October Surprise: Hogs win
So, Razorback fans, what are your two other wishes on this day?
Beating Auburn, of course — some get two for one this week, rooting against Chad Morris and Gus Malzahn — but let’s take them one victory at a time.
It had been so long since Arkansas won a Southeastern Conference football game that the Razorbacks should be allowed to celebrate the occasion and not dwell on its flaws.
Arkansas 21, Mississippi State
14 is sure not to hang in the Louvre of SEC football. No masterpiece was this scrum in Starkville that each team lost its starting running back. To a Mississippi State backer, whose team was favored by 17 points (give or take one), something went dreadfully wrong in the second game under Mike Leach. The first, a 44-34 pastiche at LSU, had Hail Staters dreaming improbable dreams — that the Bulldogs could do this against any team, certainly at home against one (Arkansas) that had lost 20 consecutive SEC games.
On this side of the Mississippi River, it’s shouting time. This might be more than an isolated accident but don’t ask about style points. This win did not come cheaply.
Arkansas, scoring first for the second-straight week, essentially spent the last quarter and a half trying to run out the clock. Not easy to do under any circumtances, especially with its leading runner, Rakeem Boyd, and arguably best receiver, Treylon Burks, missing in action.
As in the opener against Georgia (an elite SEC team, which Mississippi State may well not be), Arkansas hunkered down on defense. The Razorbacks squirmed past an opponent perhaps still in the clouds from the LSU game. Mississippi State never looked right after a picksix interception in the first quarter staked Arkansas to an early lead, one that it built on in the third quarter, 14-7 to 21-7.
The fourth quarter amounted to two tired fighters touching gloves before the final round. Mississippi State constantly threatened to score but invariably stumbled deep in enemy territory. Arkansas, meanwhile, tried to reach the finish line low on low fuel and with worn tires.
“We played really hard,” Sam Pittman said after his first victory as a college head coach. “The number of guys on the plane, that’s how many we needed. We needed them all. We may have played them all.”
“I thought they played harder than we did,” Leach said, “and I also thought they played one play after the next little better than we did. I think some of our inconsistency was revealed, but Arkansas gets the credit for the win for sure.”
KJ Costello, the offensive hero against LSU, had a school-record
43 completions in 59 throws but could not put the ball in the end zone often enough. The Razorbacks allowed 313 yards through the air but stopped the Bulldogs on one short-yardage play after another. Critically, Arkansas defenders kept Costello’s receivers in front of them and were ballhawks throughout. Joe Foucha collected two interceptions on top of Greg Brooks’ 69-yard return that ended State’s first drive.
“I thought that Arkansas came here with a determination to take this game away from us,” Leach said, “and they did.”
Leaving the field at halftime, Pittman credited Barry Odom with an uncanny defensive game plan, helping the Hogs survive with a limited offense that went long stretches without the ball.
“We watched a couple of games from last year on (Leach, then at Washington State) and his offense. Some teams that played him had some success doing what we tried to do,” Pittman said. “Barry said this is what we’re going to do and be patient. All week, the kids believed we could rally around the ball and make tackles. For the most part tonight, that is exactly what we did. A little bit of a copycat lead or a copycat world.”
Linebacker Bumper Pool, wearing a number (10) usually given to quarterbacks, had 20 tackles.
“We knew … that we were going to have to make a lot of tackles to win because we were letting them throw all of the underneath routes,” Pool said. “So we just had to make tackles and run the ball. I think as a unit, we did a phenomenal job getting to the ball fast and making plays.”
Offensively, Feleipe Franks did just enough to to win, two touchdowns passing giving him three in two games as a Razorback. The ex-Florida Gator completed 20 of 28 and although pressured constantly, he was not intercepted. Razorback fans on social media grumbled when K.J. Jefferson fumbled in the first half after replacing Franks on a goal-line package.
“Defense has our back and offense has their back whenever it’s needed,” Franks said. “We pulled through and had a great team win.”
Granted, Arkansas is unlikely to win when it averages 1.7 yards per rushing play and has the ball so rarely (23 minutes, 40 seconds in a 60-minute game). And, future opponents may treat the Razorbacks with more respect. Has any fan base celebrated its team receiving votes in the Associated
Press poll more than Razorback Nation after this one?
“The kids have gone for a long time without having the opportunity to win against a team,” Pittman said. “That’s a ranked team. … For us to come here at their place and win, that was a tremendous effort by the guys and they were ecstatic.”
Athletic director Hunter Yurachek, who stood by Pittman when coaches with a higher profile wouldn’t look this way, gave Sam the game ball.
“I don’t know if the guys feel like the pressure is off their back,” Pittman said. “I think they just looked it as a new season, and they want to win a game. Certainly, they were tired of losing SEC games.”
So were the fans. And now to keep it going at Auburn against the M and M guys, Malzahn and Morris.