Desperation makes Alabama dangerous

JEFF KRUPSAW
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Coaches always like to say football comes down to blocking and tackling, but early in any college or NFL season there is an intangible that figures in just as much.
Call it the desperation factor.
Florida Coach Steve Spurrier alluded to it after the his Gators beat Tennessee on Saturday, when he said his Gators were fortunate to win.
"They wanted it more, but we won the game, a rare occasion when that happens," Spurrier said.
Tennessee was the more desperate team because it was playing at home and you can't lose at home an expect to win the SEC East championship.
The Dallas Cowboys gave a clinic in that regard Monday night, going into Washington a dazed and desperate 0-2, minus their starting quarterback, only to leave the Redskins in the same frame of mind afterward.
Watch out for the Redskins this week.
Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt no doubt cringed when he walked off the field at War Memorial Stadium on Saturday night, and we're not talking about how he felt after escaping Boise State. The news that Alabama, his next opponent, had been shut out at home by Southern Mississippi left Nutt contemplating his next motivational move.
Southern Mississippi didn't do Arkansas any favors, as they say.
"Why does it have to happen that way?" Nutt said Sunday, remembering how Alabama reacted last year after losing to Louisiana Tech the week before playing Arkansas. "We were rooting for them to win."
Coaches such as Nutt are masters of motivation, or at least they try to be. That's why they have bulletin boards, where they post comments from the opposing players or coaches, highlighting even the most innocuous quotes, hoping those words will light a fire under their team.
Which is why Nutt didn't play down the Boise banter last week. If his players knew the game meant a lot to him, and Boise was mouthing off about wanting to beat its old coach, the used car salesman, then maybe Arkansas wouldn't take Boise State lightly.
It worked for a half.
Coaches can distort reports, take quotes out of context and cajole their teams all they want. Nutt can go on and on about how Alabama cares about Tennessee, about how Alabama cares about Auburn, about how Alabama cares about Mississippi. But it doesn't care about Arkansas. The respect shtick works sometimes, just ask Nolan Richardson, but it can get old, even for the players.
The best kind of motivation is the unspoken kind, the kind Alabama is feeling this week. Alabama Coach Mike DuBose only has to write Arkansas 42, Alabama 6 on the chalkboard to remind his Tide what happened the last time it played Arkansas in Fayetteville. He can also write Southern Mississippi 21, Alabama 0 to remind his team of what it did last week.
He doesn't need to say a word. Alabama might not beat Arkansas on Saturday night in Fayetteville, but it won't be because it doesn't have the psychological edge.
Alabama was supposed to contend for the national championship. Instead, the Crimson Tide is 1-2 and if it loses another game DuBose's job will be in jeopardy along with any plans for a postseason game.
A victory by Alabama puts it 2-0 in the SEC West and those two nonconference losses can be forgotten.
Nutt's job this week is tough. He and his coaching staff know how important this game is because it is a home game and Arkansas will be embarking on a brutal conference road schedule in October and November.
But he can't go around telling his players that. He can only hope that the tradition of Alabama and the excitement of playing a night game on ESPN2 in a refurbished stadium can lift the Hogs' emotions to desperate levels.
If not, well, the Hogs can dip into the desperation pool next week against Georgia. Arkansas would be staring at an 0-2 conference start, and nobody wants to start the conference 0-2. Plus, Nutt doesn't have to worry about Georgia losing this week. It plays at home against New Mexico State.
So, you know who Georgia Coach Jim Donnan will be rooting for when he watches Arkansas and Alabama on Saturday night.
Want a hint?
It won't be Alabama.

This article was published on Friday, September 22, 2000

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