|
|
| |
| Sat, Nov. 22, 2008 |  |
 |
|
||
| |
Parker is likely leader for 2006 Thursday, Nov 10, 2005 By Harry King FAYETTEVILLE - Houston Nutt alluded to team leaders of 2006 when he said the last three weeks of this season are about getting ready for next year. In the offensive line, guard Stephen Parker is an early choice for such a role. Once a walk-on, Parker has a disdain for failure, an unwavering loyalty to the Arkansas coaches and a no-nonsense vision of the future. His scraggly beard and shaved head add to the persona. He can laugh about being written off three years before his time and about telling his mother and grandmother what they wanted to hear about their little boy. Sitting in a chair, dipping deep-fried peppers in a small packet of buttermilk ranch dressing, he brushed off a question about his tightly taped left ankle. "I'm definitely playing; don't worry about it," he said. Knowing there is no one else, Parker told his relatives the same thing after they saw him gimping a bit following Saturday's loss to South Carolina. "They were freaking out," he said. "Mom's never played football. She didn't understand. I told her, 'It's just part of the game.'" As a redshirt freshman from St. Paul Catholic High School, Parker was identified by the UA as a senior from the public high school in Mandeville, La. His bio was corrected prior to the 2004 season when he started all 11 games and earned a scholarship. Many of his high school classmates went to LSU, but, "I didn't want my college to be a continuance of high school," he said. Besides, his parents didn't grow up in Louisiana, so he wasn't raised on LSU football. His dad, a geologist, went to grad school in Fayetteville and his mother graduated from Arkansas. Parker had family in the area and he had heard good things about the treatment of walk-ons. "He comes along those lines like (Brandon) Burlsworth, those kinds of kids," Nutt said. After he arrived in Fayetteville, he realized he was as good as the players with scholarships and reputations. "I'm a very motivated guy, always have been," Parker said. "You've just got to have a me-against-the-world mentality, and that's what I had." When the conversation got around to the short-yardage failures against South Carolina, he was told that tackle Robert Felton said Nutt had put the game in the lap of the offensive line and that the group had failed. He asked for a moment to consider his response before pointing out that the Razorbacks had run the ball all year - a compliment to the players and line coach Mike Markuson - and then mentioned the need for a killer instinct inside the 20. "When you absolutely have to make a play, you have to get a yard, we haven't," he said. Arkansas fans are quick to recall Casey Dick's failed sneak on fourth-and-1 from the Razorback 29 against South Carolina, but there were other failures at least as costly. With first-and-goal at the 1, Arkansas ran twice and threw once before kicking a field goal just before the half. In the fourth quarter, the Razorbacks had second-and-1 at the South Carolina 17 and missed on three consecutive plays. "It comes down to you know you're going to run the ball, they know you're going to run the ball, what are you going to do?" Parker said. "The whole offense has to get the mentality, 'I don't care what they do, I don't care if they're putting 12 guys in the same gap, we're running the ball.'" With a second straight losing season a certainty, the off-season is going to be rough, he said. "Every one of us is going to do a lot of soul searching," he said. "Hopefully, we can come back in January with a whole new mindset." At this point, the idea is to stick together. "Like an old junkyard dog who is beat up on, whipped up on, sooner or later, you get sick of it," Parker said. "During spring ball, we're going to try to mold this team, try to turn this thing around." Spoken like a leader. ----- Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media Group's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com. |
