Apparently it was like home-made diesel fuel for Kliff Kingsbury.
It simmered, steamed and stunk all summer, but it burned hard and fast when Kingsbury, Texas Tech's head coach, put a match to it Saturday night.
Last summer, as in LAST SUMMER, at a high school coaches convention in Texas, Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said, "If you don't play with a fullback, we'll kick your a * * . If you throw it 70 times a game, we'll kick your a * * ."
Kingsbury, who noted he was the son of a Texas high school football coach and estimated that 90 percent of the high schools in the Lone Star state are running hurry-up offenses and throwing the ball all over the yard, recalled that in his postgame remarks.
Obviously it was his ace in the hole in his pregame talk to his players, which explains why the Red Raiders were so mouthy the entire game. Players always follow the coach's lead.
After the game he added: "He just got his a** kicked twice in a row and probably will next week by A&M as well. That did feel good."
Before getting into how this was the second week in a row that comments by Bielema came back to bite him on the same place that got kicked, according to Kingsbury, where does the Texas Tech coach get off making those juvenile remarks?
Sure, the postgame handshake was icy, at best; sure Tech beat Arkansas, moving the ball almost at will. But where's his class and dignity?
Is that the gracious way his dad taught him to win?
In his defense, he hasn't won much -- 15-13 overall in his third season at Tech -- and after going 4-8 last season, his seat was hotter than the diesel fuel Saturday night.
Bielema, of course, had to respond at his Monday news conference with: "If that was an a**-kicking, I'd love to see what last year was."
Bielema didn't deny he said what Kingsbury said he said last summer, but Bielema said he never referenced Arkansas' 49-28 victory over Texas Tech at the coaches convention.
This story will be well on its way to being ancient history after today.
Using their vernacular, each has one a** kicking against the other, and unless they meet in a bowl some day, probably not this season the way it is going for the Razorbacks, that will forever be their record against each other.
Neither is all right and neither is all wrong. But what it is, and to his credit Bielema said this Monday morning, is a difference in offensive football philosophies.
There are some coaches out there who are running no-huddle, hurry-up offenses and throwing the ball all over the field. It is what they like to do, but they have not revolutionized football anymore than the Wishbone did. It had an impact until a couple of defensive coordinators figured out how to stop it.
Which philosophy is better? That's simple. The team with the best players who are well-prepared will win most of the time. Do keep in mind Kingsbury was a quarterback and Bielema a nose guard.
Arkansas lost pretty badly to Texas Tech in front of a great, home crowd. But at Baton Rouge, LSU, a conventional run-oriented team, crushed Auburn 45-21. Auburn is coached by Gus Malzahn, who is credited by many with creating the no-huddle, hurry-up scheme.
What ruffled some Razorbacks fans feathers is this is the second week in a row their coach made national news for something he said. During the week of the Toledo game, Bielema talked about how easy Ohio State's schedule is. If the Hogs had beaten Toledo, not much would have been said. But they didn't. And then they lost again Saturday.
Which is what the disgruntled Arkansas fans really care about -- winning, not losing, football games.
The way last season ended gave Hogs fans hope, but the start of this season has not.
Sports on 09/22/2015