Nice radio debut for other Jackson

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Whoa, Nellie! Keith Jackson is quite a broadcaster.
No, we're not talking about ABC's Keith Jackson, though he is quite a broadcaster, too.
We're talking about the other Keith Jackson, the former Little Rock Parkview, Oklahoma and NFL star tight end who made his debut as color analyst on Arkansas' radio broadcast Saturday night.
Listening to Jackson and play-by-play man Paul Eells, you wouldn't have guessed it was their first game working together.
Jackson picked his spots well without stepping on Eells' lines and added a lot of insight to the broadcast as he managed to be analytical without being so technical as to lose the listeners.
Early in the game, Jackson pointed out how Southwest Missouri State was shifting its defenses depending on whether Cedric Cobbs was in the game, going with eight men in the box for Cobbs and into zone coverage when the Razorbacks' star tailback was on the sideline.
When Arkansas scored a second-quarter touchdown on a pass from Robby Hampton to tight end Marcellus Poydras, Jackson -- who played for Green Bay's 1996 Super Bowl championship team -- noted it was a play the Packers have used in the past.
Jackson said Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt probably picked up the touchdown play when he visited the Packers' training camp in July.
Another good line by Jackson came after Arkansas linebacker Quinton Caver sniffed out a pass by Southwest Missouri State quarterback Austin Moherman and nearly intercepted it for a touchdown.
Jackson said Caver's ability to read the play and get to the ball is a reason the senior is a nominee for the Butkus Award.
"But if he wants to win the Butkus Award," Jackson said, "he needs to intercept the ball and score on that play."

SNOUTIN' OFF
TWO HOURS FOR 8 DEGREES?
According the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Web site, temperature for the 8 p.m. kickoff was 91 degrees.
It was 99 at 6 p.m. , which was the original starting time before Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles made the call Thursday to move it back two hours.
Of course, if Broyles had wanted fans to be as cool as possible, 4 a.m. would have been a good kickoff time.

THE LIGHTY QUINN
You couldn't tell on the radio, but Quinn Grovey -- the former Razorbacks quarterback who does sideline reports -- dropped 37 pounds in the off-season.
Grovey is down to 180, which is 12 pounds under his playing weight, after being as high as 217 last year.
"When you're playing basketball with some older guys and you can't shake and bake like you used to, then you need to lose a little weight," Grovey said. "I did it by getting off that couch and working out."

HI, COTTON
Two Cotton Bowl big shots, executive director Rick Baker and media relations director Charlie Fiss, attended the game in keeping with tradition.
While bowl representatives generally don't start attending games until late October, the Cotton Bowl always makes appearances at the home opener of the teams that played in the Cotton Bowl the previous year.
Baker has attended several Arkansas games in Fayetteville, but Saturday night marked the first time he has been to a game in Little Rock.
"It's a really electric atmosphere," Baker said.
Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, Baker and Fiss weren't able to extend Arkansas a Cotton Bowl invitation Saturday night.

INFORMAL DRESS
Because of the heat, Arkansas' marching band wore shorts and T-shirts for the game rather than its usual uniforms.
Jim Bailey, a columnist for the Democrat-Gazette who has been covering Arkansas games since 1956, said it was the first time he had ever noticed the UA band dressed so informally.
"But," Bailey added with a chuckle, "I wouldn't have noticed this time if you hadn't pointed it out to me."

THE GOOD
ROBBYHAMPTON Arkansas' sophomore quarterback, who was making his first start, completed his first nine pass attempts for 116 yards before throwing an incompletion. He finished 17 of 22 for 237 yards and 2 touchdowns without an interception.
MATT SWARTZ A senior transfer kicker from Leigh hit a 49-yard field goal on his first attempt for the Razorbacks.
ARKANSAS' PASS RUSH Kept the heat on Bears quarterback Austin Moherman most of the night and wouldn't let him to exploit the Razorbacks' inexperienced secondary.

THE BAD
D'ANDRE BERRY Arkansas cornerback was ejected in the third quarter for unsportsmanlike conduct after taking a swing at a Southwest Missouri player who continued blocking him after a play was over.
HEISMAN HYPE Don't send out those Cedric Cobbs bumper stickers just yet. The Bears keyed on Cobbs and kept him bottled up as he rushed 18 times for 57 yards, a 3.2-yard average. The only time Cobbs broke loose was on a 26-yard run.

STAT OF THE GAME
Three Arkansas tailbacks scored touchdowns -- Cedric Cobbs, Alvin Ray and Fred Talley. They were the first career touchdowns for Ray and Talley.

This article was published on Sunday, September 3, 2000

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