Awry kick allows Rebels to right things

ROB KEYS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Fred Talley's 30-yard touchdown run did more than just give Arkansas a 7-0 lead over Ole Miss.
It energized the majority of the 49,647 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium, gave Arkansas its first lead in a game in nearly a month, and perhaps most important, gave a struggling team a much-needed boost in confidence.
Nineteen seconds later, Robert Williams stood triumphantly in the Arkansas end zone after delivering the perfect counterpunch -- a 97-yard kickoff return.
"They scored, the crowd was into it very loud, and here comes Robert," Ole Miss quarterback Romaro Miller said. "Everyone is thinking, 'Don't kick it to Deuce [McAllister],' and then they kick it to Robert and he runs it back. It sort of turned the momentum, that's for sure."
Arkansas special teams coordinator James Shibest agreed.
"There's no doubt about it," Shibest said. "That's what we've been talking about since two-a-days, how [special teams] are such a big key to the whole game. It hurt us, no doubt about it, from a momentum standpoint."
Shibest said the momentum-swinging play started when Matt Swartz kicked the ball left instead of right, putting the coverage unit in a precarious position.
"We were supposed to kick it right," Shibest said. "That's why we put it on the right hash. I don't know if he [Swartz] slipped or what, but it went way left, and that's the weak part of our coverage on that [play]. That hurts.
"Everything we do has got to be right of that hash. That's the way we're trying to squeeze that thing, and I think it caught our guys a little bit by surprise."
Jeremiah Harper said the kick put him and the rest of the coverage team in a cumbersome position, but he didn't use it as an excuse.
"It made it awkward for us, but we still didn't redirect and get back in our lanes," Harper said. "It's tough, but again, we're out there to make plays and that's what we're supposed to do."
A missed tackle by Corey Warren near midfield didn't help.
"We still had a guy there who needed to tackle him, and he didn't do it," Shibest said.
Williams' return was the second allowed by Arkansas this season, and McAllister spurred a 38-16 victory over Arkansas at Ole Miss last year by returning the opening kickoff 100 yards.
"We thought that was the play of the game last year, too," Ole Miss special teams coach Richard Bisaccia said.
Partly due to McAllister's success last season, Ole Miss spent extra time on its kick return game this week.
"We had worked on the kickoff all week, and the coaches had pointed out where the hole would be," Williams said. "They happened to be right and I hit the hole and scored."
Bisaccia simply shook his head when asked if he thought the kick went the wrong direction.
"For us, it was the same kick we had seen on film," Bisaccia said. "I think our kids just did a good job of getting their hats in the right place and making a big play out of it."
Either way, Williams' return not only spoiled an otherwise good day for Arkansas' special teams, but started the Razorbacks down the path to a third consecutive loss.
"The thing that's disappointing to me is that we're doing so many good things, then we just let one big one get us every d*** time," Shibest said.

This article was published on Sunday, November 5, 2000

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