Nation-World Arkansas-Local Editorial-Voices Sports Business Features-Style Classifieds Acrobat PDFs Business Matters Business and Tech Weekend section Movies & Dining Previous Features Photo Gallery Other Useful Links Information Site Map Archives TV Listings Weather
Navigation

  Front Page
  Nation-World
  Arkansas-Local
  Editorial-Voices
  Sports
  Business
  Features-Style
  Classified Ads
  News Pages/Acrobat® PDFs
  Business Matters
  Business & Tech
  Weekend Section
  Movies & Dining
  Previous Features
  Photo Gallery
  Useful Links
  Info & E-mail
  Archives
  TV Listings
  Weather

RETURN to main page

More than one streak came to end

A more impressive streak than Arkansas' 16 consecutive home victories came to an end Saturday in the Razorbacks' loss to Georgia.
    Orville Henry, the dean of Arkansas sports writers, wasn't in attendance at the Reynolds Razorback Stadium press box, ending a streak of 396 Arkansas games he had covered in person.
    Henry, who writes for Donrey Media after previously covering the Razorbacks for the Arkansas Gazette, Arkansas Democrat and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, is battling cancer but said from his Malvern home that he was feeling fine, though tired from chemotherapy sessions.
    Henry said his white blood cell count was low this week, meaning he is more susceptible to germs that lead to sickness, and being around 51,000 people at Saturday's game wouldn't be a wise idea.
    "I hate missing the game," he said. "But television helps."
    Henry hadn't missed an Arkansas game since the final two regular-season games in 1964, when he was ill.
    His 396-game streak that was broken Saturday began Jan. 1, 1965, when Arkansas beat Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl to cap an 11-0 season and win a share of the national championship.
    Here's hoping Henry feels better next week and will be back in the Razorback Stadium press box when Arkansas plays Louisiana-Monroe.
   
SNOUTIN' OFF
MISSING IN ACTION

    Arkansas sophomore tailback Cedric Cobbs was pictured on the tickets for Saturday's game and senior defensive end Randy Garner was on the game program cover.
    Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, Cobbs and Garner were able to appear only on paper.
    Cobbs was in Washington Regional Medical Center recovering from shoulder surgery that will sideline him the rest of the season. Garner dressed out but didn't play because of a high ankle sprain.
   
BOOS, NOT BOO!
    Arkansas fans weren't chanting for wide receiver Boo Williams on Saturday. Those were real, live, ticked-off boos heard from some fans.
    "I never noticed any boos, because for a lot of us, it's tunnel vision out there," said Arkansas center Josh Melton, a sophomore from Batesville. "If there were some boos, people have their opinions.
    "But I still say Arkansas' got the greatest fans in the world, and next week this place is going to be full again because everybody wants to see the Hogs do well."
    Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt, who had been 15-0 in in-state games, noticed the boos.
    "Well, that's the first time I've heard them," he said. "It doesn't make you feel good, but I've got alligator skin now."
   
BULLDOG DAY AFTERNOON
    UGA VI, Georgia's Bulldog mascot, made the trip to Fayetteville and seemed to enjoy watching his team whip up on the Razorbacks as he cooled his heels, sitting on a bag of ice from his spot in Razorback Stadium's northeast corner.
    Georgia's mascot travels to all the road games, but it was UGA VI's first trip to Fayetteville.
    The Bulldogs hadn't played at Arkansas sine 1992. That was 56 dog years ago, and back then UGA V was the mascot. UGA VI succeeded UGA V in the second game last season, two months before UGA V passed away at age 9.
    UGA V, who in 1997 appeared on Sports Illustrated's cover and was hailed as college football's top mascot and had a cameo appearance in the Clint Eastwood movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, had a record of 65-39-1.
    UGA VI raised his record to 10-5 Saturday.
   
WHERE WERE THE OTHER QBS?
    After Georgia pushed its lead to 31-0 with nine minutes left in the third quarter, it seemed like a good time for Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt to get Robby Hampton out of the game to make sure his starting quarterback didn't get injured in a rout and give some experience to backups Jared McBride and Zak Clark.
    But Hampton stayed in for three more series, and McBride didn't get in until less than two minutes remained.
    Granted, Hampton directed a 98-yard touchdown drive, and it would have been tough to put either of the other quarterbacks in that spot at the Arkansas 2.
    But two of the Razorbacks' other series after Georgia made it 31-0 and before their final possession started on the Arkansas 20, which would have been a good spot for McBride or Clark.
   
SMARTVISION NOT SO SMART
    The SACO Smartvision is a wonder in many ways, but it had trouble telling time Saturday.
    Its scoreboard clock read "0:00" when the game was set to begin, then when time finally appeared on it, the clock started running before the Razorbacks kicked off and the officials had to delay the kickoff to reset the clock.
    Then, after the kickoff, the clock kept running even though a play had gone out of bounds.
    The officials kept time on the field, but eventually the clock began working properly.
   
GIVE US A BIG BOTTLE
    With 13:28 remaining and Georgia leading 38-0, there was an ad on the Smartvision for the "Excedrin Play of the Game."
    For the Razorbacks, there were too many of those.
   
DONNAN KING OF THE ROAD
    Georgia Coach Jim Donnan is 7-0 in road games against SEC West teams.
    In addition to Saturday's victory, his Bulldogs won at Mississippi State and Auburn in 1996, at Ole Miss in 1997, at LSU and Auburn in 1998 and at Ole Miss in 1999.
   
THE GOOD
    Quincy Carter may not be a Heisman Trophy candidate after he had that five-interception game at South Carolina three weeks ago, but he was plenty sharp against the Razorbacks. Carter ran the Bulldogs' offense efficiently and used his arm, legs and brain to improve to 20-8 as Georgia's starting quarterback.
   
THE BAD
    Just about anything you can think of connected with the Razorbacks.
   

This article was published on Sunday, October 1, 2000

RETURN to main page


Copyright 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.