In the red zone: Security shuts out Arkansas
ROBERT TURBEVILLEARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Members of the Arkansas media were penalized Friday at Tiger Stadium. One reporter was even ejected from the game ... sort of.
Security officers refused to allow visiting reporters access to the sidelines until there were about three minutes left. Once on the sidelines, those media members were forced to take a knee and were not allowed to stand or move around.
Security officer Jeffrey Allelo even threatened to kick most of the members of the Arkansas print media out of the stadium if they "stood up one more time."
That made covering the crucial final minutes of the game nearly impossible.
It's customary for reporters at college games to be allowed on the sidelines for the final four to eight minutes. (In the NFL, reporters are granted access for the entire fourth quarter.) Once on the sidelines, media members usually are allowed to walk the sidelines to follow the game.
But it's their way or the highway in Death Valley.
Tulsa World reporter Matt Doyle, who covers the Razorbacks, found out the hard way. Doyle was forced to watch the final minutes of the game from a tunnel after he stood up to change ends of the field so he could watch the game. A security officer who had told Doyle to take a knee made Doyle leave the sideline.
Arkansas reporters had salt rubbed into the wound when they looked across the field to the LSU sideline during the final minutes. Members of the Louisiana media, and some of the Arkansas reporters standing there, were given access to the field with six minutes left and were not required to take a knee.
SNOUTIN' OFF GIVEN THE BOOT
Seconds after LSU beat Arkansas 41-38, about five Tigers players were dancing at midfield, holding the Golden Boot trophy above their heads.
Bah, humbug, Arkansas quarterback Zak Clark said.
"I don't think you'll be sitting around 15 years from now saying I won the Boot in 2001," Clark said.
Maybe, but LSU can claim bragging rights for a year. The trophy, shaped like the states of Arkansas and Louisiana combined and given to the winner of the Arkansas-LSU game, will spend the next year at LSU.
Playing a trophy game was devised in Arkansas but the prize seems to belong to LSU. Since the trophy was introduced into the series before the 1996 game, LSU has won it in 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2001.
"I guess it's nice to get a trophy," Clark said. "More importantly, you try to win the [SEC] West. Nobody thinks about Boot until you win it."
BIG JOHN SIGHTING
Who was the first Razorback out of the locker room Friday?
Professional golfer John Daly, a former Razorback from Dardanelle.
Daly sat in on Coach Houston Nutt's postgame remarks to his team.
"That was just a hell of a football game," Daly said.
DO YOUR MATH
Arkansas is 7-4, but it sounds like LSU Coach Nick Saban isn't counting that 42-19 victory over NCAA Division I-AA Weber State.
"Arkansas' a good football team, and I understand very well why they've won six games," Saban said.
RIGHT GUY, WRONG HALF
The Advocate in Baton Rouge, La., was half-right. True freshman Matt Jones did start at quarterback for the Razorbacks -- in the second half.
The depth chart published in the newspaper listed Jones as the starter over Zak Clark, but Jones did not supplant Clark to make his first start.
The mistake in the paper is somewhat understandable, even though correct depth charts are available the day before the game. Jones has performed like a starter, playing big roles in victories against South Carolina, Auburn, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
He had a big role Friday, too, with a touchdown run and two touchdown passes. Jones entered the game during the first series, scoring on a 3-yard run, and he and Clark alternated the rest of the game.
THE GOOD
Arkansas linebacker Tony Bua, a native of River Ridge, La., felt like he was slapped in the face by LSU when the school didn't offer him a scholarship as a senior at Breaux Bridge High School until two weeks before the signing date. Bua did his best to pay back the Tigers on Friday. He intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble in the first half, part of three first-half turnovers forced by the Razorbacks that led to nine points. Bua's interception of Rohan Davey at the LSU 36 in the first quarter did not lead to points, but his fumble recovery at the LSU 31 led to Matt Jones' 15-yard touchdown pass to Richard Smith that put Arkansas ahead 13-7 with 1:19 left in the first half.
THE BAD
Arkansas' pass defense. Granted, the Razorbacks intercepted three passes, but those interceptions could be credited to poor decisions by LSU quarterback Rohan Davey, who passed for 359 yards. LSU senior wide receiver Josh Reed, who entered the game leading the nation in receiving yards per game (145.7), had 7 catches for 183 yards and 2 touchdowns. It was Reed's second-best performance of the season. Only Alabama gave up more receiving yards to Reed (an LSU- and SEC-record 293 yards). Reed-iculous!
This article was published on November 24, 2001
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