Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
‘J.J. caught it’
Controversial late TD stemmed the Tide
WHY THE GAME MATTERS Arkansas beat Alabama for the first time in six tries and the victory at Tuscaloosa was critical to the Razorbacks winning the SEC West title.
FAYETTEVILLE — J.J. Meadors had 134 career receptions for the Arkansas Razorbacks in 1992-1995, but one stands out.
Way, way out.
“It’s great to still be remembered for a big play I made against Alabama more than 20 years ago,” said Meadors, who co-owns and operates Salt County Sports Performance in Bryant. “Not many days go by that someone doesn’t bring up the catch.”
Meadors made a sliding catch in the end zone of a pass from Barry Lunney Jr. on fourth-and-goal from the Alabama 3 with six seconds left to lift the Razorbacks to a 20-19 victory over Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The victory on Sept. 16, 1995, marked the first time the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville had beaten Alabama in six tries.
“Alabama fans still get on to me and say we cheated,” said Danny Ford, who played for Bear Bryant at Alabama and was the Razorbacks’ coach in 1993-1997. “But no, we didn’t cheat. J.J. caught it.”
Alabama fans might insist Meadors trapped the ball, but Meadors and Lunney said it no question was a catch.
“It was such a different time because there were no Jumbotrons with replays being shown in the stadium,” Meadors said. “There was no instant replay review by the officials.
“I didn’t actually see the replay until we got back to Fayetteville later on that day. I can see why some people may have thought I trapped it, because it was thrown low, but I got down and got my hands under the ball.”
Lunney, now Arkansas’ tight ends coach, said it would still be ruled a touchdown with today’s technology.
“If there was instant replay, they wouldn’t have overturned that call, because he did get his hands underneath it,” Lunney said.
Meadors said it’s a good thing he’s 5-6.
“I think if I’d been an inch or two taller, we probably wouldn’t have won the game,” he said. “I’m not sure I could have gotten down low enough to make the catch.”
Lunney rolled to his left on the play and threw low.
“It was a terrible throw to be quite honest,” he said. “It was not one of my finer moments.
“He was pretty open. I was just trying to make sure I didn’t overthrow him. … You’re on the run, sprinting, and he wasn’t exactly a huge target.”
Meadors had no complaints.
“It wasn’t a great pass,” he said. “But it definitely was effective.”
Before the snap, Meadors went in motion to the slot and had the option to break inside or outside, depending on the coverage. When Alabama safety Cedric Samuels jumped to the inside, Meadors broke outside and was wide open.
“We were in the right set, the right protection, the right route,” Lunney said, crediting offensive coordinator Rockey Felker for his play call. “You could never cover that route with J.J.’s ability.”
But the catch only tied the score 19-19.
The Razorbacks still needed an extra point from placekicker Todd Latourette, who earlier in the fourth quarter wasn’t able to attempt a field goal because of a botched snap.
“Everybody was a little uptight about the extra point,” Lunney said. “That would have been a bad deal to end up being a tie.”
There were no miscues on the extra point and Latourette kicked the ball through the uprights.
“Alabama let us hang around,” Ford said.
The Crimson Tide led 1910, but Arkansas linebacker Mark Smith intercepted a Brian Burgdorf pass to set up a Latourette field goal to make it 19-13 with 6:10 left in the third quarter.
“The longer the game went, the more confident we got,” said Smith, who sells pharmaceuticals in his hometown of Webb City, Mo. “The defense was able to hold them down and we got just enough offense to win.”
Meadors said while everyone likes to focus on his last-second touchdown, it was a total team victory.
“I remember the defense played so stout in the second half,” he said. “They kept us in it.”
Ford recalled senior defensive end Marcus Adair having strong words for his teammates at the pregame meal.
“Different players were taking turns saying what we needed to do to win, and Marcus said, ‘Let’s quit talking about it and just go beat ‘em,’” Ford said. “He never said much, but he expressed himself that day. “That’s called leadership.” Arkansas caught a break on the play before Meadors’ touchdown when the officials failed to notice the Razorbacks had 12 men on the field. The officiating crew was suspended the next week by the SEC.
“Well, I think Alabama has probably gotten a few calls through the years,” Meadors said. “So we’ll take that one.”
Ford, a native of Gadsden, Ala., got emotional in the locker room after the game.
“That was the first time I ever saw Coach Ford cry,” said Arkansas receiver Anthony Lucas, now a high school assistant coach at Pulaski Academy. “He had tears of happiness.”
Alabama pounded Arkansas 43-3 on the Razorbacks’ previous trip to Tuscaloosa in 1993.
“They embarrassed us,” Ford said. “I didn’t want to go back down there and go through that again.”
Beating Alabama helped Arkansas win its first SEC West title.
“The first couple years we were in the SEC, any time we got in a situation like that, something bad happened,” Lunney said. “We just didn’t make the plays. We lost a lot of close games.
“Being able to make that play at Alabama in a crucial situation really catapulted us the rest of the way. We got to where we expected to make the plays to win.”
Arkansas dug out of a third-and-24 hole on its 29 to keep its game-winning drive going against the Crimson Tide.
Lunney hit running back Madre Hill for a 16-yard gain on third down, then on fourth-and-8 he found Lucas open along the sideline for a 31-yard gain. A pass to Meadors over the middle gave Arkansas first-and-goal at the Alabama 3.
Meadors said making two big catches on the decisive drive was especially sweet for him because earlier in the game he dropped a deep pass from Lunney.
“I can still remember coming back to the huddle and Barry telling me, ‘Don’t worry about it. We’ll make another play at the end,’ ” Meadors said. “I guess he knew what he was talking about.”
“Being able to make that play at Alabama in a crucial situation really catapulted us the rest of the way. We got to where we expected to make the plays to win.” — Arkansas quarterback Barry Lunney Jr.