LITTLE ROCK — With Arkansas suffering a 34-31 overtime defeat to Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday, it’s easy for fans to write off the season and fear the worst with No. 1-ranked Alabama coming into town this week and quarterback Tyler Wilson’s status questionable.
However, former Razorbacks quarterback Matt Jones, who was the guest speaker Monday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club’s weekly luncheon at the Embassy Suites hotel in Little Rock, urged the Razorbacks and fans not to give up.
“It was a tough loss, but the most important thing is for the players to stick together and take an us-against-the world attitude,” Jones said. “You can’t be pointing fingers or blaming others.”
When asked if he faced a similar situation when he was the quarterback of the Razorbacks from 2001-2004, Jones said Arkansas never started a season in his tenure ranked high with huge expectations. He said in 2003, after climbing to No. 7 with victories over No. 5 Texas and Alabama, Arkansas dropped consecutive games to Auburn, Florida and Ole Miss.
In a 10-3 loss to Auburn, Jones had a 78-yard touchdown run nullified by what Jones called a “phantom” holding call on wide receiver George Wilson.
A week later in a 33-28 loss to Florida, the Razorbacks rallied from 33-7 deficit with 8:46 left and appeared to be in position to win when safety Tony Bua was called for roughing Florida quarterback Chris Leak with 1:32 left, nullifying an interception by Sam Olajubutu. As a result, the Gators picked up a first down and ran out the clock.
A week later, Arkansas, without running backs Cedric Cobbs and De’Arrius Howard, fell 19-7 at Ole Miss to fall out of the rankings. Arkansas finished the season 9-4, defeating Missouri 27-14 in the Independence Bowl.
Taken in the first round by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2005, Jones was converted to wide receiver where he caught 166 passes for 2,153 yards and 15 touchdowns in four seasons, including 65 catches in 2008, his final season. He was released by the Jaguars in March 2009 after he was ordered to spend a week in jail for breaking drug court rules following a July 2008 arrest for cocaine possession.
Jones tried to make a comeback in 2010 with the Cincinnati Bengals, but he did not make the team.
“My parents raised me to be a lot better than that,” Jones said. “That was a situation where I was with buddies and made a mistake. The main thing is to learn from that and try and help others so they don’t make the same mistake I did.”
He recently moved to Little Rock with his wife Caroline and is doing TV and radio appearances for KARZ, Channel 42, and KABZ-FM, 103.7.
Assessing Saturday night’s loss, Jones said Arkansas needs to recruit better players on the defensive line after giving up 550 yards (138 rushing and 412 passing) and allowing Louisiana-Monroe to hold the ball for 39:19. Louisiana-Monroe quarterback Kolton Browning completed 42 of 67 passes for 412 yards and 3 touchdowns and rushed for 69 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown.
“Here’s where it all starts, it’s on the defensive line and it’s amazing what can happen when you get two defensive linemen who are awesome,” Jones said. “Do you know how much that helps?”
He said the defense needs to be a lot more aggressive and not be in a position where it’s forced to think. He also didn’t like the fact that Arkansas didn’t run the ball effectively, with Knile Davis gaining 62 yards on 16 carries.
Jones said it’s important to not play scared against Alabama.
“We need to throw it all out there in order to compete with them,” Jones said. “If we go out there and play straight up, we’re not going to have a chance.”
Sports, Pages 15 on 09/11/2012