Oh, what a difference one year makes
Swinging for the Fences
Matt Watson
Issue date: 11/24/08 Section: Sports
You can put a big "X" on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008, on your calendar.
It was one of the darkest days in recent Arkansas sports' history. It was the very bottom of the valley, an all-time low, the nadir of the Razorback nation's suffering.
The Arkansas football team fell 31-28 to the Mississippi State Bulldogs, the perennial Southeastern Conference cellar dwellers, who knocked off the Razorbacks for the first time in a decade.
And the Hogs' hoops team was humbled by the Missouri State Bears, picked to finish dead last in the Missouri Valley Conference, but won 62-57 to earn their first win over Arkansas since 1987.
It just wasn't a good day.
The football Hogs had won nine straight times against Mississippi State, outscoring the Bulldogs by 132 points over the last ten years. Mississippi State hasn't had a winning conference record since 1999, and now boasts six wins against Arkansas in 19 contests.
In 2007, Casey Dick threw for four touchdowns against the Bulldogs in Little Rock. Little brother Nathan played valiantly in his first career start Saturday in Starkville, but his 333 yards and three touchdowns sadly weren't enough this year. Lucas Miller's 201 receiving yards, just three off the school record, were nothing to be ashamed of, either.
It's just a shame that one of the worst offenses in college football (MSU was 117th of 120 teams in scoring average before Saturday) put up 31 points on the Razorback defense, doubling its points per game average and pinning the hopes of the Hogs' bowl chances on embattled sophomore kicker Alex Tejada.
We all know what happened after that.
Tejada, the master of the onside kick, has the leg to make field goals from way downtown.
But he's like Shaq at the free throw line. Nobody can question that the ball's going to get there. Too many times it just doesn't go in.
However, it shouldn't have taken a 46-yard field goal in the waning seconds of the game just for a chance at a win in overtime.
In the battle for next-to-last in the SEC, Arkansas lost.
The basketball team's offensive ineptitude in its first road game of the season produced a 10-minute span without a field goal. It's difficult to go a fourth of the game without a basket. Coach John Pelphrey wasn't impressed.
The Bears were picked to finish behind the likes of Evansville and Wichita State in their league this year. Even a bottom-rung SEC team should be able to beat a mid-major, especially when the mid-major is picked to finish last in its conference.
Razorback sports were plagued by youth and inexperience Saturday. But there is always a silver lining. In time, youth and inexperience become maturity and experience.
The best thing about rock bottom is there is no place to go but up.
Matt Watson is the assistant sports editor of The Arkansas Traveler. His column appears every Monday.
It was one of the darkest days in recent Arkansas sports' history. It was the very bottom of the valley, an all-time low, the nadir of the Razorback nation's suffering.
The Arkansas football team fell 31-28 to the Mississippi State Bulldogs, the perennial Southeastern Conference cellar dwellers, who knocked off the Razorbacks for the first time in a decade.
And the Hogs' hoops team was humbled by the Missouri State Bears, picked to finish dead last in the Missouri Valley Conference, but won 62-57 to earn their first win over Arkansas since 1987.
It just wasn't a good day.
The football Hogs had won nine straight times against Mississippi State, outscoring the Bulldogs by 132 points over the last ten years. Mississippi State hasn't had a winning conference record since 1999, and now boasts six wins against Arkansas in 19 contests.
In 2007, Casey Dick threw for four touchdowns against the Bulldogs in Little Rock. Little brother Nathan played valiantly in his first career start Saturday in Starkville, but his 333 yards and three touchdowns sadly weren't enough this year. Lucas Miller's 201 receiving yards, just three off the school record, were nothing to be ashamed of, either.
It's just a shame that one of the worst offenses in college football (MSU was 117th of 120 teams in scoring average before Saturday) put up 31 points on the Razorback defense, doubling its points per game average and pinning the hopes of the Hogs' bowl chances on embattled sophomore kicker Alex Tejada.
We all know what happened after that.
Tejada, the master of the onside kick, has the leg to make field goals from way downtown.
But he's like Shaq at the free throw line. Nobody can question that the ball's going to get there. Too many times it just doesn't go in.
However, it shouldn't have taken a 46-yard field goal in the waning seconds of the game just for a chance at a win in overtime.
In the battle for next-to-last in the SEC, Arkansas lost.
The basketball team's offensive ineptitude in its first road game of the season produced a 10-minute span without a field goal. It's difficult to go a fourth of the game without a basket. Coach John Pelphrey wasn't impressed.
The Bears were picked to finish behind the likes of Evansville and Wichita State in their league this year. Even a bottom-rung SEC team should be able to beat a mid-major, especially when the mid-major is picked to finish last in its conference.
Razorback sports were plagued by youth and inexperience Saturday. But there is always a silver lining. In time, youth and inexperience become maturity and experience.
The best thing about rock bottom is there is no place to go but up.
Matt Watson is the assistant sports editor of The Arkansas Traveler. His column appears every Monday.
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