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The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville coach had every reason to beam after leading the Razorbacks to a 29-16 victory over Kansas State at Cowboys Stadium. The postseason victory over the Wildcats gave the Razorbacks a school-record-tying 11-victory season and a No. 5 final ranking in The Associated Press poll after one of the best seasons in school history.
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The Arkansas Razorbacks — whose first game as SEC members was a 10-3 loss to The Citadel in 1992 — became the first team other than the Crimson Tide and Gators to play in the conference's showcase game when they won the West and faced No. 2 Florida on Dec. 2, 1995 in Atlanta.
Florida won 34-3 to improve to 12-0, but the game was more competitive than the final score indicated and the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville's appearance boosted the program.
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If not for a handful of controversial decisions by the officiating crew, which drew a suspension from the SEC office after the game, the 2009 Razorbacks might have notched one of the biggest upsets in school history.
Florida survived with a 23-20 victory, but a series of questionable penalties and noncalls all benefited the Gators.
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The chants of "SEC! SEC!" from Arkansas fans had to be painful to the Aggies, whose move to the SEC became official on Sept. 26, the week before the game.
Junior quarterback Tyler Wilson passed for 510 yards, surpassing Ryan Mallett's mark of 409 yards, set one year earlier against Vanderbilt.
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Darren McFadden's 80-yard touchdown with 8:04 remaining in the fourth quarter clinched the victory, and the Little Rock native did his signature double bicep flex to put an exclamation point on the victory.
"They always talk about winning in the fourth quarter, and tonight we took it to heart," McFadden said.
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Fullback Kiero Small broke his foot during Wednesday’s practice. On Thursday, coach John L. Smith revealed he had filed for Chapter 7 liquidation as a prelude to declaring bankruptcy based on bad investments during his time in Louisville, Ky.
What else could go wrong?
As it turned out, plenty.
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The Razorbacks had talked in the week leading up to the game that they had everything to gain and nothing to lose in their matchup with a storied program and No. 1 team.
But it didn't feel that way after USC routed Arkansas 70-17 and the Razorbacks allowed a school-record 736 yards in total offense.
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That the Razorbacks put a dagger into LSU, the defending national champion and perhaps the Hogs' biggest rival since joining the SEC in 1992, made it all the more sweet. Six years earlier, the Razorbacks had done virtually the same thing to LSU on the same field in the same corner of the same end zone at War Memorial Stadium.
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No. 22 Alabama was in town for the ESPN2 broadcast at Razorback Stadium between a pair of 2-0 teams. The Crimson Tide left smarting with a 42-6 loss inflicted by a University of Arkansas, Fayetteville team that would go on to win its first eight games in Nutt's first season. It was the first time the Razorbacks had opened a season with that many consecutive victories since the 1988 team started 10-0.
Alabama's 36-point loss was its worst margin of defeat since a 40-0 shutout by Auburn in 1957, the game before a fellow from Moro Bottom, Ark., named Paul "Bear" Bryant took the Tide's coaching reins. It was Alabama's worst road loss since falling 78-0 at Vanderbilt in 1906.
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The No. 24 Razorbacks and their fans had plenty of fun as Arkansas rolled to a 27-6 victory over the No. 14 Longhorns on Jan. 1, 2000.
The Razorbacks not only beat Texas but they also ended a seven-game losing streak in bowls.
It was Arkansas' first bowl victory since beating Arizona State 18-17 in the 1985 Holiday Bowl on Kendall Trainor's last-second field goal.
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Arkansas quarterback Matt Jones had an especially memorable game.
Jones rushed 12 times for 102 yards and 1 touchdown and completed 8 of 16 passes for 139 yards and 1 touchdown while eluding the Longhorns and directing an offense that gained 438 yards.
"We never stopped their quarterback," Texas defensive coordinator Carl Reese said after the game. "He was the difference.
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J.J. Meadors made a sliding catch in the end zone of a pass from Barry Lunney Jr. on fourth-and-goal from the Alabama 3 with six seconds left to lift the Razorbacks to a 20-19 victory over Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The victory on Sept. 16, 1995 marked the first time the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville had beaten Alabama in six tries.
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The Vols and their fans were left stunned after Todd Wright hit a 41-yard field goal with two seconds left to lift the Razorbacks to a 25-24 victory over No. 4 Tennessee on Oct. 10, 1992.
It was the highlight of a wild first season in the SEC for the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, which began with a 10-3 loss to The Citadel that led to Jack Crowe's firing as head coach and Joe Kines' promotion from defensive coordinator to interim head coach.
Arkansas, playing at Tennessee for the first time, came into the game as a 21-point underdog.
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The Razorbacks won it 31-23 behind a couple of bold calls by Petrino, record-breaking days from quarterback Ryan Mallett and receiver Cobi Hamilton, and three takeaways, including Jerry Franklin's fumble recovery at the LSU 1 in the final minute, to improve to 10-2.
Mallett took a knee on the game's final play, and the Razorbacks had essentially punched their ticket for a Sugar Bowl date against Ohio State.
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The 2010 Razorbacks took a 10-2 record and No. 8 ranking into their Sugar Bowl game against the No. 6 Buckeyes on Jan. 4, 2011.
Five key Ohio State players, including quarterback Terrelle Pryor, were found to have violated NCAA rules by trading autographs, apparel, awards and memorabilia for money and tattoos. The story broke in December and the players were given five-game suspensions, but they were postponed until the start of the 2011 season so they could participate in the bowl game.
When it was discovered later that Tressel, the Ohio State head coach, knew about the NCAA violations before the season and did not report them as mandated by his contract, the Buckeyes vacated all their victories from what had been a 12-1 season, including their 31-26 decision over the Razorbacks.
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Arkansas beat Kentucky 71-63 in an NCAA record-tying seven overtimes after the game had been tied 24-24 at the end of the fourth quarter.
Kentucky had played a total of two overtime periods going into the game with Arkansas.
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Fans flooded the field when the game ended, tore down the goal posts and took them to Dickson Street, where the celebration lasted into the wee hours of Sunday morning.
After things had calmed down a bit, Stoerner and Lucas were among the players who autographed the goal posts.
"I haven't seen anything like it since," Stoerner said of the celebration. "I don't come to every game, but it would be hard to re-create the year-long buildup to that game.
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The Citadel beat the Razorbacks 10-3 on Sept. 5, 1992, in a shocking upset at Razorback Stadium.
Things got crazier the next day when Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles fired Crowe -- though it was announced as a resignation -- and made defensive coordinator Joe Kines the interim head coach.
Arkansas players found out about the coaching change the same way fans did.
"I'm watching NFL football on CBS, and it came scrolling across the screen," Lunney said of the news Kines was replacing Crowe.
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The Razorbacks won 53-52 on Allen's 1-yard run for the two-point conversion, a gift from the Rebels after Marquis Haynes grabbed Allen's face mask while sacking the quarterback on Arkansas' first conversion try.
"It was ecstatic," Collins said to describe Arkansas' locker room. "Just looking around seeing the players and coaches jumping around and everybody's happy and giving each other high-fives. It's just a great feeling to think this is what we put the hard work in for, this satisfaction right here."
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It was Arkansas' first victory over a No. 1 team since a 42-11 beatdown of Texas in 1981.
McFadden took snaps at Wild Hog quarterback on all four Arkansas touchdowns in regulation. The Little Rock native rushed for 206 yards and three touchdowns and threw a scoring pass to Peyton Hillis, who had 127 yards total offense and a career-high four touchdowns.
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The overtime periods turned into a duel between Eli Manning and Arkansas freshman quarterback Matt Jones, who played off the bench after Zak Clark started for the Razorbacks.
"It was really amazing to watch, because every time Eli would make a play, Matt would come back and make one for us," Bua said. "Those guys just kept coming through again and again."
Manning completed 27 of 42 passes for 312 yards and 6 touchdowns without an interception. Five of his touchdown passes came in overtime.
Jones rushed 18 times for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns and competed 3 of 6 passes for 61 yards and 1 touchdown. In overtime he had touchdown runs of 25 and 8 yards and completed two-point passes to Jason Peters and DeCori Birmingham.
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DeCori Birmingham caught the ball between LSU cornerbacks Randall Gay and Travis McDaniels -- who each went on to play eight seasons in the NFL -- in the back of the end zone for a 31-yard touchdown play with nine seconds left.
The touchdown, along with David Carlton's 35-yard extra point after a celebration penalty, lifted the Razorbacks to a 21-20 victory over the Tigers before a delirious crowd at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock on Nov. 29, 2002. A CBS national TV audience also watched the game on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
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After finishing 4-7 the previous two seasons and being picked last in the SEC West, the Razorbacks were ranked No. 10 in Houston Nutt's first season as their coach going into a showdown with No. 1 Tennessee at Neyland Stadium.
Both teams were 8-0, and the game was televised nationally on CBS.
But in a bitter ending for the Razorbacks, the Vols and their fans were able to celebrate Tennessee's improbable 28-24 victory.
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