Like it is: Hogs lose, but continue picking themselves up
WALLY HALLARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
BATON ROUGE, La. -- There was just under 10 minutes to play when Jermaines Brooks and Petty brought LSU running back LaBrandon Toefield down.
Brooks immediately felt the pain shoot through his left shoulder, and then it went numb.
He had knocked it out of place.
Brooks looked at the Arkansas sideline and made an instant decision: "I thought what the hell, I'm not quitting now," he said.
On the next play it popped back in place when he hit the ground and despite the continued pain and growing stiffness, Brooks kept on fighting.
To a man, that's what the Arkansas Razorbacks did here Friday.
They laid it on the line and went down fighting.
When time -- which had been Arkansas' enemy in this game for the last 13 days -- ran out, LSU knew it had escaped.
Even when LSU went up 41-25 with 8:21 to play, there was no quit in these Hogs.
"Now you can look back and see where that would have been a place we could have packed up and headed to the house," said Carlos Hall, "but it never entered our minds. There's no quit in our coaches and no quit in this team."
In the end, it came down to time and big plays.
LSU is a good football team and it was obvious that it used the off week to prepare for the Razorbacks' offense and defense.
The Tigers had 11 plays for 20 yards or more, and four of those big gainers went for touchdowns.
More than likely, the loss made Arkansas a long shot for the Cotton Bowl, and it probably will play in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., (Dec. 28) or the Independence Bowl in Shreveport (Dec. 27).
Considering that on Sept. 29 the Razorbacks were 1-3 and 0-3 in SEC play, this may be the greatest turnaround in UA football history.
After getting beat at Georgia, the only bowl that appeared to be in the Razorbacks future was the popcorn bowl, which they could have been eating from while they watched postseason games on television.
Only Houston Nutt called them together and told them something they'll never forget.
That he believed in them and no matter what happened, he always would.
"That's a winner," said Arkansas quarterbacks coach David Lee. "I've been a head coach and I saw a season fall apart on me and I couldn't do anything about it.
"Not Houston. He pulled these guys back together with his confidence in them. It was genuine, and they knew it."
People smirked after the Georgia and Alabama losses when Nutt said he saw this team coming together.
Critics refused to see what Nutt and his staff could see.
One caller to a radio show said, "I've got my short list together."
Privately, Nutt was a little hurt as the heat grew, but he never lost his focus or his drive.
Which was the path his players followed when things looked bleak.
Whether it was at Ole Miss and seven overtimes or Mississippi State at home, these Razorbacks, who are heavy in youth, sucked it up.
"I don't remember a greater swing for a football team," said Dean Weber, who has been the taking care of the Razorbacks wounded for 29 seasons now.
As far as the players are concerned, all credit starts with their head coach.
"Coach Nutt never quit believing in us," said Kenny Sandlin. "His confidence in us made us believe in ourselves."
Starting the week of the Weber State game, the tensions broke and since Oct. 6, this group of kids had each other's backs.
"There's a bond on this team that will never be broken," said Brooks.
Before Nutt's heart-to-heart talk, some fingers were pointed and some tempers flared in the locker room after a practice.
That was when Nutt called them together and said, "No more."
So the same team that struggled to get 114 yards of offense against Nevada-Las Vegas in the season opener, came into the most hostile arena in the country and went toe to toe for 40 minutes.
Freshman Matt Jones kept the Hogs in it in the first half, and in the fourth quarter it was sophomore Zak Clark.
Clark drove the Hogs 80 yards in six plays using only 1:43 of the clock. He completed 4 of 6 passes, including an 11-yarder to George Wilson for a touchdown.
The defense stepped up and held and Clark drove the Hogs 57 yards, completing 5 of 6 passes, the last one for 15 yards and a touchdown to make it 41-38 with 2:27 to play.
For a moment, Death Valley became very quiet.
The Tigers were faced with third-and-13 and 1:25 remained on the clock.
Then Rohan Davey, as he did all afternoon, hit favorite receiver Josh Reed for 31 yards and the final big play of the day.
Time had been Arkansas' enemy for many days, and in the end, it won by running out.
This article was published on November 24, 2001
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