m going to play through it and just get the surgery after the season.” Bailey, who leads the Bulldogs with 22 catches for 334 yards and two touchdowns, has aspirations to play in the NFL. Senior all-star games and the NFL combine follow in the weeks after the season. “That’s the tricky situation and the dilemma in deciding,” said Bailey. Bailey will need surgery but does not know if it will be arthroscopic, which would keep him out two weeks, or major surgery, which would put him for three or four months.

KENTUCKY

Kentucky has assured itself of a second straight bowl bid, something that was last done in 1998 and 1999 under Hal Mumme. The success has made Brooks’ life a lot easier, since his job appeared on life support at mid-season last year. But Brooks has been down a rocky coaching road before at Oregon where he went from 5-6 one year to 9-4 and the Rose Bowl the next season in 1994, his final year at the school before he jumped at the chance to become a head coach with the St. Louis Rams. Brooks recalled all the “Ditch Rich” bumper stickers and T-shirts in Oregon. “My last year at Oregon in 1994, we lost at Hawaii early in the year and we came home to play Iowa,” Brooks said. “There were `Ditch Rich’ T-shirts being sold in the (stadium) parking lot. At the end of the year when we won the first outright Pa 10 title in Oregon history, I took the Rams’ job and Oregon named the field after me. That’s how quickly it can change.”

LSU

LSU backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux will not make the trip to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for Saturday’s game against Alabama in light of his role in a bar fight at the Varsity last week, but he will return to the team next week and practice for the next game against Louisiana Tech. “Ryan will be back and prepare for the remainder of the season,” LSU coach Les Miles said Wednesday night after practice. “There will be no other discipline.” The news was not as good for linebacker Derrick Odom, who was arrested for the third time in recent months Wednesday when Baton Rouge Police charged him with simple criminal damage to property after a surveillance video showed him damaging a car near the Varsity. Miles said Odom, a redshirt freshman from Jackson, Miss., is no longer on the team. Odom was arrested twice previously on similar misdemeanor charges for damaging two other cars in separate incidents and threatening an LSU student and his father and damaging that student’s vehicle and apartment door. . .Defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey practiced for the third straight day Wednesday after missing all of last week with a sprained right knee. “Everyone besides Dorsey is ready to play,” Miles said. “Dorsey has a lesser chance to step on the field, but I’m still very optimistic about him playing.” Backup offensive guard Will Arnold, who has not played since the second game of the season, continued to practice and Miles said he could play in a relief role.

OLE MISS

Sophomore kicker Joshua Shene has struggled through much of this season, missing five field goal attempts and an extra point through the first eight games. At least part of Shene’s problem was a nagging groin injury that kept him from kicking the ball with his normal confidence. But slowly the injury has healed and Shene told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger he was nearly back to full strength during Saturday’s 17-3 loss to Auburn. His improved health showed when he booted a 51-yard field goal at the end of the first half, giving the Rebels their only points of the game. He actually first made a 41-yard field goal, but a holding call moved the kick back 10 yards. Shene had no problems from 51 yards out, either. “I think it helped me a lot with my confidence,” Shene said. “I was really hoping I’d have something like that happen (against Auburn.)”

MISS. STATE

Avery Hannibal, this week’s Southeastern Conference defensive player of the week, has given State coach Sylvester Croom more than he expected in his first year as a full-time defensive end. He’s a hard worker. Probably the strongest guy on the team. Then, this: “If any one guy identifies what I want our program to be about, it would probably be him,” Croom told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. Strong praise from the fourth-year Mississippi State coach, who talks publicly about character and hard work as much as bench presses and 40 times. For Hannibal to get such a nod, well, even he was honored. “Wow,” Hannibal said a few moments later, his eyes widening. “Man, that’s - man.” Hannibal eventually said he was speechless, and it’s hard to blame him. A fifth-year senior from LaGrange, Ga., Hannibal has more often found himself walking by teammates who were getting interviewed than finding the spotlight himself.

SOUTH CAROLINA

His star-crossed career nearing an end, Blake Mitchell has a few more games to leave a lasting impression on the South Carolina football team. Still, the fifth-year senior thinks the best way to succeed is by forgetting the high stakes involved. “I just feel like I really have nothing to lose,” Mitchell said after Wednesday’s practice. “Just go out there and play and have fun, and play well for my team, for my teammates and try my best to put ourselves in position to win.” Mitchell is slated to return to the starting lineup on Saturday at Arkansas, after yielding to freshman Chris Smelley the previous four games. Mitchell re-earned the job with his performance at Tennessee, passing for 290 yards and nearly leading USC to a comeback win. The improved play had a lot to do with his attitude, according to Mitchell. The same thing happened last year when he returned from a mid-season benching to lead South Carolina past Arkansas, to a near-win at Florida, then three wins to finish the season. “When I can go out there and just play and let it go, and not worry about anything, that’s when I play my best,” Mitchell said. “That’s what I did last week, just pretty much went out there with nothing to lose, and just played as hard as I could, and tried to make as few mistakes as possible.”

TENNESSEE

Vols’ quarterback Erik Ainge said UT’s players are benefiting from the recent change in weekly practice schedules. Instead of practicing on Monday, UT moved its first practice of the week to Sunday. That gives UT’s players a weekday off, but more importantly gives coaches more time to thoroughly evaluate upcoming opponents. “Usually when we have practice on Tuesday,” Ainge said, referring to the old system, “they’re (coaches are) still scrounging. They kind of have a feel for the other team, but not really.” Ainge said part of Wednesday’s practice used to be dedicated to correcting mistakes from Tuesday. Now, that’s not the case. “Now, they can really watch (opposing game tape) on Monday,” Ainge said. “I think it helps us out.”

VANDERBILT

Vanderbilt and Florida each are averaging 25.1 yards per return this season. Florida’s Brandon James is second in the SEC with a 29.3-yard average, while Vanderbilt’s D.J. Moore is third at 28.6. The increased production — the Commodores averaged 17.9 yards per kickoff return last season — is reflective of an across-the-board improvement in the team’s special teams play this fall. It’s a trend that will need to continue this weekend as the team travels to Florida. A year ago, the Gators blocked a first-quarter punt and covered an attempted onside kick by the hosts in a 25-19 decision. “I think just about everything is much better and much more consistent,” Vanderbilt Coach Bobby Johnson said.