Arkansas sports went through transition in 2008
By Noah Trister, The Associated Press
A new era began in Arkansas at the start of 2008.
Literally.
On Jan. 1, the day the Razorbacks lost to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl, Jeff Long took over as athletic director for Frank Broyles. The switch had been planned for quite some time, but it still set the tone for a year of transition for the state’s sports fans.
“I hope things continue to change,” Long said shortly after taking over. “I hope we continue to do things and make people recognize us and appreciate us, and I hope we have the success on the field that generates a lot more interest in our program.”
The most celebrated newcomer to Arkansas was Bobby Petrino, who was hired to replace Houston Nutt as the Razorbacks’ football coach in December of 2007. Shortly after Petrino arrived, running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones announced they were skipping their senior seasons and turning pro. The moves weren’t a surprise, but they underscored the challenge Petrino would face in Fayetteville.
McFadden now plays for the Oakland Raiders, and Jones plays for the Dallas Cowboys. Peyton Hillis, another Arkansas running back, ended up with the Denver Broncos. All three have been slowed by injury as rookies.
Petrino, meanwhile, needed to rebuild — and it was clear right away the process would be a difficult one. The Razorbacks needed a late drive to edge Western Illinois in their season opener, and had to rally in their second game to beat Louisiana-Monroe. Arkansas was then blown out by Alabama, Texas and Florida.
But the Hogs improved during the second half of the season. They lost their long-awaited showdown with Nutt’s Ole Miss team, and they didn’t qualify for a bowl, but they ended the year on an exciting note when senior quarterback Casey Dick rallied the team to a last-minute victory over LSU. Dick’s late touchdown pass to London Crawford gave Arkansas a 31-30 win.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of this team,” Petrino said after that comeback. “First and foremost, I have to give it to the seniors. They didn’t go out like we thought, but they kept fighting and working hard.”
Arkansas State also missed out on a bowl, falling to Troy in the final game of the season with the Sun Belt Conference title on the line. The Red Wolves began their season with an exciting win at Texas A&M.
Central Arkansas enjoyed a terrific year behind senior quarterback Nathan Brown. The Bears weren’t allowed to win the Southland Conference championship because they hadn’t been in Division I long enough, but they earned bragging rights by finishing atop the league standings.
In basketball, John Pelphrey finished his first full season as the Razorbacks’ coach by leading them to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Arkansas beat Indiana in the first round before being knocked out by North Carolina.
“They’re a resilient bunch,” Pelphrey said of his team. “They’ve been given up for dead two or three times, and they bounced back.”
Arkansas State made a coaching change at the end of 2007-08, hiring former LSU coach John Brady to take over the basketball program.
Once basketball season ended, attention turned briefly to track and field. John McDonnell, one of the most successful coaches in college athletics, retired in 2008. He led the Razorbacks to 42 national championships in track and field and cross country — although two of those are under dispute because of NCAA violations.
“When you analyze what he’s done, you’ve got to say he’s a genius,” Broyles said of McDonnell’s career. “The Razorback fans are passionate about all their sports, and he’s given them something to be doubly passionate about.”
Although college sports receive the most attention in Arkansas, the state did enjoy an exciting end to the minor league baseball season. The Arkansas Travelers won the Texas League championship despite finishing with a losing record overall — they were able to take advantage of the league’s split-season format.
In horse racing, Gayego won the Arkansas Derby, but did not go on to success in the Triple Crown races the way other horses have in recent years out of Hot Springs’ Oaklawn Park.
In some respects, Arkansas fans have been looking ahead to 2009 for a while. The Razorbacks were eliminated from bowl contention before their final football game, so there’s been plenty of time already for talk of the future.
Next season, transfer quarterback Ryan Mallett will be eligible. Also, a number of freshmen received extensive playing time this year, so Petrino has reason to expect significant improvement.
Pelphrey might not enjoy the type of NCAA tournament success he did in 2008 — the Razorbacks lost several key players from their experienced team of ’07-08 and are relying a lot on freshmen. Still, the new-look Hogs got off to an 8-1 start.
No matter how this season goes for the Arkansas basketball team, fans will have one big event to look forward to next year. The weekend of March 1, Nolan Richardson and the 1994 national championship team will be honored in Fayetteville. That event is particularly significant because it means Richardson will be honored by the school that fired him in 2002.
“I am honored to be here, and I’m sure that our players will be happy to come back home again and call this their home. We’ve been gone from home a long time,” Richardson said recently at a news conference for the event. “Thank you for letting me come back in a building that I enjoyed so much.”
This article was published Friday, December 26, 2008.
