Summerall an old friend in the booth

Pat Summerall still has a great voice, even at age 77.

In all his years as a broadcaster, Tuesday’s Cotton Bowl was Summerall’s first chance to announce a game involving his alma mater, Arkansas. Summerall played for the Razorbacks from 1949-1951 before going onto a pro career and later a renowned broadcasting career.

Summerall’s ties to Arkansas were mentioned a time or two during Tuesday’s broadcast, but he was too much of a professional to let any bias leak into his announcing. During the first drive of the game, analyst Brian Baldinger mentioned that “Hog” is a term of affection for Razorbacks fans.

“I haven’t forgotten how to call the Hogs,” Summerall replied. “I’m not going to do it.”

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In a case of full disclosure, Summerall also pointed out that Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel is his neighbor in Southlake, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. During the game, Summerall called Daniel a “friend of mine, a neighbor of mine.”

Frank and Pat Summerall’s familiarity with Arkansas and longtime coach and athletic director Frank Broyles led to an entertaining inbooth interview with Broyles during the game. During the interview, Fox Sports showed clips of Summerall from his Arkansas playing days. “Something happened to your hair and my hair. It changed colors,” Summerall joked after his picture was shown. “I look better in dim lights or no lights at all,” Broyles said. “Don’t we all ?” Summerall replied.

Generous host Summerall became a broadcasting legend with his style of using few words and letting his partner shine — most notably John Madden. His Cotton Bowl partner, former NFL offensive lineman Baldinger, is no Madden, but Summerall was generous in letting Baldinger make his points while Summerall focused on his play-by-play duties. Summerall also showed analyst skills honed from his long playing career. Before Missouri ran its first offensive play, Summerall pointed out the wide splits the Tigers’ offensive linemen were using. Those wide splits force a defense to spread likewise, Summerall said, opening plenty of running lanes. That was proved when Missouri tailback Tony Temple rushed for a Cotton Bowl-record 281 yards and four touchdowns.

No homer here Summerall wasn’t reluctant to question his alma mater, either, after the most curious call of the game. The Razorbacks ran a fake punt for a first down in the first quarter, but the play was negated because Arkansas had called a timeout before the play. “Arkansas did call the timeout,” Summerall said. “Why, I don’t know.”

Then, inexplicably, Arkansas tried the same play after the timeout and the Tigers shut it down well short of a first down.

“I don’t understand,” Summerall said of the series. “I’m confused. I hope you’re not confused.”

In the fourth quarter, newly hired Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino spent time in the booth with Summerall and Baldinger. Summerall asked Petrino if he would change defenses if he were in charge of the Razorbacks against Missouri. Petrino laughed but didn’t take the bait.

“Any time you can run the ball and throw it like Missouri has been able to do, it causes you fits on defense,” Petrino said.