Arkansas-LSU isn't for national title, but it's tastier than previous servings

SCOTT CAIN
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

When Arkansas joined the SEC and a new league schedule was crafted, the game against LSU looked as though it would offer intrigue.
Maybe it would spark a rivalry, too.
After all, it would be the final regular-season game each season between bordering state schools who already had played 37 times as nonconference opponents. It wasn't hard to envision the Western Division race hinging on that last game.
Major networks took turns televising it to the nation. It became a trophy game in 1996 when a 24-karat gold-plated replica of the two states forming a boot shape was introduced.
Yet, instead of becoming a fitting dessert to Thanksgiving, the game has been a turkey. Usually a big one.
That changes today when 24th-ranked LSU plays Arkansas at War Memorial Stadium.
For only the second time since Arkansas entered the SEC, the two teams enter the game with postseason and championship implications.
The Razorbacks (5-5, 2-5 SEC) need one more victory to qualify for bowl consideration.
The Tigers (7-3, 5-2) can claim a share of the West title, though Auburn holds the tiebreaker to advance to the SEC championship game. LSU might also enhance its bowl position by winning.
Before now, 1995 was the only other meeting in which both teams entered with postseason incentive. Arkansas already had won the West but could have used another victory to keep from being exiled to the non-SEC-aligned Carquest Bowl. At 5-4-1, LSU needed a victory and grabbed it 28-0 to squeeze into the Independence Bowl against its future coach, Nick Saban, and Michigan State.
This time around, winning won't guarantee Arkansas a postseason trip because the SEC would have nine bowl-eligible teams for seven bowl tie-ins. But the players know they'll at least have a chance to slip into an outside bowl if they can upset the Tigers.
Motivation is high.
"The reason is it could be the last game of the season," junior cornerback Orlando Green said. "As college athletes, we can't get paid. Going to a bowl would be a paycheck for our season."
The season just about went bankrupt when Arkansas lost five of six games. Then everything changed last week with a 17-10 overtime victory at then-No. 13 Mississippi State.
A revamped defense turned the players loose and inspired them. Special teams contributed instead of detracted. The offense came alive in the fourth quarter and overtime.
The victory caught LSU's attention.
"It makes us get focused and not look ahead toward the bowl," Tigers cornerback Fred Booker said. "To be honest, there might have been some of the guys -- not all the guys -- that would have overlooked this game."
But the Razorbacks, already diminished by injuries, took another blow in losing tailback Fred Talley to a torn knee ligament against MSU. He had single-handedly lifted the offense with 608 yards rushing in the last four games.
True freshman Brandon Holmes will start for Talley and try to maintain the hard-running pace he set against Mississippi State. Holmes rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Arkansas will try to supplement Holmes' pounding style with Radale Pearson's speed.
Having quarterback Robby Hampton healthier than he's been in several weeks should help. He has played the second half of the season with a sprained shoulder.
The patchwork Razorbacks run into an LSU team that has won its last four games, the difference being the reincarnation of quarterback Josh Booty.
Once an interception machine, he has had an out-of-Booty experience, throwing 10 touchdown passes and just three interceptions in the four-game streak. Also during that span, the defense kept Ole Miss and Kentucky out of the end zone.
And like Arkansas did in 1998, LSU's coaches have sold the players on the concept of winning a share of the division title.
"Everybody wants to win a championship," said Saban, who came to LSU last December. "What I've told the players is it would be a significant accomplishment for them to be co-champs of our division. As soon as we accomplish that, the first we're going to work toward is getting rid of the 'co' and getting rid of the 'Western.'
"Auburn isn't rooting for us. I'm sure they don't want to share anything with us. We have a lot left to accomplish this season and I hope the players don't lose sight of that."
A victory would strengthen the Tigers' case for playing in the Cotton Bowl. A loss could bump them to the Independence Bowl.
And there's the matter of the Boot.
It doesn't carry a long enough history to merit space in either school's media guide.
Arkansas keeps a trophy stand for the Boot and has placed it in a prominent part of its athletics museum, though the perch has sat empty for a year. The trophy has been sitting in a corner of LSU's museum, but it's not forgotten.
"We got the Boot right now," tackle Brandon Winey said. "Man, that's a big old boot. We want to keep the Boot, too."
For a change, the Boot game stirs that kind of talk.

This article was published on Friday, November 24, 2000

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