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Check out Razorbacks' effort in final games Tuesday, Nov 8, 2005 By Harry King FAYETTEVILLE - Genuinely and with enthusiasm, the crowd applauded the performance in Razorback Stadium. Sadly for football fans, it was the band getting the good reviews for the five songs from Phantom of the Opera. Twenty minutes earlier, quarterback Blake Mitchell genuflected twice at the end of a 14-10 victory and the good-sized South Carolina contingent left Fayetteville jabbering about the where and when of a bowl game. By the time the Gamecocks find out their December destination, most Razorback fans will be into basketball and the football die-hards will settle into two camps. There will be the eternal optimists, banking on Mitch Mustain and Darren McFadden and lapping up every positive from potential recruits. And, there will be the vultures, watching and waiting, trying to identify the carcasses of assistant coaches. Even in late September, it appeared that there would be some changes on the coaching staff. That is a certainty. At that time, I believed Nutt would be back for a ninth season and nothing has happened to alter that opinion. Athletic director Frank Broyles pretty much agreed to a two-year pass for Nutt in early 2004, although there is one factor that could render that freebie null and void. Broyles might renege if he thought the team had quit on Nutt - letting go of the rope in Nutt's words. When Danny Ford's last team quit on him, Broyles quit on Ford. The Razorbacks' season-long goals are officially dead, but Mississippi and Mississippi State are square in front of them. All along, I thought Arkansas was equal in talent to Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Ole Miss, and better than Mississippi State. The Rebels are 1-4 in the SEC and the Bulldogs are 0-6, and sandwiched between is Arkansas at 0-5. Defensive coordinator Reggie Herring said Sunday that the Razorbacks kept believing after the losses to USC, Alabama and Auburn, but that the next three weeks would be a stiff test of character. The defense is playing well enough for Arkansas to win the next two games, although there were a couple of oddities on Saturday. Only twice did South Carolina have a drive that lasted 10 plays or more and, on both of those occasions, the Gamecocks were starting in a hole and navigating into the wind. After the opening kickoff into the end zone, South Carolina ran 10 plays for 37 yards and flipped the field with a punt. Starting inside their 2 in the third quarter with the student section off their right shoulder, the Gamecocks ran 12 plays good for 59 yards. Another first-quarter possession into the wind is deceptive because it lasted eight plays with a net gain of 2 yards. On that occasion, a high snap to Mitchell resulted in a 31-yard loss. For those keeping count, that's 30 plays on three possessions into the wind. On their other nine possessions, the Gamecocks ran 29 plays, including a missed field goal. Rehashing the loss, many will point to Nutt's decision to go for fourth-and-a foot from the Arkansas 29 in the first quarter. Old school, I would have kicked with the wind, but I understand his attempt to excite a 2-5 team. The fourth-quarter failure at the South Carolina 17 was much more devastating. With second-and-1, Arkansas never took a forward step in three plays. If that series produced any positive, it was tackle Robert Felton's willingness to own up and say he and his fellow offensive linemen got whipped at the worst time. Felton's honesty indicates he will not let go of the rope. We'll see about his teammates. ----- Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media Group's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com. |
