Hampton reluctant pick to start against Auburn

SCOTT CAIN
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Robby Hampton had to play without much pass protection in Arkansas' last game, and he enters the next game apparently without much job protection.
Hampton will make his seventh start at quarterback when Arkansas plays 25th-ranked Auburn today, two weeks after a 27-7 loss to South Carolina in which backup Zak Clark started the second half.
Coach Houston Nutt went with Hampton this week after declining to choose a starter during last week's bye. Nutt named Hampton only after Clark's sprained ankle didn't heal quickly.
"Right now, he's really the only one out on the field that's healthy with the experience we need that's going to help us win the game," Nutt said of Hampton, who has worked through three injuries since the last game. "He knows the reason Zak Clark was put in the game. He [Hampton] wasn't really a hundred percent, things weren't going real good so É ."
So Nutt inserted his "best thrower," as he put it. The offense pepped up when Clark entered and started making quick decisions and sharp throws.
Clark will play some today if his ankle is healthy enough, Nutt said.
Hampton appears to have improved in the last two weeks of practice, Nutt said. But Nutt has stopped short of giving his starter the kind of ringing endorsements he repeated throughout preseason practice, when the coach trumpeted Hampton's maturity, poise and steady decision-making.
Since then, Hampton has walked a fairly straight line, not making many mistakes but also not making many big plays. His hesitancy to make quick throws in the South Carolina game was as much the reason that Clark played as the sprained thumb Hampton suffered in the first quarter.
Hampton and Clark were so banged up from the South Carolina pass rush that the team did not practice the next two days. At the time, Nutt would not commit to Hampton as the starter because Nutt said he wanted to evaluate both quarterbacks during the open date.
"You don't like to hear that but all you can do is go out and try to play your hardest and not worry about that," Hampton said. "He's going to play the guy who deserves it and who he feels comfortable with. If that's Zak, then ... I'll just have to be ready to come in and do my job if called upon."
In his first year as a starter, the 24-year-old sophomore has had to take more of the offensive burden than coaches had planned because tailback Cedric Cobbs was lost to a separated shoulder and the offensive line has underachieved. As often happens, the quarterback ends up shouldering more of the blame than he probably deserves.
"The thing that kills me about this last game is everybody is down on him and they have no reason to be," quarterbacks coach Joe Ferguson said. "You're not allowed to have one off game? The kid is the fourth-rated passer in the SEC. He threw one interception. Zak threw one, too. What did he [Hampton] do to lose his job?"
Hampton does rank fourth in SEC passing efficiency, having thrown 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. He has completed 55.9 percent of his passes and that figure would be higher if not for the 15 passes he has thrown away to avoid sacks.
But in trying to avoid turnovers, Hampton has become too cautious at times, holding onto the ball that extra second or two when the routes and blocking break down. Coaches have emphasized the no-interception theme, perhaps excessively, Ferguson said.
Fixating on not making mistakes instead of making plays gummed up Hampton's decision-making, he said. Hampton spent the last two weeks trying to have fun like he did when he threw for 212 yards and four touchdowns against Louisiana-Monroe, and it seems to be paying off.
Nutt has seen a more effective Hampton in practice -- "Decision-making, getting rid of the ball, all of those little things," Nutt said -- that the coach chalks up to the competition push from Clark.
Clark, however, spent most of the week resting his ankle and watching walk-on Chris Link take the backup snaps. Hampton said he never viewed the last two weeks as a competition with Clark.
"I just made up my mind that I was going to go out and play and have fun and quit thinking so much," Hampton said.
It's a simple but secure approach, even if his job isn't.

This article was published on Saturday, October 28, 2000

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