FAYETTEVILLE — Since joining the SEC for the 1992 football season, Arkansas has beaten each of the other 11 conference schools except one. The Razorbacks remain 0 for Florida. “That doesn’t really surprise me. That’s just Florida,” said Anthony Lucas, Arkansas’ career leader with 2, 879 receiving yards from 1995-1999. “But it makes me mad. It’s like we can’t beat Florida for anything.” Arkansas will get another shot at No. 12 Florida today, but achieving that breakthrough victory doesn’t look good 1 considering the Gators are 24 / 2-point favorites.

In going 6-0 against Arkansas in SEC games, the Gators have won by an average of 25 points.

The Razorbacks’ lone victory over Florida came in the teams’ first meeting in the 1982 Bluebonnet Bowl, when No. 14 Arkansas won 28-24 at the Astrodome in Houston. Arkansas rushed for 356 yards, including 166 by Gary Anderson, and held the ball for the final 6: 29 with 15 consecutive running plays that took the Razorbacks from their 6 to the Gators’ 16.

“We just kept cranking out first downs,” said Jay Bequette, the Razorbacks’ senior center in 1982 and now a Little Rock attorney. “That was a fun game.

“ Florida had a lot of talent back then, but that wasn’t Florida the way we know them today. That was back in the days before they’d even won an SEC championship. Florida’s a different deal now.” Florida has won all seven of its SEC championships since 1991 and national titles in 1996 and 2006.

ADVERTISEMENT

Today marks the 11 th anniversary of No. 1 Florida’s 56-7 victory over Arkansas at the Swamp in 1997. The 49-point margin remains the Razorbacks’ most lopsided setback in SEC play.

“That was a bad trip all the way around,” Lucas said.

The charter plane that picked up the Razorbacks in Fayetteville was late and didn’t have a staircase, so the players, coaches and staff members had to climb aboard using a tall ladder.

“I like to fly, but I’m scared of heights, so climbing that ladder was real tough,” said Lucas, who lives in Little Rock and works for LifeChamps, a youth sports organization. “But it was either climb that ladder or stay home, so I climbed the ladder.” Once the game began the next day, the Razorbacks felt like they were trying to climb Mount Everest. Bo Carroll returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and the rout was on.

“I remember Coach [Danny ] Ford gave one of the greatest pregame talks ever,” Lucas said. “He had us fired up. Then we kick off and Bo Carroll goes straight down the middle for a touchdown. That wedge opened up so wide you could have driven two SUVs between it.

“ We just couldn’t bounce back from that.” Saturdays against the Gators never have ended well for the Razorbacks in SEC play.

When the teams met in the 1995 SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, the No. 2 Gators won 34-3 and Arkansas tailback Madre Hill — who had led the conference with 1, 387 rushing yards — suffered torn knee ligaments and missed the next two seasons.

The Gators were No. 1 in 1996 when they visited Fayetteville for the first time and beat the Razorbacks 42-7, which matches Arkansas’ most-lopsided SEC home loss.

Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel, who passed for an Arkansas opponent’s record 462 yards and went on to win 1996 Heisman Trophy, was still throwing for touchdowns in the fourth quarter, which drew boos from the fans.

“These Arkansas people get mad when you keep throwing the ball,” Florida Coach Steve Spurrier said after the game. “It must be against the rules here in Arkansas.” Despite Wuerffel’s big numbers, he took a pounding from Arkansas’ defense, particularly tackle Ryan Hale, who sacked him once and him hit numerous times.

“That was probably the best game I ever played,” said Hale, a three-year starter from 1996-1998 who works in commercial lending and development for a Rogers bank. “But [Wuerffel ] had that look in his eyes that showed you couldn’t rattle him.

“ He still was their field general even though we were knocking him around pretty good.” It appeared Arkansas might finally be ready to beat Florida in an SEC game in 2003 when the No. 11 Razorbacks played host to the unranked Gators.

But Florida held on to win 33-28 when a personal foul penalty on safety Tony Bua — who delivered a blow to quarterback Chris Leak’s head — negated an interception that would have given Arkansas a final possession to go for the victory.

“Just devastating,” Bua, the Razorbacks’ career leader with 408 tackles, said after the game. “I wanted to go dig a hole at the 50-yard line and crawl in it.” Arkansas lost at Florida 45-30 in 2004 before the teams next met in the 2006 SEC Championship Game at Atlanta with both ranked in the top 10. The No. 4 Gators beat the No. 8 Razorbacks 38-28.

Arkansas led 21-17 in the third quarter when Florida punted and a fumble by returner Reggie Fish resulted in a touchdown for the Gators and a 24-21 lead they never relinquished.

“I was at the game, and I was like, ‘We’re finally going to be beat Florida !’” Lucas said. “Then — boom ! — we lost to them again.” When Arkansas has played Florida since joining the SEC, the Gators’ rosters have been loaded with future NFL players such as Wuerffel, Fred Taylor, Jacquez Green, Ike Hilliard, Reidel Anthony, Jevon Kearse and Reggie Nelson.

Overall, 32 Gators have been drafted in the seasons after Florida played Arkansas.

“What I remember about playing Florida is that when they walked on the field, you could tell a huge difference in the athletes they had [as compared to ] our team,” Hale said. “How they looked on the hoof was amazing.” Florida’s team that will play the Razorbacks today is led by junior quarterback Tim Tebow, who won the Heisman Trophy last season over Arkansas tailback Darren McFadden.

“I just hope we play better than we have the last couple of games,” said Lucas, referring to losses to Alabama 49-14 and Texas 52-10. “That’s what I’d like to see.”