University of Houston quarterback Andre Ware passed for more yards in 1989 than Quinn Grovey did in his entire career at the University of Arkansas, but Grovey got the better of Ware, that season's Heisman Trophy winner, on a raucous October night at Little Rock's War Memorial Stadium.
Grovey accounted for five touchdowns in a 45-39 Arkansas victory, a win that propelled the Razorbacks to a second consecutive Southwest Conference title and was examined Monday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club's weekly luncheon at the DoubleTree Hotel.
Grovey, a slick dual-threat quarterback in Arkansas's run-oriented attack, traded jabs with Ware, who appeared on Zoom because of a family situation, to discuss a game that was well-documented in the print media but was not shown on television because Houston was on probation at the time.
"It would have been on TV," said Grovey, who for the past five seasons has served as radio analyst with play-by-play man Chuck Barrett on the Razorback Radio Network. "It's crazy. It's one of the best games out there. If people got a chance to be there, they witnessed one of the great ones."
A revved-up crowd of 55,112 was in attendance, and Grovey said he knew it was going to be a wild night when the Razorbacks' team buses made their way toward the stadium.
"The tailgating was off the charts," Grovey said. "When we pulled down Markham, the fans were hitting the side of the bus. Our fans were going crazy. I knew they were going to be ready to go."
Grovey, a junior that season from Duncan, Okla., was also amped up, thanks in part to a belly full of crab legs inhaled at the Ramada Inn's seafood buffet the night before.
"Being a guy from Duncan, being able to eat all-you-can-eat crab legs ... when you didn't even know what they were, it was amazing," he said.
There was also a challenge made to Grovey by offensive coordinator Jack Crowe a couple hours before the team boarded their buses in Conway.
"He said, 'Hey Quinn, stand up. The team with the best quarterback is going to win this football game.'
"So, Andre was throwing for like 5 million yards a game, and he put that on me.
"I said, 'All right, I know Andre's about to win the Heisman. I'm just trying to do whatever I can to make sure my team is ready to play.
"I thought about that for the entire 30 minutes from Conway to Little Rock."
Grovey, who finished his Arkansas career with 4,496 yards passing and 1,746 rushing, was ready to go, while Ware and his Cougars teammates had trepidations as they entered the stadium.
"It was a hostile environment, a hostile crowd," Ware said. "Our trainer, Tom Wilson, told us, 'When you get in the stadium to put your helmets on. We were being hit with all kinds of debris.' "
Touchdown passes were the only things thrown once the game started.
Grovey, who had never thrown for more than 174 yards in a game to that point in his career, equaled that in the first half and wound up 11 of 14 for 256 and 2 touchdowns. He also rushed for 79 yards and scored on three 2-yard runs.
Ware, seven games into a season in which he passed for 4,699 yards and 45 touchdowns, completed 32 of 44 throws for 349 yards.
Arkansas entered the game ranked No. 13 in The Associated Press poll, but was coming off a 24-20 loss to Texas in Fayetteville.
Houston, ranked No. 12, came into the game off a 95-21 win over SMU when the Cougars totaled more than 1,000 yards.
Grovey, 53, said all week it was impressed on the Razorbacks by their coaches that they had to match the Cougars score for score.
Houston led 21-17 at halftime, but Arkansas forged ahead after the Cougars lost a fumble in the second half and the tenor of the game changed.
"At one point, I've told Quinn I thought we had to match them like they thought they had to match us," Ware said.
Ware and Grovey have become friends over the years.
"I don't like losing to anybody," Ware said, "but if I had to lose to anybody, it's somebody like Quinn."
Ware, 53, has been a role model for Grovey, who spent 20 years as a sideline reporter for Arkansas radio broadcasts before moving into the booth.
Ware, a radio analyst for the Houston Texans since 2002, has also been a staple on ESPN's SEC telecasts since 2003.
"'I'm so glad you were able to win that Heisman Trophy, because you were a trailblazer at the time," Grovey said of Ware, the first Black quarterback to win the award. "And when I started broadcasting, I would listen to him because I loved the way he would do his broadcasts. At the end of the day, Andre is a pro at everything he does, and I'm proud to call him a friend."