Politics aside, spin doctors left flat-footed by Hogs

WALLY HALL
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- If you didn't know better, you'd think he drove a pickup around town peddling chickens by the piece instead of by the international ton.
That's Johnny Tyson. Very low-keyed.
At halftime last Saturday, Tyson was on the walkway outside the back of the company luxury suite.
Like 50,000 others, he was somewhat baffled by what was supposed to have been a first half of an SEC football game.
The first 30 minutes produced 35 yards of offense for the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Tyson, Mike Irwin of KFSM-TV, Bo Mattingly of KHOG-TV and couple of others migrated into a loose huddle during the 25-minute break from the inaction.
They may have been on the verge of solving all the football problems, when suddenly, Tyson was spotted by a politician.
She pulled up and cut to the left so powerfully and quickly her husband was almost flagged for a block in the back.
Tyson introduced Blanche Lincoln to the group and they got firm handshakes and blank looks from the Senator.
Maybe she has that talent for recognizing her constituents or donors in an instant. Maybe it was the tag "media" Tyson had slipped in.
Whatever it was, in that moment the football conversations were finished for Tyson.
Lincoln started talking through the group to a patient Tyson who, smart money says, would have preferred the really important subject, the state of Razorbacks football.
Lincoln's husband, a really nice guy, picked up the fumble and ran a few yards with it, talking about the plight of the game with the reporters, while his wife talked to Tyson in what seemed to be some sort of code.
Tyson smiled and nodded a lot.
Sure, he was interested in biotechnology.
At that moment though, Tyson, like most of Arkansas, was probably a little more puzzled about why the Razorbacks couldn't sustain a drive than cloning mustard greens.
After all, this was Razorback football and Georgia was seriously kicking some behind.
After Arkansas' first two possessions of the third quarter netted zero yards, you would have thought chancellor's scholarships were on sale for half-price at the bookstore.
Or some very fickle fans who had managed to get student tickets suddenly decided to show their loyalty.
It was amazing to watch the band doing everything humanly possible to rally the troops and the fans. Still the parade out of the student section was nonstop until only the die-hard, loyal fans were left.
Obviously, those who flew the coop didn't care if recruits were on the sidelines watching.
Those few who booed did even more damage to the future of the program, and the question is, who and what were they booing.
Houston Nutt and the play-calling?
Or the players for not executing?
The play-calling was fine. The execution was not.
No one could have predicted the Razorbacks would be manhandled the way they were.
It was as if whatever confidence they had coming into the game disappeared like a vapor in a fog the moment Jamie Henderson picked off Robby Hampton's pass and returned it for a touchdown.
The Razorbacks had five first downs going into the fourth quarter and Georgia had 14 points because of turnovers.
It was like watching the UCLA Cotton Bowl in 1989. Or the Miami game in 1987. Or pick any of the six blowouts during Danny Ford's last two seasons.
This team was almost as flat. Momentum swung in Georgia's favor early and the Razorbacks never mustered enough enthusiasm to take it back.
Maybe it was partly a hangover from a huge victory over Alabama. Partly because Cedric Cobbs had a season-ending injury. Partly because when you play Georgia every seven years it is hard to have reason to be emotional.
With its loss to South Carolina, Georgia was in a bit of a corner coming into the game, and the Bulldogs played like it.
Arkansas was just the opposite.
Of course, this may have been discovered at halftime last Saturday if the conversation hadn't gotten bogged down with biotechnology instead of something really important, Razorbacks football.

This article was published on Tuesday, October 3, 2000

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