Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- In no particular order, this is what I learned during my time with the Hogs:

* Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino really likes this freshman class. In fact, another one like it next February, and he thinks the Hogs will be well on their way to competing with anybody in the Western Division.

* Before it's all said and done, three or four freshmen could end up starting or playing a lot of snaps on defense. Linebackers Khiry Battle, Jelani Smith and Tenarius Wright will all get a shot, and safety Elton Ford is poised to be an opening-game starter.

* Receiver is another position where freshmen will play extensively for the Hogs this season. Jarius Wright will also get a chance on returns. Petrino wants to get the ball in his hands.

* If freshman tailback De'Anthony Curtis will get over the injury bug, he'll play a key role this season.

* Even Petrino admits that everybody buying into the way he likes to do things is an ongoing process. And along those lines, the veteran players say there's no comparison in the intensity of practice under Petrino and what it was like under Houston Nutt. Junior defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard said: "He's all business. He expects you to come out every day and give your best and be competitive and play tough. But as a player, that's what you want. That's how life is. Nobody's going to take it easy on you." Senior quarterback Casey Dick added: "Our practices are a lot faster paced and everybody's in better shape. He's here to be your football coach. You don't want a friend as your football coach. You want somebody who's going to push you and make you better and make the team better at the same time. He's done that since he's been here."

* Petrino wouldn't trade the middle of his offensive line for anybody else's in the conference. That interior is anchored by senior center Jonathan Luigs, last year's Remington Trophy winner as the nation's most outstanding center. By the way, Luigs is one of those guys who was only lightly recruited coming out of high school. He played in a spread offense in high school in Little Rock and was relegated to pass protecting most of the time. "That's pretty much all we did, so people probably wondered if I could run block," said Luigs, who's proven emphatically the last couple of years that he can and then some while clearing holes for Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Now, he gets to go back to his roots, as Petrino loves to throw the ball. "I think you're going to see that we're able to do both," Luigs said.

* For all the talk about how much Petrino loves to throw the ball, his philosophy revolves around being balanced. In the last 10 years of his college coaching career (either as a coordinator or head coach), Petrino's offenses have featured 70 100-yard rushers and 41 300-yard passers.

* Dick, after passing for 1,695 yards, 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last season, is really starting to settle into Petrino's offense. Despite so many freshmen playing, Dick said the Hogs won't hold back. "We have a lot of different run checks and pass checks," Dick said. "If we see something, we're going to attack it and are not going to play cautiously at all."

* So there you have it from Fayetteville, where the Petrino era at Arkansas starts officially in a little more than a week when the Hogs face Western Illinois in the season opener. I think the Hogs will struggle to get back to a bowl game for a third straight year. Youth on defense and a killer schedule will be their undoing, but I'm predicting right now that they pull off at least one upset. And in 2009, I think Petrino gets this club back to a bowl game.

* My thanks to all the fine folks at Arkansas for making my stay an enjoyable one ... and an educational one. Got to see the house just off campus where Bill and Hillary Clinton were married (all right you mean-spirited conservatives, no jokes!) and dined at Doe's Eat Place. There are no seats at the bar, only saddles, and the steaks are scrumptious.

* I'll be stopping by Vanderbilt on Thursday to catch up with Bobby Johnson and the Commodores, who open their season a week from now when they travel to Miami (Ohio) for a Thursday night game to be televised by ESPNU. My first question: Bobby, who's going to be your quarterback?