LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas went to Georgia ranked No. 12 in the nation and took on an unranked Bulldogs team that was coming off a loss to South Carolina and whose best playmaker was sitting out for disciplinary reasons.
Georgia was favored, and the general consensus across the country seemed to be the Bulldogs would win.
That’s no respect for the Razorbacks.
Arkansas, without much of a running attack, found a way to beat the Dawgs in a hostile environment, moved up to No. 10, and now faces the No. 1 team in the nation. The game is in Fayetteville, yet the Crimson Tide are favored by more than a touchdown.
That’s no respect for the Razorbacks and their fans.
The University of Arkansas is asking the fans to be difference makers by declaring this a “red out” game.
They want all the fans to wear red, which means the few thousand who wear white may want to run by their nearest store that sells Razorbacks gear.
Wearing red, though, is just a start.
Calling the Hogs with reckless abandon will help. It lets the team know you are there even more than wearing red.
Letting the band play the fight song helps instead of piping in music that gives most of the fans a headache.
Arkansas’ band spends long days in the August heat, marching on asphalt, to be part of the solution. Let the band play on.
This is going to be one of those games where if you like to sit and watch, you are not going to be happy.
The fans - the die-hard, Hog-loving, go-hoarse-ina-hurry fans - are going to be jumping to their feet and shouting encouragement at the top of their lungs.
This is Alabama, the best team in the country. A team that hasn’t lost a regular season game since 2007.
Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide put such a beatdown on Urban Meyer and Florida in the SEC Championship Game last December that a few weeks later the Gators’ coach told his wife he was having a heart attack (he wasn’t) and then retired and unretired within 24 hours.
Yet, the Crimson Tide haven’t played in a hostile arena in their past five games, and the right 70,000 Hog fans with the right attitude can make Reynolds Razorback Stadium hell for opponents.
The ferocious vocal support - bottle throwing is not needed - may not open much needed holes for the running backs, but it sure won’t hurt.
And, yes, the odds of Arkansas getting a victory would go way up if the running backs could make their own holes on occasion, like Fred Talley used to do. He was too small to be an SEC running back, and all he did with the heart of a lion was lead the Razorbacks in rushing three consecutive seasons and finish seventh on the school’s all-time rushing list.
There’s not much concern about the passing game. Ryan Mallett has improved, so have his receivers, and Mallett has rediscovered D.J. Williams, who also could be known as “Another Arkansas first down.”
Alabama is going to try to get to Mallett, to flush him out of pocket and make him throw on the run, and they may do it a few times. But against Georgia he looked more poised on the move than he had in his first 14 games as a Razorback.
Bobby Petrino will have the Razorbacks ready to play. He and his staff have coached the Hogs so they could be in this very spot - undefeated when they play No. 1.
Forget the uniforms, which apparently will be new and never before seen, and remember that the Razorbacks Nation can make a difference.
Everyone in red Saturday should consider themselves an honorary team captain. Ken Hatfield, who is the official honorary captain, won’t mind.
Show CBS and a huge TV audience what respect is about.
Sports, Pages 17 on 09/23/2010