From the Bench

Will Liberty Bowl Woes Continue?

Robert Shields

The Pirates, and I never remember a time in my life the Razorback football team playing a team whose mascot name was the pirates, probably have a tough day a head of them in the Liberty Bowl. On the upside for them, the Hogs have never won in it – they’ve had several close calls, but always came up short. Of course there is the time the refs robbed the Hogs and gave the game to Tennessee. The Vols won 14-13, but that was a long time ago.

A little more recently, Ken Hatfield, in his first season as the Razorback head coach, took the Hogs over to the Liberty Bowl and faced a really good Auburn team that starred Bo Jackson and gave David Bazzel his first claim to fame when he made a crushing hit on Jackson. The Hogs could have won, but a crucial play made that game more difficult. In the fourth quarter, with the Hogs trailing and driving into Auburn territory, Hatfield’s Hogs faced a fourth and short. Hatfield rolled the dice out of his flexbone and faked the dive play. The dive play would have probably kept the drive alive picking up the first down. The call was the perfect call, but poor execution. Bobby Joe Edmonds was wide open deep for the go-ahead touchdown. But the ball careened off his shoulder pads, and the Hogs lost 21-15.

The Hogs went back to the Liberty Bowl just a few years later under Hatfield and faced another SEC team, the Georgia Bulldogs. The Hogs were the better team, but you could feel that the Hogs did not want to be at that game, plus it was also a horrible weather game. The Hogs had underperformed that season and faced a massive blowout to Jimmie Johnson and The U and lost to Texas in the last seconds. It was a year of frustration for the Hogs. This game ended no differently and summed up the season. The game was tied at 17 to 17. Georgia was driving late and turned the ball over. The Hogs seemed to be on a course then with little to lose as they would certainly be able to kick a game-winning field goal or end with a tie. Fate struck, the Hogs threw an interception, and the table was turned. Georgia got to kick the game-winning field goal and won 20-17.

And even a little more recently, Danny Ford took his Hogs over to the Liberty Bowl several times in the regular season and played dreadfully. You may remember the game against Memphis when the Hogs scored late to close the gap to one point making it 15-16. Ford went for two and the Hogs failed on the conversion.

Going back to the beginning of this column, I stated the Pirates have a long day ahead of them. That statement was based on matching up the two teams. But I also believe in trends. The trend is the Hogs can’t win in the Liberty Bowl, which makes this game more intriguing if you’re superstitious. Ryan Mallett maybe being in Bobby Petrino’s doghouse is not a good sign.

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About the Notre Dame Hire

I get blamed for being a bad Razorback fan, and my canned answer is that when I write my column I am not a fan. If you want fan propaganda, the University of Arkansas has a whole department dedicated to it and they do a good job.

I admit, however, I am a closet Notre Dame fan. Did they hire the right coach? I hope so, but only time will tell. Notre Dame is a sleeping giant, so Navy and Connecticut and Syracuse need to get their licks in now.

USC struggled for years and went through several coaches, and then Pete Carroll showed up. Carroll was not necessarily highly regarded, but he turned out to be the perfect fit and woke that sleeping giant. The same can be said for Oklahoma, which went through several coaches after Switzer until Bob Stoops arrived. Stoops was only an assistant, yet he was the perfect fit.

The Irish need for Brian Kelly to be the right fit. What the Irish have been lacking all during the Weiss era was defense. Kelly will have to improve on that facet of the game, not offense, to bring Notre Dame back. I don’t remember seeing much defense at Cincinnati.


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