FAYETTEVILLE - Houston Nutt was on vacation Thursday when he received a phone call with the bad news.

Nutt admitted he was caught off-guard when told that Matt Jones, his former star quarterback at Arkansas, had been arrested on a felony drug charge.

"Oh shocked, very surprised, very saddened," said Nutt, who became Ole Miss' coach in late November after a tumultuous 10-year run at Arkansas. "I wouldn't expect it."

At first, former Arkansas linebacker Tony Bua thought someone was playing a cruel practical joke on him Thursday morning when he heard about Jones' arrest. But then he realized that his friend had in fact been arrested for possession of cocaine. The news caused Bua to feel sick to his stomach.

"This is way out of character for Matt. I mean, Matt is a good Christian boy who, when he was here at the University of Arkansas, all he worried about was football and doing the right things," said Bua, who runs a sports training facility in Rogers.

"It's just a bad situation, it happened and I'm sure it was a one-time deal. I really don't know what to say."

It didn't take long for word of Jones' arrest on felony possession of cocaine to spread throughout the state. Internet message boards were flooded with comments about the former Arkansas quarterback, and his sudden fall from grace became a hot topic on sports talk radio shows.

Several of Jones' former teammates were stunned by the news that he had been arrested after Fayetteville police officers said they observed him using a credit card to cut up cocaine in a parking lot behind Dickson Street.

Former Arkansas tight end Jared Hicks, who was sitting in an SUV with Jones, was booked on a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.

"It's bad to hear about one of your brothers, one of your former teammates, one of the guys you played with and one of the guys you came in with (get into trouble)," said former Arkansas running back De'Arrius Howard, who owns a barbecue restaurant and construction company in West Memphis.

"The thing is, it's a bad situation for the whole university. When you think about the great players and great games of Arkansas football, you have to bring up Matt's name."

Jones is still popular in the state nearly four years after he played his final game for the Razorbacks. His No. 18 Jaguars jersey is sold in local sports stores. And Arkansas fans still talk about his seven-overtime heroics at Ole Miss in 2001, the "Miracle on Markham" last-second win against LSU in 2002 and his surprising win at Texas in 2003.

Jones was a dual threat for the Razorbacks from 2001-04, running Nutt's offense and turning broken plays into unexpected touchdowns. But the quarterback and coach haven't spoken much since Jones was drafted in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

"Really the first year or so (after he left) we stayed in pretty good contact," Nutt said. "This past year we haven't for whatever reason."

Bua said he remains friends with Jones, and the two still keep in touch and hang out together when Jones is back in Arkansas.

"If he ever needed anything, I would help him," Bua said. "And if I ever needed anything, he would help me."

After Thursday's arrest, Jones could use a friend.