Hogs Can't Let Gators Knock Their Fight Out

Bobby Petrino spoke about as honestly and plainly as he could following Arkansas' 35-7 loss at Alabama, a game in which Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban was generous in keeping that margin within 28 points in the second half.

Petrino said his Razorbacks did not take the field believing they could win.

They may have thought they believed it. They may have said more of that silly stuff we heard the week before, against Georgia, from certain players of how sure they would take it to some big-name star on the other side.

I'd even take slight exception to Petrino's bold assertion, one usually saved for the locker room and not for the media to parse for the fans: Arkansas' players gave that "fighting Razorback" effort we've heard about for so long and held their own through the first quarter at Tuscaloosa. We were reminded of some of those lopsided Texas games with the UA in the 1970s when good planning and playcalling kept the game close for half.

In fact, if Petrino wanted a history lesson on when this writer has seen the Hogs take the field convinced they couldn't win from the opening kickoff, we'd suggest the Tennessee game in 2000 when the Vols led 35-0 after one quarter on the way to a 63-20 romp. For Tuscaloosa nightmares, he could look back on that 43-3 Tide romp in 1993, a true men-among-boys stomping if we've ever seen it.

Even when that ill-wind known as Miami came into Little Rock to lay a 51-7 whipping on Ken Hatfield's Hogs in 1987 on the way to a national championship, the Razorbacks at least competed at the start as if they thought they belonged. Of course, as we recall, a 3-play, 95-yard drive will take the wind out of anybody, especially when a 3-yard gain is the best the offense can muster against a team of future NFL stars.

So, too, did Petrino's Hogs bring some fight at Tuscaloosa. The coach had even researched every habit from the Tide's punt return team and came up with the perfect fake to keep an early drive going. It was the only way, it turned out, to move the chains in that first quarter.

No, truth is, the Razorbacks' grasp on the idea that they could beat the now No. 2-ranked Crimson Tide was tenous at best. And, as Alabama broke one long scoring run and pulled off a trick to take a 14-point lead late in the first half, Arkansas let go of the rope.

Certainly Hog fans have heard that one before, or at least the constant preaching to not release the hold on it. Young players bring unusually strong fight early, but they also let go quickly.