LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -Houston Nutt chose his words carefully all week, refusing to speculate on how fans will greet him when he returns to Arkansas as coach of division rival Mississippi.
Others have been a little more blunt.
“I had somebody tell me … ‘Some places you go, they give out bobblehead dolls,”’ Ole Miss color analyst Pete Cordelli said. “He said, ‘It’s going to be Houston Nutt Pinata Night up in Fayetteville.”’
Arkansas won’t need any gimmicky promotions to fill seats for this game. It’s been looming for about 11 months after Nutt left the Razorbacks and took over at Ole Miss. Saturday night, the Hogs host the Rebels in Fayetteville.
“We gave a lot of effort and a lot of energy to that program for 10 years,” Nutt said. “Every single day from daylight to exhaustion.”
a 10-game winning streak, but the Razorbacks lost their final three games that season, and offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn left to join the staff at Tulsa. (Malzahn will have his chance to return to Fayetteville next week, when the Razorbacks host the Golden Hurricane.)
After Malzahn left, quarterback Mitch Mustain transferred, and news broke about a nasty e-mail a friend of Nutt’s family sent to Mustain before he left the team. Fans used the Freedom of Information Act to investigate Nutt’s cell phone records.
“Yeah, that was a little bit different,” Nutt said this week. “There’s a lot of passion.”
Nutt probably could have regained some public support with a big season last year. But despite having Heisman Trophy candidate Darren McFadden, the Razorbacks started poorly, and planes were spotted at games towing anti-Nutt banners. Nutt left for Ole Miss, another SEC West school. Bobby Petrino replaced him.
This game would be critical even if Nutt weren’t involved. Both teams are 3-4, 1-3 in Southeastern Conference play. Each has to face LSU later in the year, so the loser this weekend in Fayetteville will have a tough challenge reaching six wins and bowl eligibility.
o it, but we’re playing the Ole Miss Rebels. You really can’t put a whole lot of thought and a whole lot of emphasis on the coaching staff.”
Defensive lineman Malcolm Sheppard agrees.
“Coach Nutt gave me a shot when nobody gave me a shot. Personally, he’s one of the best men I know,” Sheppard said. “To play against him is not that hard because I’m not looking at it like I’m playing against coach Houston Nutt. I’m playing against Ole Miss.”
Arkansas is coming off a 21-20 loss at Kentucky in which the Razorbacks had a 13-point lead and the ball with under five minutes remaining. Ole Miss lost 24-20 last weekend to unbeaten Alabama.
Arkansas running back Michael Smith, the SEC rushing leader, left the Kentucky game with a concussion. His status has been tenuous all week.
The Razorbacks and Rebels have quarterbacks who lack consistency – Casey Dick at Arkansas and Jevan Snead at Ole Miss. Freshman Brandon Bolden leads Ole Miss in rushing, and he can also line up at quarterback in the Wild Rebel formation.
That set used to be called the WildHog when Nutt used it at Arkansas. The Razorbacks should be familiar with it.
“I didn’t know they changed the name,” Petrino said. “They didn’t patent it? They should have patented it.”
significance, freshman Enrique Davis is playing it cool.
“I just feel like everybody’s treating like it’s just a regular game,” the Ole Miss running back said. “We treat every game the same way. Every game’s a big game because it’s the next game.”
Fair enough. For Arkansas, this game is anything but normal.
“I don’t want to try to downplay anything. We know there’s pressure on it,” Petrino said. “We know the Razorback Nation wants us to win this game, and we’re certainly going to do everything in our power.”
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