‘Close but no cigar’ for Razorback teams

FAYETTEVILLE — For the University of Arkansas it became the Razorbacks’ football-basketball weekend of “close but no cigars” against the teams their fans traditionally crave most to beat.

From old Southwest Conference days they still crave to beat the Texas Longhorns that Arkansans for generations taught their young to loathe.

Since joining the Southeastern Conference, and really before that rivaling on the Arkansas-Louisiana border, the LSU Tigers are also long loathed by Razorbacks rooters.

Arkansas’ basketball cigar was twice almost smoked, but Texas extinguished it twice in Friday’s ESPN Armed Forces game at the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas.

Kerwin Roach’s 3-point buzzer beater erased Arkansas’ 63-60 lead for a 63-63 regulation ending prompting overtime.

Arkansas led the overtime, 7170 with 1:12. Missing two shots in the final seven seconds, Coach Mike Anderson’s Razorbacks couldn’t overcome the 2-point jumper by Longhorn Courtney Ramey and Elijah Mitrou-Long’s free throw with 21 seconds left for a Texas triumph, 73-71.

As for football, first-year Coach Chad Morris’ Razorbacks, 2-8 overall, weren’t close to anything but their now 0-6 SEC record trailing LSU 24-3 at the fourth-quarter’s outset on a 36-degree Saturday night at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

However with Arkansas quarterback Ty Storey passing becoming Operation Plan B turned A with LSU stifling Arkansas to 16 net rushing yards, the Razorbacks rallied. Storey’s fourth-quarter touchdown passes to tight end Cheyenne O’Grady pulled Arkansas to down just 24-17.

That’s as close as that cigar got. Arkansas couldn’t stop the Tigers from playing keep-away for the final 5:27.

A double dose of Arkansas anguish for sure.

The reality, though, “close but no cigar” was doubly better than most could have expected given the Razorbacks’ state vs. their weekend’s opponents.

LSU was nationally ranked third until flooded the previous Saturday by the 10-0 No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide and still arrived at Arkansas nationally ranked seventh.

But outmanned Arkansas fought back. If nothing else, these Razorbacks that embarrassed themselves on Sept. 15 losing 44-10 nonconference in Fayetteville to North Texas, have proven every SEC game they’ll fight even if they can’t win.

And it seems they’ll fight for their last two chances at Mississippi State and at Missouri.

“There was no quit,” Morris said Saturday night. “There was a constant fight and it has been that way all year.”

The fight is there but it’s going to take Morris recruiting talent long range to make the fight not in vain.

As for basketball, few would have thought Anderson’s Razorbacks returning one starting star but otherwise scholarship returning just a part-time starter and a reserve from last season would first-game mesh to beat in El Paso’s Texas team returning four starters.

Anderson cited his Hogs effort. But like Morris, he’s not content with “close but no cigars.”

“At the end of the day there is only one column, the win column,” Anderson said. “That’s the one we want to be in.”