FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas football fans saw seniors Dennis Johnson, Cobi Hamilton and Ross Rasner perform like champions in a losing cause Saturday in Little Rock.
Had they been in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday, they could have seen five Razorbacks collectively performing like champions on their way to a championship.
The day before Johnson (161 yards rushing), Hamilton (12 receptions, 146 yards) and Rasner (10 tackles, 1 interception, 1 pass breakup) turned in standout performances in a 30-27 loss to Ole Miss at War Memorial Stadium, Arkansas’ men’s cross country team won its third consecutive SEC championship behind Solomon Haile, Eric Fernandez, Kemoy Campbell, Layne Nixon and Cale Wallace. Arkansas walloped runner-up Georgia, 35-73, behind Haile (23:.47.27), 2011 SEC champion Fernandez (23:52.55) and junior college transfer Campbell (23:55.38) - who finished second through fourth behind prohibitive favorite Henry Lelei (23:29.58) of Texas A&M - and solid performances by Nixon (12th), a walk-on transfer, and Wallace (14th), the SEC’s freshman of the year.
SEC newcomers Texas A&M and Missouri tied for third with 80 points.
Beating A&M by 45 was huge.At last year’s NCAA South Central Regional qualifying meet in Waco, Texas, the Aggies followed favored Texas to edge out Arkansas for the automatic qualifying spots for the NCAA Championships.
Arkansas Coach Chris Bucknam said the Razorbacks paid the price for “underestimating” A&M last season. Arkansas was overlooked in the NCAA at-large pool because the Razorbacks stayed home to compete in the Chile Pepper Invitational, where it ran second to national runner-up Oklahoma State, instead of beating other ranked teams at the NCAA Preview or the Wisconsin adidas Invitational meets, which were held on the same weekend as the Chile Pepper.
Not this year. The ninth-ranked Hogs skipped the Chile Pepper and handily defeated A&M at the nationally loaded Wisconsin Invitational.
Other than Leleli, who is clearly the class of the conference, Arkansas placed its entire scoring five ahead of A&M’s next finisher, James Hodges (15th) at the SEC meet.
“They have five of their top six back,” Bucknam said of A&M. “That shows how much progress we have made.”
The Razorbacks’ must show that progress one more time to automatically advance to the NCAA Championships, although their fifth-place finish in Wisconsin ought to provide an at-large insurance policy they would prefer not to cash.
Texas, Texas A&M and McNeese State appear to be the Razorbacks’ most formidable obstacles at the South Central Regional, which Arkansas hosts Nov. 9 at the UA Agri Farm.
Bucknam vows the Hogs will be as determined for that meet as they were this past week in Nashville.
“I think last year we learned a lesson,” Bucknam said. “We learned you can take nothing for granted.”
Sports, Pages 16 on 10/29/2012