GeauxTo
11-26-2005, 12:41 PM
Close loss a bitter pill to swallow
By JOE MACALUSO
jmacaluso@theadvocate.com (jmacaluso@theadvocate.com)
Advocate staff writer
http://www.2theadvocate.com/images/112605/19132_256.jpg (http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/112605/lsu_close001.shtml#) Advocate staff photo by TRAVIS SPRADLING Arkansas coach Houston Nutt saw his team finish 4-7, 2-6 in the SEC. Close is just that, close.
Houston Nutt knows close.
So do his Arkansas Razorbacks.
OK, there was that 70-17 whatever-you-call-it thing to Southern California, the nation's No. 1 team, but there are just a handful of points separating the Razorbacks from the two teams that will play in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday.
Friday it was a 19-17 down-to-the-wire loss to the third-ranked LSU Tigers, the newly crowned Southeastern Conference Western Division champions. Back on Oct. 22, it was a 23-20 loss to the East-champion Georgia Bulldogs, now No. 13 in the major polls.
And, both were on-the-road defeats.
For Nutt it was a bitter way to end his eighth season at Arkansas: Friday's loss left the Razorbacks at 4-7, 2-6 in the SEC.
"We had our chances. It was a game of missed opportunities … one or two places -- just three more points, that's all," Nutt said.
Senior place-kicker Chris Balseiro got Arkansas' only points in the first half -- a 30-yard field goal midway the second quarter -- but missed a 41-yarder in the first quarter.
LSU was up 12-3 at halftime.
After LSU scored its last points of the game on Justin Vincent's 4-yard run early in the third quarter, freshman running back Darren McFadden took the kickoff 81 yards to the LSU 17. It was the longest special teams play LSU allowed this season.
Problem was, McFadden stole the kickoff from the nation's leading kick returner Felix Jones, another Razorbacks freshman, and had to take a break on the sideline for the next plays.
Jones was at tailback, and with LSU pressuring quarterback Casey Dick, another freshman, Arkansas was left at the LSU 11.
Nutt termed that a "druthers" series of events and gave a shoulder shrug indicating he'd rather have had Jones return the kick and have McFadden at tailback for what turned out to be a crucial stop by the LSU defense.
Balseiro's 28-yard try hit the right upright and bounded away, the second chance Nutt mentioned.
And, no matter how many razzle-dazzle plays the Razorbacks tried -- and they were successful on laterals-then-forward passes and misdirection runs -- their 14-point rush in the game's final 25 minutes left them short -- again.
"Those work against a defense like LSU that pursues so fast," Nutt said.
The "trick" plays accounted for 79 yards of Arkansas's 241 total yards and three of their 12 first downs.
McFadden, who needed 150 yards to overtake Auburn's Kenny Irons for the SEC rushing title, pushed the score to 19-11 when he scored on a two-point extra point, that followed a 28-yard Dick to Cedric Washington TD pass.
McFadden scored the game's final points on a 1-yard run with 10:34 left in the game, but Dick's two-point pass try was intercepted by Chevis Jackson.
Close again: McFadden finished with 24 carries for a net 57 yards and ended the season the SEC's No. 2 rusher. And, the Razorbacks were even closer in the game's waning moments, but LaRon Landry intercepted Dick at the LSU 7 with 57 seconds left.
As much as the game turned on skill-position players, like the halfback passes and LSU's first score, a 50-yard pass from JaMarcus Russell to sprinter Bennie Brazell, there was lots of talk in the Arkansas locker room about heart, desire, a no-quit attitude and LSU's defensive line.
"I don't know where to start," Dick said. "Those four in their front made a big difference. Their two tackles (Kyle Williams and Claude Wroten) are monsters in the middle … the two best defensive tackles in the nation, and we had to be aware of them on every play.
"My line gave me time, but (defensive end Melvin) Oliver and 94 (Chase Pittman) were all over the place. Oliver was big," Dick said.
Moreso than his 6-foot-3, 277-pound size, Oliver led LSU with nine tackles and three sacks totaling 17 yards.
Just the mention of LSU's front brought a sigh from Nutt: LSU's front four combined for 25 tackles, including four sacks.
"You have to put four hands (linemen) on them (Williams and Wroten) and that frees up other things for LSU's front. They're a big-time group. … Oliver stepped in a made big plays for them," Nutt said.
"Thank goodness they're seniors (Williams, Wroten and Oliver). They've been around a long time and thank goodness we don't have to see them again."
Williams, Wroten and Oliver played their final games in Tiger Stadium. Pittman is a junior.
That said, the natural follow-up was Nutt's comparison of LSU and Georgia on Saturday in Atlanta. "It'll be a great football game. Both are good teams, but it's not fair to make a call right after playing LSU," Nutt said. "If (quarterback D.J.) Shockley is healthy, then Georgia is very good. And, the defense is good for both teams. It's going to be a heckuva ballgame."
By JOE MACALUSO
jmacaluso@theadvocate.com (jmacaluso@theadvocate.com)
Advocate staff writer
http://www.2theadvocate.com/images/112605/19132_256.jpg (http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/112605/lsu_close001.shtml#) Advocate staff photo by TRAVIS SPRADLING Arkansas coach Houston Nutt saw his team finish 4-7, 2-6 in the SEC. Close is just that, close.
Houston Nutt knows close.
So do his Arkansas Razorbacks.
OK, there was that 70-17 whatever-you-call-it thing to Southern California, the nation's No. 1 team, but there are just a handful of points separating the Razorbacks from the two teams that will play in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday.
Friday it was a 19-17 down-to-the-wire loss to the third-ranked LSU Tigers, the newly crowned Southeastern Conference Western Division champions. Back on Oct. 22, it was a 23-20 loss to the East-champion Georgia Bulldogs, now No. 13 in the major polls.
And, both were on-the-road defeats.
For Nutt it was a bitter way to end his eighth season at Arkansas: Friday's loss left the Razorbacks at 4-7, 2-6 in the SEC.
"We had our chances. It was a game of missed opportunities … one or two places -- just three more points, that's all," Nutt said.
Senior place-kicker Chris Balseiro got Arkansas' only points in the first half -- a 30-yard field goal midway the second quarter -- but missed a 41-yarder in the first quarter.
LSU was up 12-3 at halftime.
After LSU scored its last points of the game on Justin Vincent's 4-yard run early in the third quarter, freshman running back Darren McFadden took the kickoff 81 yards to the LSU 17. It was the longest special teams play LSU allowed this season.
Problem was, McFadden stole the kickoff from the nation's leading kick returner Felix Jones, another Razorbacks freshman, and had to take a break on the sideline for the next plays.
Jones was at tailback, and with LSU pressuring quarterback Casey Dick, another freshman, Arkansas was left at the LSU 11.
Nutt termed that a "druthers" series of events and gave a shoulder shrug indicating he'd rather have had Jones return the kick and have McFadden at tailback for what turned out to be a crucial stop by the LSU defense.
Balseiro's 28-yard try hit the right upright and bounded away, the second chance Nutt mentioned.
And, no matter how many razzle-dazzle plays the Razorbacks tried -- and they were successful on laterals-then-forward passes and misdirection runs -- their 14-point rush in the game's final 25 minutes left them short -- again.
"Those work against a defense like LSU that pursues so fast," Nutt said.
The "trick" plays accounted for 79 yards of Arkansas's 241 total yards and three of their 12 first downs.
McFadden, who needed 150 yards to overtake Auburn's Kenny Irons for the SEC rushing title, pushed the score to 19-11 when he scored on a two-point extra point, that followed a 28-yard Dick to Cedric Washington TD pass.
McFadden scored the game's final points on a 1-yard run with 10:34 left in the game, but Dick's two-point pass try was intercepted by Chevis Jackson.
Close again: McFadden finished with 24 carries for a net 57 yards and ended the season the SEC's No. 2 rusher. And, the Razorbacks were even closer in the game's waning moments, but LaRon Landry intercepted Dick at the LSU 7 with 57 seconds left.
As much as the game turned on skill-position players, like the halfback passes and LSU's first score, a 50-yard pass from JaMarcus Russell to sprinter Bennie Brazell, there was lots of talk in the Arkansas locker room about heart, desire, a no-quit attitude and LSU's defensive line.
"I don't know where to start," Dick said. "Those four in their front made a big difference. Their two tackles (Kyle Williams and Claude Wroten) are monsters in the middle … the two best defensive tackles in the nation, and we had to be aware of them on every play.
"My line gave me time, but (defensive end Melvin) Oliver and 94 (Chase Pittman) were all over the place. Oliver was big," Dick said.
Moreso than his 6-foot-3, 277-pound size, Oliver led LSU with nine tackles and three sacks totaling 17 yards.
Just the mention of LSU's front brought a sigh from Nutt: LSU's front four combined for 25 tackles, including four sacks.
"You have to put four hands (linemen) on them (Williams and Wroten) and that frees up other things for LSU's front. They're a big-time group. … Oliver stepped in a made big plays for them," Nutt said.
"Thank goodness they're seniors (Williams, Wroten and Oliver). They've been around a long time and thank goodness we don't have to see them again."
Williams, Wroten and Oliver played their final games in Tiger Stadium. Pittman is a junior.
That said, the natural follow-up was Nutt's comparison of LSU and Georgia on Saturday in Atlanta. "It'll be a great football game. Both are good teams, but it's not fair to make a call right after playing LSU," Nutt said. "If (quarterback D.J.) Shockley is healthy, then Georgia is very good. And, the defense is good for both teams. It's going to be a heckuva ballgame."