Razorback Report: Bowl history can be made with victory

Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt and his Razorbacks can make school history Thursday night if they beat UNLV in the Las Vegas Bowl.
A victory would make Nutt the first Arkansas coach to win consecutive bowl games and mark the first time the Razorbacks have won bowl games in back-to-back years.
The chance to make some history came as a surprise to Nutt and the players.
"I wasn't aware Arkansas never had won bowl games two years in a row," sophomore center Josh Melton said. "As long as we've been playing here and all the bowl games we've been to, I'd figure we'd have done that already."
In Arkansas' 30 bowl appearances since 1934, the Razorbacks have won two consecutive bowl games one time, but that was over a three-year span and under different coaches.
Frank Broyles won his last bowl as Arkansas' coach, over Georgia in the 1976 Cotton Bowl, and then Lou Holtz won his first bowl as Arkansas' coach, over Oklahoma in the 1978 Orange Bowl.
Overall, Arkansas is 10-17-3 in bowl games. The Razorbacks broke a seven-game losing streak in bowls when they beat Texas 27-6 in the Cotton Bowl last year.
Two years ago, Michigan beat the Razorbacks 45-31 in the Citrus Bowl in Nutt's first season as Arkansas' coach.
"All I know is this: We lost our first bowl game and won our second, and I can tell you there's a lot of difference between winning and losing them," Nutt said. "There is every time you play, but especially at a bowl game.
"Winning back-to-back bowl games would be phenomenal. I can't tell you what [winning] the last two games to get to a bowl this year has done recruitingwise. It's been amazing."
Senior linebacker Quinton Caver said he would love to wrap up his college career on a three-game winning streak.
"Being the first Arkansas team to win back-to-back bowl games would mean a lot to the seniors, but it also will be good for next year's team," Caver said. "They can carry that over to off-season workouts and continue to get stronger and better and more confident."
-- Bob Holt

DON'T I KNOW YOU?
UNLV running back Jeremi Rudolph and Arkansas quarterback Robby Hampton will be on opposite sides of the field Thursday, but at one time they were on the same team. Just in a different sport.
Rudolph and Hampton were members of the Toronto Blue Jays' organization as outfielders. They played together on Toronto's Advanced Class A team, the Medicine Hat Blue Jays, in 1995 and 1996.
Rudolph had no idea Hampton was the Razorbacks' starting quarterback until this week, and even then was shocked to learn Hampton had quit playing baseball.
"Man, he was good," Rudolph said. "I don't know why he gave up baseball."
-- Chris Givens

REBELS QB A PATIENT MAN
UNLV quarterback Jason Thomas knows Arkansas' defense hasn't given up a touchdown in nine quarters, but he's patient.
"We may not score in the first quarter, and we may not score in the second quarter, but we know our offense can strike and strike fast," Thomas said. "We have to keep plugging and not get discouraged. If we have some three-and-outs, we'll keep pushing the ball."
Arkansas' aggressive defense can play into the Rebels' hands, Thomas said.
"They have so many guys in the box and they play man-to-man, so they might forget about me and I'll run 10, 15 yards for a first down," he said. "They've made some good plays on the ball, but on film we've seen they've made some bad plays. We just have to make the plays when we have the opportunity."
-- Chris Givens

SOME REST FOR WEARY
Not that any UNLV players are complaining, but a bowl game has simply prolonged an already long season. UNLV has played 12 games, including a regular-season game on Dec. 2, didn't have a bye until Week 9 and are admittedly banged up.
To combat fatigue, UNLV Coach John Robinson has taken it easy on his players in practice leading up to Thursday's Las Vegas Bowl.
"They are worn down, and we're trying to reflect that in practice," Robinson said. "We're out here for an hour and a half, we're going to take care of business then we're going to have all kinds of fun. It's the ability to turn it on and off that makes you successful."
After taking a week off for finals UNLV had only light workouts Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Monday was a full practice, but Tuesday, the last real practice before the bowl game, the Rebels worked out for only an hour and did so in shorts.
-- Chris Givens

A CAREFUL WALK-THROUGH
Barring something unusual in today's half-hour walk-through practice at Sam Boyd Stadium, Arkansas will be at full-strength for the Las Vegas Bowl.
Of course, full-strength went out the window months ago for the Razorbacks, who would seem the ideal candidates for an episode of ER.
Better make that, as well as could be expected.
"Knock on wood," Coach Houston Nutt said. "We haven't had anybody hurt since we got here. That's been a miracle within itself."
Arkansas escaped further physical damage during a 90-minute practice in sweats Tuesday morning at Desert Pines High School, its final major work for Thursday's game against UNLV.
Before arriving in Las Vegas, Arkansas already had lost more than 10 players for the season because of injury, including sophomore tailback Cedric Cobbs (separated shoulder), sophomore tailback Fred Talley (torn anterior cruciate ligament), junior cornerback Harold Harris (broken left arm) and freshman tight end J. Strain (torn ACL).
Final on-campus bowl preparations were marred by sophomore punt returner Steadman Campbell fracturing his left ankle and sophomore fullback Adam Daily being diagnosed with a career-ending spinal cord abnormality.
"We didn't change anything when we got out here," Nutt said. "We haven't had any injuries, which is amazing."
-- Robert Yates

This article was published on Wednesday, December 20, 2000

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