Razorbacks climb to 3-0 in SEC
Last updated Saturday, October 7, 2006 10:20 PM CDT in Columns
By Harry King
The Morning News
AUBURN, Ala. — On the spot in a big game, the Southeastern Conference team coached by the Arkansas native disintegrated.
Fill in the blanks with Auburn and Tommy Tuberville. With Arkansas and Houston Nutt on the other side of the field, who would have thunk it?
The 27-10 final is stunning stuff. More incomprehensible, Arkansas was better than Auburn on this day.
Looking ahead at the Arkansas schedule, USC was No. 1 on my list of can’t win and Auburn was No. 2. All summer and throughout September, nothing happened to change my mind.
On the record, I said the only way the Razorbacks could win was if Auburn helped. Wrong. A 17-point favorite, the Tigers contributed nothing to the Razorback cause unless you count being unable to protect slow-moving passer Brandon Cox. And, really, that’s more about the Arkansas rush that produced five sacks, six if you count an 11-yard loss on a halfback pass.
“They beat us to the punch on both sides of the line of scrimmage,” Tuberville said.
The fact that Tuberville was on the short end of the score had to be doubly delicious for Nutt, something personal worth savoring even if etiquette requires that he keep his mouth shut.
When Nutt’s recent record is brought into question, Nutt detractors regularly note that Nutt and Tuberville were the finalists to succeed Danny Ford after the 1997 season and that the Little Rock man got the nod over the Camden guy. With glee, they cite Auburn’s success since Tuberville arrived in 1999 and the lack of much wow at Arkansas since Nutt’s first year in 1998.
Two straight losing seasons and three straight Saturday struggles solidified and strengthened the anti forces. Considering that background, the Razorbacks have never won a bigger game under Nutt than they did on Saturday.
After all, Auburn was No. 2 in the country and had won 19 of its previous 20 SEC regular-season games. More importantly, the outcome leaves the Razorbacks alone atop the Western Division standings. They are 3-0 in the league for the first time since 1998 and ticketed for their first appearance in the Top 25 since the middle of 2003.
Arkansas’ offense took the field for the last time with 2:21 to play and some of the players turned to the corner of the stadium, sections 35-36, to acknowledge the 2,000 or so fans clad in red-and-white. They responded with an enthusiastic “Go Hogs Go” while the few fans in orange sat on their hands and wondered what had happened to their dreams of a national championship.
When it was over, the Razorbacks exited through a tunnel under their fans and they took their time doing it. Some leaned over the chest-high hedge to slap hands with the willing.
Nutt was in the stands somewhere, celebrating. Criticized for climbing the railing and leading the band after the double overtime victory over Alabama, you won’t hear a peep about this display.
Even the critics of the Arkansas offense will be hard-pressed to rip the play-calling. Nitpicking, they could go for the fact that the Razorbacks snapped the ball 32 times in the second half and that 30 of them were running plays. They will have to look long and hard to find any compatriots considering the fact that the Razorbacks scored the only 10 points of the second half.
Tuberville said it — the running game was the difference. Arkansas could run and did; Auburn couldn’t and the numbers are telling. Arkansas was 45 for 279, including a trick play for 28, and Auburn was 31 for 60. Such lack of production put the game on the left arm of Cox, who threw 29 times, 19 more than Arkansas’ Mitch Mustain.
Below average against Alabama two weeks ago, Mustain completed seven, same as he did when he lofted 22 vs. the Crimson Tide.
Mostly a decoy through four games, Reggie Fish contributed the 28-yard run that set up Felix Jones’ 1-yard run for 24-10. Facetiously described as the No. 2 jockey in Texas when he was recruited, the 5-foot-7 Fish was crouching behind the line when Mustain slipped him the ball. He reached the 6.
It was a nice touch that the defense made plays on consecutive series at the same end of the field where orange and black flags proclaim Auburn’s perfect seasons of 1957, 1993, and 2004, and a blue-and-white flag notes five SEC division championships since 1997.
Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.
About this columnist
The dean of Arkansas sports writers, Harry King updates his column five days per week with the latest on the Razorbacks. A 35-year veteran of The Associated Press, King joined the Arkansas News Bureau in May of 2002. He's covered the Razorbacks since the Arkansas-Texas game dubbed the Big Shootout in 1969.
Reader Comments (No comments posted.)
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsibility of their authors. The Morning News does not review comments before their publication, nor do we guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by our comment policy. If you see a comment that violates our policy, please notify the web editor.
Not already registered?
