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SCOTT CAIN
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

SATURDAY REWIND
Two impressions lingered with Coach Houston Nutt a day after Arkansas put together its most complete game of the season and lost 21-19 at Auburn: Missed opportunities and satisfying effort.
True freshman Brennan O'Donohoe missed a 35-yard field-goal attempt in the first quarter when he stubbed the ground. Robby Hampton overthrew on two potential touchdowns. A throwback pass came within inches of working for a big gain.
The defense gave the offense the ball back for five fourth-quarter series that produced just three points. Of course, Hampton was injured and true freshman Zak Clark had to play the last four drives.
"The thing that keeps coming back is we had our chances," Nutt said. "There are six or seven chances we counted, whether it be a missed field goal, a missed pass, a dropped pass, didn't get the first [down]. They gave us a shanked punt. Our defense gets us turnovers. You're supposed to win that game."
Watching the film did nothing to change the way Nutt felt about the team's effort.
"I thought we pursued very well and, for the most part, did a good job of stopping the run," Nutt said. "There were a couple of times where [Auburn tailback Rudi Johnson] did get loose ... but besides the long, 93-yard drive, I was real pleased with our defense."
Auburn scored on a 93-yard drive in the third quarter to go ahead 21-14.
Nutt praised linebacker Quinton Caver and defensive linemen Jermaine Brooks, Randy Garner and Carlos Hall.
Most pleasing to him was seeing the team respond after Auburn's touchdowns. The Razorbacks collapsed after falling behind early to South Carolina and Georgia.
"We answered," Nutt said. "Right before the half, I thought that was a real big effort there to take it ... 80 yards and then get the other seven [points] right before half and really take their crowd out of it."
Even though it was a loss, Arkansas might be able to build confidence from Saturday's game.
"You try to take anything you can, but there's really only one real antidote in this game ... and that's you need to win," Nutt said. "But along those same lines, I'd be disappointed if we had lost the same way we lost against Georgia. I'd be really disappointed if we'd lost the same as we did at South Carolina. I feel like this team is really improving."

TALLEY'S DASHING DEBUT
It has been a year since Arkansas ran as well against an SEC team as it did Saturday against Auburn.
The primary difference in this conference game and the others was sophomore tailback Fred Talley, Coach Houston Nutt said.
Making his first career start, Talley rushed 26 times for a career-high 161 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
At 5-9, 190 pounds, Talley has a quick burst, deceptively strong legs, good balance, a slippery spin move and 4.36 speed.
Talley entered the season as the backup to Cedric Cobbs and then broke his hand against Alabama, the same game that Cobbs went down with a season-ending shoulder injury. He returned against South Carolina to rush for 46 yards and in the two weeks between that game and Auburn, he knocked off the rust.
"I just thought he was seeing it, and what I mean by that was he was running with his eyes," Nutt said. "There were some creases in there. The line was getting some nice holes. There have been some holes there before. I just think when you take a Cobbs or Talley out of our chemistry it really hurts the offensive line.
"[The linemen] really competed and played very, very hard. You can tell they're coming off and they're getting to their man and know who to go to. Fundamentally, they look so much better than they did two weeks ago."
Arkansas rushed for 166 yards, not overpowering, but it was the team's best total in seven SEC games since gaining 175 against Auburn last year.

BOO UNWRAPPED
Two weeks after dislocating his shoulder, senior receiver Boo Williams played and did so without the harness he used during practice last week.
The harness fits over his shoulder and helps keep it from popping out. Williams said his shoulder pads gave him enough security so he left off the brace. He made four catches for 47 yards, three of them converting first downs in long-yardage situations.
"You want him in there with one arm, one shoulder, whatever," Coach Houston Nutt said.

DEFENSIVE REALIGNMENT
At halftime, Auburn adjusted its defense to concentrate on Arkansas' tallest receivers and it seemed to work.
Boo Williams, Sparky Hamilton and Michael Snowden, all about 6-4, made a combined nine receptions in the first half. They made five in the second half.
"We were going to force them to throw the ball to guys who were a little more our size," Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville said. "If we hadn't made that adjustment at halftime, we would have been in trouble. It was 6-foot-5 vs. 5-foot-9, and that's not a very good comparison."

SIDELINES

Right tackle Gary Hobbs practiced on the scout team and served a one-game suspension Saturday for an unspecified violation of teams rules, but before Hobbs can return to the varsity, Coach Houston Nutt said he wanted to check on how Hobbs "did last week with his life."

Steadman Campbell made correct decisions and showed the ability to make the first tackler miss in his first game returning punts.

Arkansas' games against South Carolina and Auburn each lasted 3 hours, 3 minutes.

Wide receiver Michael Snowden's six receptions were a career high, eclipsing his previous best of four against South Carolina this season and against Memphis in 1998.

UP NEXT
Arkansas (4-3, 1-3 SEC) plays Ole Miss (5-2, 2-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. It's a home game that falls in the middle of four road games.
The Rebels turned back UNLV 43-40 in overtime when injured tailback Deuce McAllister (sprained ankle) made his only appearance and scored on a 1-yard leap.
Last year, McAllister returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and Ole Miss went on to thump Arkansas 38-16 in Oxford, Miss. It was more of a blowout than the score indicated.

MONTHLY STATEMENT
November has been a break-even month for Arkansas lately. The Razorbacks have gone 2-2 in November in Coach Houston Nutt's two previous seasons. If they do that this year, they'll end up with a 6-5 record that would qualify them for postseason play.

INJURY CALCULATOR
If quarterback Robby Hampton (sprained shoulder) cannot play against Ole Miss, he will become the 12th starter to miss a game this season because of an injury. All told, 22 players have missed at least one game because of injuries.
"That's the thing this year that has been so frustrating is we're about to get everybody healthy again and then another tire falls off," Nutt said.
Nose guard Pervis Osborne tore an anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and is out for the season. He will have surgery within two weeks, trainer Dean Weber said.

RED ALERT
No word yet on whether the red pants will be worn again. They made their third appearance in Coach Houston Nutt's three seasons Saturday at Auburn, and many players favor the look.
"I've been hearing that for two years," Nutt said. "That's wearing me out. If I knew we could win the ballgame Saturday if we put on red pants, they would be on."
Arkansas is 1-2 in red pants under Nutt.

HOLIDAY CONFLICT
Houston Nutt is being considered as a coach for the Blue-Gray Classic, a college all-star game in Montgomery, Ala.
One problem. The game is on Christmas Day and Nutt plans to be preparing for a bowl game around that time.
"I'm not thinking that way yet," Nutt said of coaching the all-star game.
Charles Jones, executive director of the Blue-Gray game, told The Birmingham News that Nutt is a coaching candidate. Nutt said he has not been contacted about the game.
Players who could be invited if Arkansas does not play in a bowl are linebackers Quinton Caver and J.J. Jones, defensive end Randy Garner and receiver Boo Williams, Charles Jones said.

This article was published on Monday, October 30, 2000

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