Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Taking heat off
Cotton Bowl eve call put Nutt at ease
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas Razorbacks Coach Houston Nutt already was nervous about playing Texas in the Cotton Bowl.
As an Arkansas native and former Razorback, Nutt knew what playing — and beating — the Longhorns meant to the program and the state.
Now the Razorbacks were going to play their old Southwest Conference rival for the first time in eight seasons since the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville left the Southwest Conference for the SEC in 1992.
“I was nervous all week because it was my first time as a head coach playing Texas,” Nutt said. “My emotions were
WHY THE GAME MATTERS
Arkansas played old Southwest Conference rival Texas in a bowl game for the first time and pounded the Longhorns to end a seven-game losing streak in bowls.
running high.”
Then the night before the game, Nutt got a call from Frank Broyles, the Razorbacks’ legendary athletic director and former coach.
Nutt got even more nervous. He figured if Broyles called late at night, odds are the news wasn’t going to be good. But nothing was wrong. Broyles had called to offer some advice.
“I got on the phone and Coach said, ‘Houston, I want you to enjoy tomorrow,’” Nutt recalled. “He said, ‘I know you’ve been uptight all week. I know it’s a big game, but I want you to enjoy it. This is the Cotton Bowl.’
“I want to tell you something, it took it off of me. I wasn’t feeling the pressure anymore. It just eased the tension of everything. I really
appreciated that. Coach was so encouraging, and I think it made a difference for me.”
Nutt said Broyles’ call helped him get some sleep, which wasn’t easy with the game kicking off at 10 a.m.
“I woke up feeling refreshed,” Nutt said. ‘I said, ‘Let’s go out and have some fun.’ ”
The No. 24 Razorbacks and their fans had plenty of fun as Arkansas rolled to a 27-6 victory over the No. 14 Longhorns on Jan. 1, 2000.
The Razorbacks not only beat Texas but they also ended a seven-game losing streak in bowls.
It was Arkansas’ first bowl victory since beating Arizona State 18-17 in the 1985 Holiday Bowl on Kendall Trainor’s last-second field goal.
Arkansas’ defense was dominant. The Razorbacks sacked quarterbacks Major Applewhite — now the University of Houston’s coach — and Chris Simms a combined eight times for 64 yards in losses.
Simms, the son of former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms, came in to play after Applewhite suffered a knee injury.
“I got crushed,” Simms said after the game.
The sacks helped the Razorbacks hold the Longhorns to minus-27 rushing yards and 185 yards in total offense.
“You couldn’t have asked for anything to come out better,” Bobby Allen, the Razorbacks’ former assistant coach, said in a 2014 interview before Arkansas beat Texas 31-7 in the Texas Bowl. “Physically we were just getting off the ball and getting after them.”
Allen, Arkansas’ director of high school and NFL relations, worked as a co-defensive coordinator with Keith Burns during the 1999 season, but he took over play-calling duties for the Cotton Bowl because Burns had become Tulsa’s head coach.
“Bobby did such a great job having our guys ready to play and calling the defenses that day,” Nutt said. “Our defense played so fast and was so quick off the ball.”
Arkansas set the tone defensively on the second play when tackle D.J. Cooper sacked Applewhite for a 7-yard loss.
Cooper, voted by media as the Cotton Bowl’s defensive MVP, had two sacks and three tackles for losses totaling 12 yards. Six other Razorbacks had one sack: Chris Brooks, Chris Chalmers, Quinton Caver, Orlando Green, Jeremiah Harper and Harold Harris.
“Like anything defensively, you kind of get rolling and the kids were playing aggressive and playing with confidence,” Allen said. “We got a little blood in the water and it just kept going.”
Cedric Cobbs, Arkansas’ freshman running back, was voted the game’s offensive MVP. He rushed 15 times for 98 yards and a touchdown and caught a 30-yard touchdown pass.
“Cedric didn’t look like a freshman, I can tell you that,” Nutt said. “He was a phenomenal athlete and our offensive line did such a great job blocking for him.”
Cobbs’ touchdown catch from Clint Stoerner — which put Arkansas ahead to stay 10-3 in the third quarter — was set up by a third-and-12 pass from the Razorbacks 1 from Stoerner to Anthony Lucas.
“I said, ‘ We’re throwing it deep,’ and I think it goes back to Coach Broyles’ phone call,” Nutt said. “I was throwing caution to the wind right there.”
Nutt called for a stop-andgo with Lucas faking like he was running a short route, then going deep.
“I was surprised when Coach called that play, but I certainly wasn’t against it,” Lucas said with a laugh. “I was
happy about it, because I felt like I could beat my guy.”
Lucas caught Stoerner’s pass for a 47-yard gain to the Arkansas 48.
“The offensive line did a great job of giving Clint time, and I made the guy bite on the first move,” Lucas said. “We were in a bad spot at the time backed up against our end zone and that play turned the whole game around.”
Nutt said he had confidence the pass would catch Texas by surprise.
“Clint threw a perfect go route and Anthony was one of the best deep-ball catchers in America,” Nutt said. “To this day I’ve never seen a guy that can catch a deep ball in a crowd better than Anthony Lucas.”
After Arkansas completed the 97-yard touchdown drive, Texas responded by moving to the Razorbacks 1, where the Longhorns had a firstand-goal.
Jamel Harris tackled Chris Robertson for no gain on a rushing attempt. Kennedy tackled Chad Stevens at the 1 after he caught a pass from Applewhite. Caver and Jamel Harris then tackled Chris Peterson for a 5-yard loss on a toss play.
The Longhorns had to settle for a field goal to make it 10-6.
“If you’re on the 1-yard line and can’t score a touchdown, you’re probably not going to win the game,” Texas Coach Mack Brown said after the game. “It was a bad day at the ranch.
“Arkansas played with a lot of energy and tenacity on defense, and I thought that was the biggest part of the game.”
The Razorbacks outscored the Longhorns 17- 0 in the fourth quarter — including touchdown runs by Cobbs and Michael Jenkins — to turn the game into a rout.
As Arkansas fans celebrated in the stands, the Longhorns got the ball with 2:08 left and drove to the Razorbacks 7, where Simms threw four incompletions.
“When Texas had that last drive of the game, we were all starting to relax a little bit,” Allen said. “Then a player — I can’t remember exactly who it was — said, ‘Coach, don’t let up now. Don’t let them in the end zone.’
“That’s how locked in our players were and how much the game meant to them.”
Lucas, who was from Tallulah, La., said he understood how much the Texas rivalry meant to the Arkansas fans after the Cotton Bowl matchup was set.
“Being from Louisiana, I really didn’t understand the Arkansas-Texas rivalry at first,” said Lucas, who lives in Little Rock and is an assistant coach at Pulaski Academy. “But then I started reading up on the history.
“So my feeling going into the game was, ‘If we don’t beat Texas and win this Cotton Bowl, I don’t think our fans are going to let us back in the state.’
“We knew we had to beat them.”