Hogs living right
Alabama kicker blunders; Arkansas survives in 2 OTs
This article originally appeared in the Sept. 24, 2006, edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas couldn’t win a close game last season. Now the Razorbacks can’t lose one.
“The football gods are smiling down on us,” Arkansas senior guard Stephen Parker said after the Razorbacks beat Alabama 24-23 in double overtime Saturday. “It’s a new year and everyone’s embracing it.
“As a lineman, I don’t think a game should be decided by kickers. But we’ll take it.”
Arkansas (3-1, 2-0 SEC) won its second consecutive game with the help of missed kicks by the opponent after hanging on to beat Vanderbilt 21-19 last week.
Leigh Tiffin, Alabama’s walk-on freshman place-kicker, came into Saturday’s game 7 of 9 on field-goal attempts, but struggled mightily against Arkansas.
Tiffin missed a 30-yard attempt with 3:06 left in regulation and the game tied 17-17, missed a 37yard attempt in the first overtime and missed an extra point in the second overtime after Alabama (3-1, 1-1) took a 23-17 lead on John Parker Wilson’s 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Nick Walker.
Arkansas then won when freshmen Mitch Mustain and Ben Cleveland — who were teammates at Springdale High School — connected on an 11-yard touchdown pass on third down and Jeremy Davis hit the extra point.
Earlier in the game, Davis missed an extra point.
“I don’t know that much about kickers. I can’t figure them out,” Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt said. “I’m just glad [Tiffin] missed when he missed.
“I feel bad for him, but I felt real bad when we missed our extra point, too. I’m just glad Jeremy Davis came back when we had to have it and won the game.”
It was Arkansas’ first noteworthy victory at Razorback Stadium in two years, since beating Alabama 27-10 in 2004.
Arkansas had been 7-11 in SEC games in Fayetteville since 2000, including 0-3 last season, but that seemed forgotten Saturday as the crowd of 74,687 stayed long afterward to celebrate, sing the fight song with the Razorbacks and call the Hogs.
“We needed to win this one, especially at home,” Nutt said. “Our fans deserved a win like this.”
Last season, Arkansas was 0-4 in games decided by a combined 13 points, losing to Vanderbilt and South Carolina by four points each, losing to Georgia by three and losing to LSU by two.
It looked like the Razorbacks might lose another close one at Vanderbilt last Saturday, but a 48-yard field goal attempt by Bryant Hahnfeldt fell short.
Now Arkansas has won back-to-back SEC games by a combined three points.
“It feels like we finally have luck on our side,” said Arkansas junior defensive end Jamaal Anderson, who had two sacks Saturday. “We just couldn’t close out those close games last year, but now we’ve turned it around.”
Arkansas twice overcame Alabama leads and got its first turnover of the season when senior safety Randy Kelly returned a fumble by Wilson 39 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.
“I was really proud of our team because they never gave up,” Nutt said. “They could have let go of the rope five or six different times, and they never did.”
Mustain threw three interceptions, including one in the first overtime.
Nutt credited Alabama defensive coordinator Joe Kines for keeping Mustain off-balance with a variety of blitzes and coverages. But the Crimson Tide couldn’t stop Mustain on the Razorbacks’ final offensive play.
“It hurts right now all the way down to your toes,” said Kines, the former Arkansas defensive coordinator and interim head coach.
“As bad as Mitch played, I loved the look in his eyes, because he’s a real winner,” Nutt said. “You just felt like he was going to make something happen.
“You leave him in the game and he makes a play at the end.”
Alabama Coach Mike Shula looked dazed after Davis’ game-winning extra point.
“Obviously, it’s a heartbreaking loss, one that’s tough to swallow, one where a lot of things happened every quarter, good and bad,” Shula said. “Your heart breaks for these kids.
“But you’ve got to gather yourself, gather your team, and move on.”
Nutt got plenty of experience doing that the previous two seasons, when the Razorbacks finished 5-6 and 4-7, but now Arkansas has started 2-0 in SEC play for the first time since 1998.
“I really think we can take off now,” Nutt said. “This gives you the kind of confidence that you need.”