 
|
RETURN to main page
UA TodaySCOTT CAINARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE LOOKING BACK SATURDAY REWIND As long as his players are giving maximum effort, Coach Houston Nutt can live with some mistakes. Throw in a shutout victory with the effort and mistakes and Nutt can live quite comfortably. "After watching the film, the No. 1 thing that I'm real pleased about is there's a lot of effort on the field," Nutt said Sunday about Saturday's 38-0 victory over Southwest Missouri State. "Sometimes so much energy and so much effort cause some of our penalties. But I love the effort, the pursuit of the defense." Especially encouraging was that the secondary did not appear to play out of position except once, Nutt said. Arkansas did not allow a play longer than 15 yards. Giving up big plays was the team's weakness last season. Coaches substituted regularly on the defensive line and got the kind of steady play they expected from three senior linebackers. Offensively, the linemen did not block as well as they are capable of doing, Nutt said. "I think sometimes there's a stigma of, 'OK, we're playing a I-AA team ... we're going to hand the ball off right, hand the ball off left and just go down the field,'" Nutt said. "And that's not necessarily true." But the offense still managed to hold the ball for more than 37 minutes and did not commit a turnover. NO. 1 FOR NOW It's too early to make much out of it, but at least for the first week Arkansas leads the nation in total defense. The 98 yards allowed against Southwest Missouri State, NCAA Division I-AA team, gives the Razorbacks the best average in I-A. COSTLY REACTION Cornerback D'Andre Berry will be suspended for the second game because he was ejected for swinging at a Southwest Missouri State player. An SMS player shoved Berry after a whistle in the third quarter. Berry did not throw a punch but swung to try to knock the player away from him. Coach Houston Nutt said he understood why the official ejected Berry. Nutt tells his players not to retaliate on the field no matter the circumstances because it's usually the second aggressor who gets caught. "We're not going to put up with that," Nutt said. Berry's penalty was one of eight against Arkansas for 88 yards. Four of the penalties were 15-yard personal fouls. MORE THAN A RUNNER Reserve tailback Fred Talley led all rushers with 77 yards, but what he did without the ball was just as impressive, Coach Houston Nutt said. Talley, 5-9, 190 pounds, cut down pass rushers with his blocking, one of those unheralded crafts that wins the coaches' confidence and earns running backs extra playing time. SHOTS ON THE QB Southwest Missouri State sacked quarterback Robby Hampton three times, which was more than all but three opponents did to the Razorbacks last year. Arkansas led the SEC in fewest sacks allowed (16) and gave up three or more only to SMU, South Carolina and Ole Miss. Not all of the sacks were the offensive line's fault. Hampton held onto the ball too long once. TRUE FRESHMEN PRESENCE Linebacker Shane Collins, cornerback Bo Mosley, quarterback Zak Clark and running back Brandon Holmes were the only true freshmen who played. Defensive linemen Jason Peters or Pat Winn might still play, Coach Houston Nutt said. OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME WHO Sophomore QB Robby Hampton WHY Making his first start, Hampton kept his cool and completed 17 of 22 passes for 227 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. It was a relatively safe game plan with short passes to take advantage of soft coverage, but give Hampton credit for not going wild changing plays to force the ball downfield. DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME WHO Junior DE Carlos Hall WHY Even though he was not credited with a tackle by game statisticians, Hall had a hand in two turnovers that led to 10 points. He beat a double-team to pressure the quarterback into an interception and he recovered a fumble. LOOKING AHEAD NEXT UP Boise State (1-0) plays Arkansas (1-0) on Sept. 16 in Little Rock, almost three years after Coach Houston Nutt left the Broncos to take his dream job in his home state. "It concerns you because I know how they're going to come into Little Rock hyped up," Nutt said. The Razorbacks do not play this week. The Broncos, who won 31-14 Saturday at New Mexico, play I-AA power Northern Iowa in Boise, Idaho, this week. Quarterback Bart Hendricks ran for one touchdown and threw for one in Saturday's victory. STILL PUSHING Don't be surprised if the backup quarterback spot remains an open competition. Jared McBride, a junior from Nashville, Ark., is the backup but not by a large margin over true freshman Zak Clark of Fayetteville. McBride led a fourth-quarter touchdown drive, completing 1 of 2 passes for 5 yards. The incompletion was a high throw over the middle to tight end Nathan Ball who paid for it with a body-slamming hit by a defensive back. Clark completed 2 of 5 passes for 17 yards. "Zak's really pushing Jared," Coach Houston Nutt said. "Zak does some good things and shows a lot of natural poise. I'm excited about Zak. Jared did some good things, too. He hung up Nathan Ball there a little bit but for the series he took them down the field. We're going to need both of these guys." NUTT CONFIRMS BREEDEN NEWS Receiver Sam Breeden is unlikely to play this season because he fell short academically in a correspondence course whose grade won't transfer to Arkansas, Coach Houston Nutt confirmed Sunday. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Sunday citing sources that Breeden, a junior college transfer, likely would miss the season. He will have two years of eligibility left after this season. SUNDAY'S INJURY REPORT PLAYER POS. INJURY Nathan Ball TE Shoulder sprain Orlando Green CB Strained hamstring Harold Harris CB Broken wrist Brett Shockley RT Foot sprain M. Snowden WR Toe sprain
This article was published on Monday, September 4, 2000RETURN to main pageCopyright and permissions Copyright © 2000, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. |
