Jim's Notebook: Memphis Is Nice Enough for New Year's

Jim Harris

A LATER 'LIBERTY': It appears at this writing, from all indications other than from any official word out of the University of Arkansas or the Southeastern Conference, that the Liberty Bowl is the Razorbacks' holiday destination.

Arkansas' previous visits to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis have come before or just after Christmas during the spate of holiday bowl games. This one will fall somewhat in the middle of the big games, on Saturday, Jan. 2, which should make it a worthwhile game for Bobby Petrino's program, even if the trip is short. The 4:30 p.m. starting time comes right after the AT&T Cotton Bowl concludes.

Houston Nutt has already "tweeted" on Monday that his Rebels are headed to Arlington, Texas, and Jerry Jones' new stadium. He didn't say it, but the Rebels lost their way into the Cotton Bowl after having a Florida holiday in their hands. The Capital One Bowl was Ole Miss' to lose and the Rebels did just that in Starkville on Saturday, 41-27 to Mississippi State.

Ole Miss' only hope Saturday night was that Alex Tejada would make that tying field goal in the first overtime and somehow the Hogs would have outlasted LSU in Baton Rouge. That would have sent the Rebels to Orlando and the Hogs to a metro-Dallas holiday, and LSU might have fallen into the Liberty Bowl unless Shreveport could have coerced everyone involved to bring the Tigers to northwest Louisiana. An LSU-Oklahoma game might have had a lot of national appeal.

An Arkansas-Houston game in Memphis (assuming Houston can outscore East Carolina in the Conference USA title game) should get the nation's attention, what with the Cougars sporting quarterback Case Keenum and Arkansas bringing "Showtime" with Ryan Mallett.

LIBERTY BOWLS PAST: Ken Hatfield's first Razorback team, the overachieving 1984 Hogs that came within a handful of points here and there of landing in the Cotton Bowl before finishing 7-3-1, faced off against an underachieving Auburn on Dec. 27. Auburn was fresh off an 11-1 1983 season, but the Tigers were headed to the Sugar Bowl until stumbling against Ray Perkins' Alabama Crimson Tide, when Bo Jackson famously "turned right on the way to New Orleans." Auburn was stopped shy of the goal line late in the Iron Bowl when Jackson tried to break an off-tackle run on fourth down to the outside and was mobbed.

Most memorable about that Arkansas trip, outside the game, were two things: one, that David Housel of Auburn proved he was the best sports information director in the country, helping even the Hog-covering media with a hotel snafu when, for a while, it appeared none of us had rooms; and, two, that the famed rib joint, the Rendezvous, was closed that week between Christmas and New Year's.

We were assured that wouldn't be the case this time, should Arkansas return.

Arkansas corraled Jackson, the future Heisman Trophy winner, for most of that night, but surrendered a 40-yard touchdown run to the Auburn superstar. David Bazzel had a huge game for the Hog defense at linebacker. Auburn coach Pat Dye was seen chewing out his offensive coordinator, Jack Crowe, several times during the game. The Hogs also gambled and missed on a fourth-and-1 deep pass attempt from Brad Taylor to the wide-open Bobby Joe Edmonds that might have given the Hogs the win. Instead, they lost another close one to a superior squad, 21-16.