Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

We haven't heard one person anywhere say that Arkansas would have lost Saturday's game against Louisiana-Monroe had fifth-year senior quarterback Tyler Wilson been on the field in the second half.

Not only would Wilson have continued to go over the top of ULM's gambling, pressuring defense for touchdowns to Cobi Hamilton, Mekale McKay, Chris Gragg and others, but Wilson would also have been that towering figure of sideline strength for the Razorbacks even if Louisiana-Monroe somehow caught fire and matched him score for score over the final two quarters.

But, as we know too well now, Wilson wasn't even on the Arkansas sideline in the second half, much less playing. His apparent concussion had sent him off to a hospital Saturday night as the ceiling fell in on the Hogs.

Arkansas didn't have another quarterback available to accurately complete the deep ball, and the quarterback they had, redshirt freshman Brandon Allen, did not have an offensive line rising up to protect him and give him much time to throw anything. The offensive coordinator, Paul Petrino, didn't seem to trust the line to block well enough for the run either. When a soft-blocking Arkansas couldn’t convert a third-and-2 with Knile Davis on one fourth-quarter series, it’s easy to see why.

Two million sideline coaches rose up late Saturday night and haven't sat down since, questioning why Arkansas didn't run more in the second half, or why the defense couldn’t tackle the quarterback or why the pass defenders played soft off receivers, or any number of other concerns that might explain how the Razorbacks somehow lost to ULM 34-31 in overtime.

Momentum and team chemistry are fragile and fleeting in college football.

When Tyler Wilson was appointed de facto leader of the Razorback program in the wake of Bobby Petrino's firing in April, and when John L. Smith was given a 10-month contract to fill in as head coach, it meant that Arkansas really didn't have anyone other than a player to command the sideline. That player was nowhere to be found during the second-half collapse Saturday.

We're not sure the rest of the nation quite picked up on all that in ridiculing the previously eighth-ranked Hogs for their stunning loss after going into the game a 30-point favorite. We’ve seen Arkansas lose some shockers before, but none that were so affected by the sudden absence of a handful of players, most especially the team-leading, talented quarterback.

It also doesn’t appear the coaching staff ever accounted for Wilson not being around when even a nonconference game — a "preseason" game as one assistant coach dared to call it — got dicey.

But the absence of Wilson, and the way momentum can quickly flip-flop and the way delicate chemistry can be shattered all were evident Saturday night.

For a team with average talent in the SEC, the drop from penthouse to outhouse can be almost instantaneous. It can happen when THE key player is sidelined, or when the chemistry is suddenly disrupted.

Houston Nutt had everything going his way in Oxford, Miss., after leaving Arkansas in 2007, until he made the fatal mistake of bringing aboard the troublesome quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who had been dismissed from Oregon. It totally destroyed the good will and chemistry within the team that had been built up in two successful seasons. Suddenly Nutt was on the way to 15 straight SEC losses and out of a job.