ARKANSAS’ COTTON BOWL HISTORY

Arkansas is making its 12th Cotton Bowl appearance tonight when the Razorbacks play Kansas State. Here’s a look at Arkansas’ first 11 Cotton Bowl games:

JAN. 1, 1947

ARKANSAS 0, LSU 0

The Razorbacks played their first Cotton Bowl against a team which is now their SEC West rival.

Maybe it should have been renamed the Ice Bowl for this game.

LSU dominated Arkansas 271-54 in total yards, but couldn’t score on a field affected by ice and sleet that fell during the game.

The Tigers, led by quarterback Y.A. Tittle, twice moved inside Arkansas’ 10yard line in the fourth quarter, but were stopped at the Razorbacks’ 1 and 4. A bad snap on a field-goal attempt ended LSU’S chances of breaking the scoreless tie. JAN. 1, 1955 GEORGIA TECH 14,

ARKANSAS 6

More than 20,000 Arkansas fans returned to the Cotton Bowl to cheer on the Razorbacks, who won the Southwest Conference title after being picked to finish seventh.

Georgia Tech, with Frank Broyles as its offensive coordinator, scored two touchdowns in the second half to rally for the victory after trailing 6-0 at halftime.

Arkansas’ lone score came on George Walker’s 3-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.

Broyles later said seeing the support of Arkansas’ fans convinced him coaching the Razorbacks would be a plum job. He got the job in 1958 and was the Razorbacks’ coach or athletic director for 50 years.

JAN. 2, 1961

DUKE 7, ARKANSAS 6

Duke placekicker Art Browning’s extra point proved to be the winning margin after Don Altman’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Tee Morman with 2:45 left.

Arkansas took a 6-0 lead on Lance Alworth’s 49- yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter. Dave Unser then blocked Mickey Cissell’s extra-point attempt.

Unser came up with another big special teams play when he forced a fumble by Alworth on a kickoff return after Duke had taken the lead. Duke recovered the ball at the Arkansas 32 to clinch the victory.

Arkansas got a measure of revenge in 1994, when the Razorbacks beat the Blue Devils 76-72 to win the NCAA basketball championship.

JAN. 1, 1965

ARKANSAS 10, NEBRASKA 7

Arkansas finally got its first Cotton Bowl victory in its fourth try and earned a share of the national championship.

The Razorbacks scored the winning touchdown on Bobby Burnett’s 3-yard run with 4:41 left to cap an 80-yard drive. The drive’s key play was Fred Marshall’s pass to Jim Lindsey for a 25-yard gain to the Nebraska 5.

Arkansas finished 11-0 and was voted national champion by the Football Writers Association of America. Alabama was named national champion by AP and UPI, which awarded their titles before the bowl games were played.

The next season, the wire services began awarding their titles after the bowl games.

JAN. 1, 1966

LSU 14, ARKANSAS 7

LSU broke the Razorbacks’ hearts and 22-game winning streak, costing Arkansas a second consecutive perfect season and national championship.

The Tigers took a 14-7 halftime lead and neither team scored in the second half.

LSU tailback Joe Labruzzo scored on touchdown runs of 3 and 1 yards in the second quarter after Arkansas had taken a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on Jon Brittenum’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Crockett.

Brittenum suffered a shoulder injury in the second half. He came back into the game, but struggled to move the offense.

LSU had been plagued by turnovers for much of the season, but didn’t lose the ball once against the Razorbacks.

JAN. 1, 1976

ARKANSAS 31, GEORGIA 10

The “shoe-string play” backfired for Georgia.

Hal Mcafee recovered a fumble on the Bulldogs’ trick play — a no-huddle, reverse pass intended for quarterback Ray Goff — to set up a touchdown that pulled the Razorbacks into a 10-10 tie when Ike Forte scored on a 1-yard run with 14 seconds left in the second quarter.

Arkansas then dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 21-0.

Forte finished with 24 carries for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The Razorbacks outgained the Bulldogs 324-198 in total offense.

JAN. 2, 1989

UCLA 17, ARKANSAS 3

Arkansas had a balanced offense: 21 yards rushing, 21 yards passing.

Pregame hype focused on UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman, but the Bruins’ defense stole the show by shutting down Arkansas’ Wishbone attack.

Aikman was still pretty good, completing 19 of 27 passes for 172 yards. The Dallas Cowboys made him the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft, and he won three Super Bowls with them and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Arkansas’ lone score came on Kendall Trainor’s 49-yard field goal that pulled the Razorbacks within 14-3 in the third quarter.

The Bruins ran 82 plays to 36 for the Razorbacks.

Ken Hatfield became the first person to be a head coach in the Cotton Bowl after also playing in the game.

JAN. 1, 1990

TENNESSEE 31, ARKANSAS 27

Arkansas gained 568 yards in total offense after being shut down by UCLA a year earlier, but three turnovers proved costly.

The Razorbacks lost a fumble and Quinn Grovey threw an interception to end drives in the first quarter after Arkansas had moved inside the Tennessee 10-yard line.

Volunteers tailback Chuck Webb rushed 26 times for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns. James Rouse rushed 22 times for 134 yards for the Razorbacks, and Barry Foster had 22 carries for 103 yards.

Derrick Russell caught seven passes for 105 yards.

The Razorbacks and Vols combined for 1,038 yards in total offense.

JAN. 1, 2000

ARKANSAS 27, TEXAS 6

Arkansas made its first Cotton Bowl appearance as an SEC team and pounded former Southwest Conference rival Texas.

The Razorbacks sacked Longhorns quarterbacks Chris Simms and Major Applewhite a combined eight times and held Texas to minus-27 rushing yards. It was the fewest rushing yards ever by Texas or by an Arkansas opponent and set a Cotton Bowl record for fewest yards.

Arkansas took a 13-6 lead on Clint Stoerner’s 30-yard touchdown pass to Cedric Cobbs with 5:44 left in the third quarter.

Cobbs also had a 37-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

It was sweet revenge for the Razorbacks coming 30 years after they lost to the Longhorns 15-14 in “The Big Shootout” at Fayetteville when Texas was ranked No. 1 and Arkansas No. 2.

JAN. 1, 2002

OKLAHOMA 10, ARKANSAS 3

Oklahoma’s defense, led by safety Roy Williams and linebacker Rocky Calmus, held Arkansas to 50 yards in total offense.

Despite the lack of offense, Arkansas was within striking distance until Calmus recovered a fumble by quarterback Matt Jones with 1:42 left.

Oklahoma took a 7-0 lead with 2:54 left in the first quarter when quarterback Nate Hybl’s scored the game’s only touchdown on a 1-yard run.

Hybl completed a Cotton Bowl-record 24 passes on 32 attempts, breaking the mark of 21 which had been shared by Navy’s Roger Staubach (1964) and BYU’S Steve Sarkisian (1997).

JAN. 1, 2008

MISSOURI 38, ARKANSAS 7

Missouri tailback Tony Temple ran for a Cotton Bowl-record 281 yards on 24 carries to upstage Arkansas’ Darren Mcfadden, the two-time Doak Walker Award winner.

Temple — who broke the record of 265 rushing yards by Rice’s Dicky Maegle against Alabama in 1954 — scored four touchdowns on runs of 22, 4, 4 and 40 yards.

Mcfadden rushed 21 times for 105 yards in his final game as a Razorback.

Arkansas wore all red uniforms in honor of Frank Broyles, who was retiring as Arkansas’ athletic director after 50 years with the program, including 19 as head coach.

Defensive coordinator Reggie Herring served as Arkansas’ interim head coach with Houston Nutt having resigned under pressure before taking the Ole Miss job.

— Bob Holt