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Location: WholeHogSports > Story     |     TAGGED:

LIKE IT IS : A few good hog calls will help silence dissent

Published: Friday, August 31, 2007 PRINT E-MAIL

The overwhelming majority will be in Fayetteville on Saturday for one reason and one reason only:

To watch the Arkansas Razorbacks run the boys of Troy out of the state.

Literally.

If Darren McFadden doesn’t have 15 touches and 92 yards and Felix Jones 10 and 81 by the end of the first half, it would be shocking.

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Oh sure, the boys of Troy should be the confidence booster Casey Dick needs, too, so look for him to finish the game 10 of 14 for 101 yards.

Mostly, though, everyone has been invited to the season’s first coming-out party for the power pair.

That is why more than 60, 000 will slice a day out of a three-day weekend and be on campus.

It is why they will endure 80-plus temperatures while sitting arm to arm with soul mates.

They want to see McFadden and Jones.

Sure, there will be a large part of the crowd that will be either pro- or anti-Houston Nutt, but the fact is, fans, real fans, support a program and the kids who spill their blood, sweat and tears for the team.

No doubt among the tens of thousands of tailgaters there will be some moaning and groaning about the off-season.

There will be some who think it was a bunch of bunk.

Yet, when they tee the ball up, every single person in Reynolds Razorback Stadium will be on the same page.

The same hog call will come from their hearts and reverberate into the Ozarks.

It was like when Kevin Trainor released an official UA statement after results of a poll gauging Houston Nutt’s popularity were released. Trainor didn’t condemn the man who paid for the poll. He basically stated there are many passionate Razorbacks fans.

That summed it all up and absolutely should be the official UA policy.

If a bunch of alumni don’t like the way a history teacher is doing his job, that doesn’t make them anti-academics. It makes them a group that is concerned about their school, right or wrong.

However, at 6 p. m. Saturday all of the discord will be set aside for the good of the team.

It will be a bittersweet season opener for Houston Nutt, but for only one reason. For the first time in 13 years, younger brother Danny will not be on the field with him.

Danny was forced to retire because of continuing health issues this summer.

Graciously, that made way for what may be a bittersweet time for Harold Horton, a former Razorbacks player, assistant coach, head coach at Central Arkansas and now the guy who pulls out his hair over the lack of parking as the Razorbacks Foundation guy.

He doesn’t like the circumstances, but for the first time in his life he will see his dream — and his son’s dream — come true when Tim, also a former Razorback, runs through the A as an assistant coach.

The Nutts and Hortons will embrace their emotions privately and quietly.

Saturday, you see, is about the kids who have worked hard all summer for this game.

The kids who went through voluntary workouts, extra running, extra throwing and extra catching in hell-like temperatures, and mostly without so much as a whisper of complaint.

McFadden turned 20 years old Monday and his plan to celebrate was simple: get some sleep after participating in a news conference about his Heisman Trophy Web site and maybe, but only maybe, go to dinner after that.

This from the bona fide superstar on a team so deep at running back the other two — Jones and Peyton Hillis — would be heroes on about 95 percent of the country’s campuses.

Last season, after escaping Vanderbilt and Alabama, the Razorbacks came together for one mission — to save their coach’s job.

Eight victories later, they had done that.

It left some fans elated, others unhappy.

Saturday, though, at 6 p. m., all of the fans should share one sentiment — woo pig sooie.

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6. Penn State 11-1

7. Utah 12-0

8. Texas Tech 11-1

9. Boise State 12-0

10. Ohio State 10-2

11. TCU 10-2

12. Ball State 12-0

13. Cincinnati 10-2

14. Oklahoma State 9-3

15. Georgia Tech 9-3

16. Oregon 9-3

17. Georgia 9-3

18. Boston College 9-3

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NCAA Tournament

NIT

SEC Tournament

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Arkansas Razorbacks' 2008 Basketball Schedule

Nov. 3

Campbellsville University (exh)

W 103-58

Nov. 6

Dillard University (exh)

W 108-80

Nov. 14

Southeastern Louisiana

W 91-87

Nov. 20

California-Davis

W 68-59

Nov. 22

@ Missouri St.

L 57-62

Nov. 26

@ South Alabama

W 79-77

Nov. 29

Florida A&M

W 86-61

Dec. 3

Texas Southern

W 80-61

Dec. 10

North Carolina Central

W 98-70

Dec. 17

Austin Peay

W 89-80

Dec. 20

Stephen F. Austin

W 67-51

Dec. 27

Northwestern St.

W 95-56

Dec. 30

Oklahoma

W 96-88

Jan. 3

@ North Texas

W 86-75

Jan. 6

Texas

     8:05 pm

Jan. 10

Mississippi St.

     7:05 pm

Jan. 14

@ Ole Miss

     7:00 pm

Jan. 17

@ Florida

     1:05 pm

Jan. 24

Auburn

     12:05 pm

Jan. 29

Alabama

     8:05 pm

Jan. 31

@ LSU

     4:00 pm

Feb. 4

Tennessee

     7:05 pm

Feb. 7

@ Mississippi St.

     2:05 pm

Feb. 11

@ Auburn

     7:00 pm

Feb. 14

Kentucky

     12:05 pm

Feb. 18

LSU

     7:05 pm

Feb. 21

@ South Carolina

     6:00 pm

Feb. 25

@ Alabama

     7:00 pm

Mar. 1

Georgia

     3:05 pm

Mar. 4

Ole Miss

     7:05 pm

Mar. 8

@ Vanderbilt

     1:05 pm