LITTLE ROCK — It was simply curiosity.
Sitting in the press box before the Troy-Arkansas game Sept. 17, the final score of Vanderbilt’s 30-7 victory over Ole Miss flashed on the television and sent this reporter to a Rebel message board.
For most of three years, the Rebels Nation had blasted the Razorbacks Nation for letting Houston Nutt get away. After his second loss to the Commodores, there was some interest in how they felt.
It took one post to realize there was actually no interest at all.
Been there. Done that.
The drama is all Ole Miss’, not Arkansas’.
Time has passed, and Bobby Petrino is Arkansas’ football coach. The most recent memory Razorbacks fans have is of Petrino leading their Hogs to their first Bowl Championship Series game early this year.
Oh sure, there are a few Razorbackers who still are upset about the golden handcuffs, but that wasn’t Nutt’s fault. If someone offers you extra money as a comfort for firing you, you take it.
However, not even those who resent Nutt are as adamant as they once were.
Things have come full circle.
Referee Tommy Bell’s blown call in 1960 is important again. So is Archie Manning and his 21-of-35 passing for 273 yards in the 1970 Sugar Bowl, when he ran for one touchdown and passed for another in the Rebels’ 27-22 victory.
That’s the natural way for what were tumultuous years at Arkansas to mellow. Time heals wounds.
There’s been enough water under the bridge in the almost four years since Nutt left to turn Wyoming into a beach-front state.
What is going on with the athletic department and the Rebels’ fans is their business. If a group over there wants to take out full-page ads questioning the stability and direction of the Ole Miss program, that’s fortunate for the newspapers.
The amount being spent isn’t a dent in the $6 million buyout in Nutt’s contract, but it might be just enough to get Athletic Director Pete Boone fired.
He’s the one who agreed to that outrageous buyout, and if he is fired that probably means Nutt will be back next season.
It might be with some more new staff members, and the buyout drops a cool million next season.
Again, those issues, like the Rebels’ recruiting, are Ole Miss’ concerns, not those of Razorbacks fans.
No doubt Saturday’s game is huge for Nutt and his staff. It always will be as long as he’s at Ole Miss. In his mind, everything was the fault of the fans and the UA.
So he’ll no doubt be evangelical in the locker room and have his Rebels on an emotional high. They’ll come out ready to fight to the death for their coach.
Petrino made sure this week his players knew that Alabama’s crushing of the Rebels — their worst conference loss since they joined the SEC in 1933 — had nothing to do with the Razorbacks and that there was absolutely no excuse for taking the Rebels lightly.
For the Razorbacks and their fans, this is a conference game that stands between them and their goal of reaching another BCS bowl, or at least a top-tier bowl like the Cotton Bowl in Cowboys Stadium.
Those attending the game may find their experience in The Grove to be laced with unhappiness from Rebels fans.
Something some will identify with, but time and the football programs have moved on.
Tuesday afternoon, a much respected and admired friend, who would never have been confused with a Nutt supporter during his days at Arkansas, stopped by.
“I almost feel sorry for Houston Nutt right now,” he said.
He meant it, and while no one expects everyone to feel that way, Saturday’s Arkansas-Ole Miss game is about one thing for the Razorbackers — winning a conference game and moving on.
That’s something their Hogs have gotten pretty good at doing.
Sports, Pages 19 on 10/20/2011