Nutt, Hogs are ready to rebound after loss

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- It was a weird feeling Sunday for Houston Nutt.
For the first time in his three seasons as Ar kansas' coach, Nutt found him self rehashing a home loss.
Nutt's Arkansas teams had been 16-0 at home -- including victories over Alabama in 1998 and this season and over No. 2 Tennessee and No. 12 Mississippi State last season -- before losing to No. 25 Georgia 38-7 Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
"It's a terrible feeling," Nutt said. "But if you would have told me back in 1997, December the 10th [the day he was hired], 'Hey, Coach Nutt, it's going to be 16 games before the Razorbacks lose at home,' I'd have said, 'We'll take it. Now let's go another 16.' "
Nutt said the Razorbacks couldn't seem to catch any breaks against Georgia, capped by a fourth-quarter Bulldogs' punt that died at the Arkansas 2.
"When the last punt hit down there É and did not roll in the end zone, that is when I decided that this had to be the worst game of our careers," Nutt said. "Nothing, not even a ball rolling into the end zone, is going to go our way."
Arkansas sophomore center Josh Melton said the Georgia game was reminiscent of the Razorbacks' 38-16 loss at Ole Miss last year.
"The next week we came back and showed what kind of character we had," Melton said. "I think this team will show that same kind of character."
Last season, Arkansas played defending national champion Tennessee the week after the Ole Miss loss, and the Razorbacks played perhaps their best game under Nutt and beat the Vols 28-24.
This week the Razorbacks are preparing for a team that Tennessee beat 70-3 earlier this season -- Louisiana-Monroe.
The Indians (1-4) are coming off a 27-7 home loss to Southwest Texas.
But there is no way the Razorbacks could be overlooking Louisiana-Monroe coming off the Georgia loss.
"I'm sick to my stomach, been sick all weekend, but it's over and done," Nutt said. "I'm glad we're practicing [Sunday].
"We're going to get out on the field and approach it that I don't care who we play -- it doesn't matter if it's the Green Bay Packers -- we're going to get back to the way we know how to play."
Nutt said he couldn't explain why, but Arkansas didn't play with the same intensity against Georgia that it did in a 28-21 victory over Alabama the previous week.
"The way we play is with emotion, energy, high-level intensity," Nutt said. "Because we're not the biggest [team] in the SEC, maybe not even the fastest. But the speed we do have must show up. And to me, it didn't show up Saturday."
Sophomore quarterback Robby Hampton said he's confident the Razorbacks will regroup from the Georgia loss.
"As horrible as we played, that was just one game," Hampton said. "We're 3-1 and still have high hopes for the season."
Nutt said it has been "a crazy year for football," especially in the SEC.
"You look around and who would have thought Tennessee would have two losses in September and Alabama would have three in September," Nutt said. "Who would ever dream that UAB would beat LSU and then LSU puts on a show .. scoring 38 points and beating Tennessee. Then 48 points were scored [by Mississippi State] on Florida.
"I say all that to say this -- I'm glad to be 3-1. We're one game ahead of where we were last year at this time.
"Last year's team with a lot of seniors [22] was 2-2. So, I feel good where we are.
"I'm excited that we've got a chance to be 4-1 going down the backstretch. I know the backstretch is very, very tough, but as you see, anything can happen now."

This article was published on Monday, October 2, 2000

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