Anatomy Of A Gators-Hogs Football Game
Last updated Sunday, October 5, 2008 10:56 PM CDT in Columns
By Grant Hall
SPECIAL TO THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE -- Things you notice on a Florida-Arkansas football Saturday:
At 10 a.m., the rain stops.
At 10:10, an Arkansas band director assures the band, on the grass practice field south of Reynolds Razorback Stadium, “If Ole Miss can do it, we can do it!” At which point, band members sing the school fight song. Fans walking by join in, as some peer through the black tarp.
At 10:12, Arkansas fan Risha Stepp, of Paris, whose father is a Florida fan, explains that her young daughter, Shira, wears an Arkansas cheerleading outfit in the first half and a Florida cheerleading outfit in the second half. Except this day, they left the Florida outfit at home. So Shira will wear Arkansas red all day.
At 10:14, former Arkansas player and coach Harold Horton says, “It’s going to turn into a good (weather) day, isn’t it!”
At 10:15, former Hogs lineman Jerry (Moose) Mazzanti walks up to the west side of the stadium.
At 10:20, former Fayetteville High quarterback Bunky Lee chows down while tailgating in a north-end scholarship lot that still has lots of room for cars.
A parking lot attendant says to two Florida fans, “Gentlemen, I hope you enjoy your stay.” They seem appreciative, if a bit stunned.
On the east side at 10:25, a Florida fan tells an Arkansas fan that tailgating in Gainesville is a much bigger deal. The UA fan assures him, “It’s usually better than this here. It was raining today, and our team has been losing.”
Hundreds of fans try to sell extra tickets, right up to 11:30. Few succeed.
The game starts and Hogs quarterback Casey Dick gets sacked on an early fourth-and-four play in Gators’ territory, after receiver Joe Adams gives ground on a third-down reception.
After 11 minutes of the first quarter, each team has 64 total yards.
On a fourth-and-seven, a D.J. Williams catch for Arkansas comes up a yard or two short of the first-down marker.
A two-year-old tot wearing an Indiana Jones hat and shirt arrives at the game, and makes everyone in his section smile.
Dick gets an ovation for throwing a pass “to Grandma,” well out of bounds.
Jeremy Davis punts to the Florida 1-yard line with 11:38 left in the second quarter. Hog defenders try to get fans on their feet. Some oblige, more don’t. Tim Tebow gets the Gators out of the hole.
When Michael Smith, otherwise playing a splendid game, drops a punt at the UA 16, the Hogs’ balloon deflates. “Thou shalt not let the ball hit the ground,” Frank Broyles used to preach.
Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino does a good job of saving all three timeouts, but the Hogs don’t score late in the half as Dick tosses an interception into traffic.
At halftime, Arkansas leads 238-181 in total yards but trails 14-0. One team knows how to win, the other doesn’t yet.
After the UA band plays a Halloween medley and dances to Michael Jackson’s 1983 “Thriller,” the teams return to loosen up. Tebow and his receivers practice specific end zone routes. Tebow then jumps as high as he can from a squatting position, runs full speed and cuts along the way. He’s ready, as he promised after the Ole Miss debacle.
In the third quarter, Arkansas continues to move the pocket for Dick, who directs an impressive touchdown drive. Adams makes his second nice catch of the day, and Smith scores as if shot out of a cannon. It’s 17-7, and feeling like a game.
Tebow counters with a scoring pass to Percy Harvin (whom the PA man has called “Percy”) to make it 24-7 with 11:58 left, moving many fans to depart. Arkansas battles back for a field goal try by Shay Haddock, but it’s blocked with 7:24 to go and more fans leave.
Florida sweetens the final score with two long touchdown runs, reminding Arkansas that no team can expect to succeed if it can’t stop the run. Auburn, for all of its quarterbacking problems this season, still has running back Ben Tate, who rushed for 108 yards in Auburn’s first loss to Vanderbilt since 1955. That should command Arkansas’ attention in a week when yet another hopping-mad opponent prepares for the Razorbacks. Petrino, after congratulating Florida coach Urban Meyer, runs to the locker room, leaving two state troopers and UA Associate Athletic Director Kevin Trainor in his wake. At the time, Petrino is perhaps already thinking about Auburn, a team he doesn’t particularly like.
About this columnist
Grant Hall is a Morning News freelance writer. His column appears each Monday and Thursday.
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