Steady hand in first start serves Hampton well

SCOTT CAIN
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Houston Nutt has been watching Arkansas quarterback Robby Hampton up close for two years, so he had a pretty good idea what to expect in Hampton's first start.
But Southwest Missouri State, an NCAA Division I-AA program, is one speed. Boise State is another.
Arkansas is preparing to play Boise State on Sept. 16 in Little Rock. The Broncos return most of their skill position starters on offense and defense after winning the Humanitarian Bowl last season. They opened this season with a 31-14 victory at New Mexico and meet Northern Iowa this week.
"You know they're going to be better [than SMS]," said Nutt, who's breaking in a new quarterback for the first time in his three seasons as coach. "They're a good football team and they have a lot of confidence now. Robby, who I thought did an excellent job, he's going to see a mixture [of pass coverages]."
Hampton, a sophomore, completed 17 of 22 passes for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns without throwing an interception and avoided any delay-of-game penalties. His completion percentage was .773 and he ranks ninth nationally in pass efficiency rating.
It was a more accurate performance than Hampton's predecessor, Clint Stoerner, had in all but one of his 35 career starts. Stoerner's most efficient game came last October against Middle Tennessee when he hit 10 of 12 passes, an .833 completion percentage. His next best game was 27 for 38 (.710) against LSU in 1998.
Nutt helped script Hampton's debut for success by calling conservative plays early, lots of runs and short passes. But Hampton helped his cause by preparing thoroughly.
"I kept telling you I really thought he would be better than a lot of people thought he would be," Nutt said. "There was a lot of pressure, a lot of distractions.
"Everybody talks about Clint Stoerner and the records he set ... so for [Hampton] to come in like he did and lead our team like he did and keep the ball 37 minutes, that's pretty good now. Even against air. I don't care. Everybody says it's against a I-AA, he's supposed to do well. I don't know. I see a lot of teams that would trade with us."
The competition picks up next week.
"I'm sure it will be a lot faster," Hampton said. "Boise State is a talented team. They're probably ranked higher than we are. I don't know."
In the victory over New Mexico, the Broncos forced three-and-out series on 10 of the Lobos' 14 possessions. Cornerback Dempsy Dees is on the watch list for the Thorpe Award, which goes to the nation's best defensive back at the end of each season.
Defensive coordinator Brent Guy, who was a graduate assistant at Oklahoma State when Nutt coached there in the 1980s, mixes up the pass coverages, Nutt said. The secondary tries to disguise its looks to make quarterbacks think themselves into a sack, interception or incompletion.
Reading the defense is where Hampton needs the most work, assistant coach Joe Ferguson said. There were a few opportunities where Hampton could have changed into a better play based on the pre-snap read of the defense.
But Hampton went into the game instructed by Nutt not to change too many plays. Nutt wanted Hampton to ease into the flow of the game and not risk more illegal procedure penalties or a miscommunication relaying too many play changes.
Hampton did change a third-quarter play that turned into a 79-yard touchdown pass to Boo Williams.
"Overall I thought he had a good game for his first time and being as nervous as he was," Ferguson said. "People don't realize how different it is between starting and coming off the bench."
Hampton did not throw well in practice last week because of a strained abdominal muscle. But anti-inflammatory medicine and rest on Friday and Saturday before the 8 p.m. kickoff allowed Hampton to throw on target against the Bears, his only bad miss coming on a pass into the flat to wide-open fullback Adam Daily.
The muscle bothered Hampton in the second half but was better Monday, Hampton said.
The self-evaluation remained about the same as it was Saturday.
"To be honest with you, I really didn't do much," Hampton said. "A lot of those routes were short routes where the receivers did all the work."
But the short routes served their purpose. Besides moving the ball, they allowed Hampton to build confidence.
"I think he showed more confidence as the game went on," Ferguson said. "I saw more confidence in him [Monday], even better than in the game."
Hampton can use the boost as the competition increases.

This article was published on Tuesday, September 5, 2000

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