Here is a running blog on the Arkansas vs. Louisiana-Monroe football game at War Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.

(10:25 p.m.)

What have we been doing since that last blog post? No, we haven't been canceling plane and hotel reservations for next weekend's Arkansas-Texas game in Austin. We have been filing a column on the Hogs' 28-27 comeback win over Louisiana-Monroe, and the verdict is in: The fans who believe in miracles can say that with this guy back or that guy in or the freshmen getting more experience that Arkansas is going to win seven games, but we can safely say Arkansas will be lucky not to be wiped off the floor for at least the next four games, which mercifully have an open date in the middle of the run.

Chris Bahn, meanwhile, has been to and from the dressing room and has a game story and also a notes/highlights/key-play package from the game, plus some juicy quotes from the respective sides.

And now, let's take a deep breath and appreciate Shay Haddock, whose life changed dramatically on Saturday night. Could he have imagined even being needed to take over for the Hogs' wunderkind kicker, Alex Tejada, whose late freshman season slump has continued on to 2008 and nearly cost the Hogs a game that should've have been close.

It almost wasn't close: ULM led by 18 points before Arkansas got back in it, turning a 24-6 deficit into a 28-27 win.

Haddock is a transfer from TCU, a sophomore squadman in the lineup roster.

ULM's placekicker, junior Jeremy Gener, isn't even listed in the War Hawks' media guide. He almost was the unknown hero, until his 45-yard field goal try drifted right and short. Many among the 55,048 fans who had stuck out the duration seemed to know the moment it left Gener's foot at the kick was no good.

Arkansas just had to kill the final 42 seconds after the miss. With the new 40-second play clock in effect, that only took one kneel-down by Casey Dick.

How coincidental (though a lot of the still-obsessed-with-Houston-Nutt folks will call it irony) that both Arkansas' and Ole Miss' games on Saturday came down the similar finishes. Both rallied  for 28-27 leads and seemingly gave their opponents too much time to get into field-goal range to win. Wake Forest made its heroic last-second effort at home; ULM and Gener were unlucky in Little Rock.

New Riverboat Gambler

The play call of the season so far for UA coach Bobby Petrino has to be that fourth-and-1 pass from the Louisiana-Monroe 32 with 1:45 to play. Quarterback Casey Dick made a nifty fake to Michael Smith, with the Hogs in an I-formation, and true freshman Chris Gragg from Warren, lined up on the right side of the offensive line, immediately was behind the ULM defense. Dick's pass wasn't his best, though, and two defenders were on Gragg, who at 6-foot-5 was still able to leap up and make an acrobatic grab.

Petrino amazes with the faith he has put in this freshman class he brought in last February. He amazes us also with the guts on the call. It was the proverbial do-or-die there. Two plays later, Dick found D.J. Williams for 8 yards and the tying score, leading the way for Haddock to be the unsung hero -- and maybe Arkansas' placement kicker for a while, until Alex Tejada can work out his problems.

Fans can be certain the experiment of using Tejada on kickoffs, which started Saturday night, is over, though his accuracy problem on field goals dates back to late last year.

The second biggest buzz for everyone in the press box after all the locker room duties was hearing that Arkansas State eased past  Texas Southern 83-10. The response from others who asked us the score was, "ASU won by how much?" Steve Roberts will never be compared with former Houston coach John Jenkins, who too nice to rub it in on purpose. Texas Southern must have just been gosh-awful. By the way, ASU plays Louisiana-Monroe at home on Oct. 11, the same day Arkansas is at Auburn.

(8:49 p.m.)

D.J. Williams has to stop doing this. He's already our favorite Hog. He's the fastest tight end we've seen for the Razorbacks in forever. No wonder Houston Nutt was trying to poach him away to Ole Miss last January.

And Shay Haddock just got the loudest reception for a made extra point in War Memorial Stadium's 60-year history -- OK, maybe the second-loudest since David Carlton beat LSU in 2002 with a PAT that was 15 yards longer than it should have been. Haddock, a sophomore walk-on from the Dallas area who originally played at TCU, replaced the shaky Alex Tejada, who had a kicker's nightmare. OK, the day Leigh Tiffin had for Alabama in Fayetteville two years ago would be the worse day for a kicker, but this was close.

(8:44 p.m.)

The third-quarter stats were just handed out. Telling:

Michael Smith, who had a sensational first half (13-for-121) had four carries for 12 yards. Down suddenly by 18 in the third quarter, the Hogs weren't going to be running the ball, naturally.

Casey Dick is 13 for 19 for 168. Arkansas isn't losing because of the quarterback.

ULM has 195 yards passing, and 128 of that came in the third quarter alone. Ouch.

And we look up to watch Jeremy Gener nail a 40-yard field goal following a big kick return to near midfield. Alex Tejada, please note the smooth tempo of your competitor kicker, who did not try to pound the ball out of the stadium. Not that we know a darn thing about kicking, no sir.

Hey, we remember some pretty bad days for Hogs kickers. Steve Little missed five field goals in a 9-3 loss to Tulsa in 1976. Not all of them were bombs either. It just happens. Tejada probably doesn't deserve to be totally thrown under the bus here. But in a game of fast momentum shifts, a shaky kicker can make all the difference.

So, too, can cornerbacks who can't cover, or a defensive line that can't put a big rush on a passer, make all the difference. 

(8:33)

OK, it's not over yet. Tight end D.J. Williams' hands have singlehandedly brought the bumbling Hogs back to within 10 at 24-14. The Hogs need him on defense, too.

And there goes that kicking game again, giving up a big return to near midfield. At least we know kicker Jeremy Davis can tackle, saving a touchdown.

While officials on the field seem to be asking to reset the scoreboard clock over and over, can we just reset the eligibility clock on a few of those ex-Hogs from last year? Or, as Bob Wisener of the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record just offered, let's reset the clock to 2010. The next 10-20 Hog games aren't going to pretty while the pieces are picked up by Bobby Petrino.

(8:21 actual time, 6:05 left in third quarter)

We can't remember a Razorback collapse lilke this at venerable War Memorial Stadium since Jack Crowe's first season as coach, 1990. Two third-quarter bombs over Arkansas's clueless and outmanned pass defense reminds one of TCU going up, over, under and around Crowe's Hogs on the way to a 54-26 wipeout 18 years ago. TCU also blocked a couple of punts that night, too.

Arkansas has gone from seemingly the superior team for 18-plus minutes to start the game to perhaps a team that might have trouble beating out North Texas and Florida International for last place in the Sun Belt.

Auburn stuggled and still beat the War Hawks 34-0 last week. Let's hope Tommy Tuberville really has let bygones be bygones with his former offensive coordinator, Bobby Petrino, who wanted his Auburn job in 2003 when Petrino had coached Louisville for one year. Tuberville claimed at SEC Media Days in July that he and Petrino had talked about it and he understood it was all business. Or something like that.

We'll probably find out on the scoreboard Oct. 11.

Chris Bahn is going there alone. I'm going to Jonesboro and watch these War Hawks play the state's best team, the Arkansas State Red Wolves. ASU was hammering Texas Southern 52-0 in the second quarter tonight. Apparently, defensive back Darrell Glasper, a recent Hog transfer to Texas Southern, isn't helping the Tigers much.

He wouldn't have hurt the Hogs in the third quarter. That was pretty weak coverage by Isaac Madison and Ramon Broadway on the ULM deep bombs. It's safe to say the Hogs' best cornerbacks (re: high school Hog commitments Darius Winston and David Gordon) aren't on campus yet.

Tick Tock

Who the heck is running the stadium scoreboard clock? For about the fourth time tonight, the officials have asked that the clock be reset to the correct time. This time, it's about 1:20 off.

Earlier in the second half, the officials said the clock was broken and would be turned off and kept on the field. Then, after asking the clock be reset to 2:48, they said it was malfunctioning again and to reset it at 2:35.

Is Alex Tejada running the clock?

Halftime Update

Arkansas AD JIM Long?

Did the PA guy really say University of Arkansas director of athletics "Jim" Long, when JEFF Long was presenting a ceremonial game ball to War Memorial Stadium Commission chairman Gary Smith on the field at halftime?

The guy (Long) recently assures Little Rock at least two more years of a contract to have Razorback games, and the PA guy calls him JIM? What's up with that?

Maybe it's the 10-6 ULM lead at halftime.

Granted, Long's not a forceful personality compared to some ADs we've known. Give him 50 years in the job and we guarantee they'll know his name.

Here's another name to remember, and to count on if the Hogs are going to win this game and do anything this season:

Michael Smith -- he's nothing short of sensational tonight. He's got 121 yards on 13 carries, with a long run of 29 and a 13-yard touchdown carry.

On the other end of the spectrum:

Alex Tejada? On the scoreboard, he's responsible for the Hogs not having seven points they should have, but how much of ULM's 10 also could be blamed on the obvious momentum shift after those FG and PAT botches, as well as the sideline sag and/or confusion that probably led to a punt block, assorted penalties and all sorts of discombobulation.

Does one guy deserve all this blame? OK, probably not. There are 70 or more guys over there dressed in red. But for 18 minutes the Hogs were by far the dominant team, and for the next nine minutes the Hogs let a very poor team back in the game and believe it can win.

The UA band just played a most apropos song: "Don't Stop Believing."

The Second Quarter

Don't Give Up on the Play

Little Rock freshman receiver Joe Adams did something you rarely see a freshman do: Stripped of the ball by two ULM defenders after a nice reception and run, Adams didn't stay down after fumbling but rather dove into the pile. The ball came back to him in the process, keeping alive Arkansas' first scoring drive.

Yes, the Hogs Missed Smith Last Week

Michael Smith continued to pile up yardage, passing the 100-yard rushing mark in the first three minutes of the second quarter, and scoring a touchdown on a 13-yard run that required a review of an official's call at the goal line. Smith stretched the ball across the goal line as he went down just before the line, and the line judge called Smith down a half-yard short. The review, however, gave Arkansas its first touchdown of the game: officially a 13-yard run, with 11:40 left in the half.

The guy may be smallish (a generous 5-foot-7 listing on the roster and 165 pounds) but he is lightning quick, more than any other back the Hogs have, and strong. And that show he put on in the spring game was no fluke, as he proved in the first half, to the War Hawks' chagrin.

Footloose

Alex Tejada's bad night continued with a missed point after, and it would get worse. If there was any consolation on the PAT, it barely missed left.

Maybe taking on the extra duties of kicking off for the first time in his UA career along with placements is bothering him. Whatever, something's not right.

To top it off, they gave him a delay of game penalty on the enusing kickoff, and then he kicked the next one out of bounds to give ULM the ball on the War Hawks' 45. Two penalties for 10 total yards, two missed field goals, a missed extra point, and worst of all, a momentum shift to ULM giving them the ball near midfield when they hadn't shown much offense at all.

Truly, if there is a worse performance EVER by a UA kicker in the first 18:20 of a game, we've never seen it.

We'd give anything to be hearing Carlos Chicas' Spanish-language call of Tejada's struggles now, just to hear if he's wailing out an "Ay, caramba" over and over.

Tejada's problems seemed to overwhelm the whole kicking game. After ULM drove the 55 yards to its go-ahead score, Arkansas went three and out, and then the War Hawks sent everyone at punter Jeremy Davis, with Anthony McCall deflecting it and giving ULM possession on the UA 21 to set up another score,a 20-yard field goal by Scott Love.

Want more? Of course there's more. Freshman Derrick Johnson, new this week on the kickoff return team, mindlessly decided to field the ensuing kickoff standing about one inch from the sideline at the 2-yard line, and then was ruled out of bounds at the 5. We think he got a generous spot at that.

Very un-special.

We understand of Hog fans were saying: Thank goodness for Michael Smith's 13 carries 121 yards at the 2:30 mark of the second quarter), or it could really be ugly.

Pregame and First Quarter

Tickets? Who Needs Tickets?

For a first game of the season in Little Rock at War Memorial Stadium, a lot of tickets could be had outside the stadium a half hour before kickoff.

A longtime Arkansas official made the same comment to us: He'd never seen this many tickets available before kickoff at a Little Rock game. Certainly not this many before a game when the Hogs were still undefeated.

On the other hand, probably more fans than ever were staying in the War Memorial Park golf course tailgating area to watch the game via the pay-per-view satellite offerings the Arkansas had arranged for the game. Maybe some of those were unloading the stadium seats to watch from their tailgating chairs.

One fellow had two tickets on the 50-yard line he was hoping to unload for face value - he had two other seats (in the stadium) he planned to use. Last we checked, he had no face-value offers. Other hands had as many as four tickets held up in the walk-up to the stadium.

Still, at game-time the stadium was jammed except for 50-100 or so seats in section 40, where the UA students have tickets.

Tejada Shaky

Springdale sophomore Alex Tejada got his first field goal try of the season, a 45-yard effort in the first quarter that veered left of the goal posts, no good.

He had another attempt on Arkansas's second possession, a 71-yard drive to the ULM 7. His 25-yard field goal was blasted left of the left upright, no good again.

Tejada, who was outstanding for the Hogs in his first seven games in 2007, finished last season in a field-goal kicking slump, including a rough Cotton Bowl day against Missouri where he missed field goals that were considered chip-shots. Against Western Illinois, Tejada had four successful point-after kicks but never had a chance to try a field goal.

Arkansas was forced to settle for the three-point try on its first drive after two penalties - a procedure penalty on guard Demarcus Love and a 15-yard offensive pass interference flag on London Crawford - put the threatening Hogs in a surprising first-and-30 situation at midfield.

Crawford had made a nice over-the-shoulder grab on a perfectly thrown Casey Dick pass near the right sideline, but officials detected a push-off on the junior receiver from Mobile, wiping out a game inside the Monroe 15.

As a few press wags immediately remarked: You expect that call to go to the home team.

Officially, even though ULM wore visitor uniforms and sat on the visitors bench, the game was considered a home game for ULM so it can count the 55,048 in attendance to its home season average and staying above the minimum requirement for Division I-A status.

Significant Early Plays

Redshirt freshman Jake Bequette, a backup defensive end from Little Rock Catholic, got a paw up and knocked down a pass by ULM quarterback Kinsmon Lancaster, forcing a War Hawks punt in the first quarter.

Running back Michael Smith, who was held out of last week's season opener because of an infraction involved with school textbooks, started Game 2 and opened it with a 6-yard carry on the game's first play. The Hogs obviously missed the junior's quickness and experience in last weeks' game with Western Illinois. Smith later had a 24-yard scoot on a misdirection play, with the last man amking a diving tackle, and then repeated it on the next snap for 29 yards to ULM's 9 on Arkansas's second possession, leading to Tejada's second field goal miss.

Lucas Miller, a junior walk-on receiver who last week let a pass bounce off his hands for an interception, had another glance high off his mitts in the first quarter on Arkansas's second possession, but fortunately for the Hogs no ULM defender was close enough to catch the carom. Arkansas got a first-down scramble from Casey Dick on the next snap, so no harm done.