Rivalry revival

HOUSTON -- One small, brief hand movement added a new page to the Arkansas-Texas rivalry and turned up the intensity for tonight's Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium.

Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema was caught on camera Saturday pulling back the ring and middle finger of his downward pointing left hand while shaking right hands with Texas Coach Charlie Strong for a post-news conference photo opportunity.

The movement, completed in about a second, looked like a downward Hook 'em Horns symbol, flashed by Arkansas fans everywhere, though Bielema said through a team spokesman that he did not knowingly make the gesture.

Whether it was an unintentional twitch or a gig to fire up Razorback fans, it certainly stirred up some attention for the 8 p.m. bowl matchup between two 6-6 teams meeting for the first time in six years and the second time in a postseason setting.

Texas leads the all-time series 56-21, making it the one bowl matchup in which the history between the teams is much richer than the game they are playing in.

Arkansas claimed a 27-6 victory over the Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl after the 1999 season, and Hogs Coach Houston Nutt was pictured flashing an intentional downward Horns sign in the waning moments of that game Jan. 1, 2000.

Throughout the lead-up to the Texas Bowl, Bielema has referenced his respect and admiration for what the Arkansas-Texas rivalry means to longtime fans of the former Southwest Conference schools.

Minutes before the Saturday photo op, Bielema described the rivalry.

"I think it's a little more old-school, and old-school is a good school," Bielema said.

Strong, the Batesville native and University of Central Arkansas graduate who cheered for the Razorbacks as a kid, managed to steer clear of any controversial statements in Saturday's final media opportunity while recognizing what the game means to old-timers.

"No one there ever lets you forget about the rivalry," Strong said, referencing a former Texas player who talked to him about the drama of the games in 1959 and 1960, one-point decisions for Texas and Arkansas, respectively. "It's been great. I know this: I have a lot of respect for Bret and what he's done, even when he was at Wisconsin. I know it's going to be a great matchup for us."

The Razorbacks took exception to a couple of comments by Texas players John Harris and Quandre Diggs during a light-hearted question-and-answer session with the emcee of Saturday's team luncheon.

"Our guys didn't like comments they said, and they probably didn't like comments we said," Bielema said at the news conference that followed. "That's why you play the game."

Bielema was apparently referencing a remark by Harris after Arkansas players Brandon Allen, Trey Flowers and Jonathan Williams talked about how excited they were to renew the rivalry in the NFL stadium used by the Houston Texans, about how playing at the 71,200-seat stadium "is not a big deal to us" because they had played in front of 100,000 fans on many occasions.

Arkansas players also felt some disrespect when Harris and Diggs spoke about not knowing much about the rivalry's earlier days and its importance.

"I definitely took it personally," Arkansas linebacker Martrell Spaight said later.

Harris told reporters at the news conference he meant no offense to the Razorbacks, pointing out that Texas' Royal-Memorial Stadium seats about 30,000 more fans than NRG Stadium.

"I'm just telling the truth," he said. "We've played in bigger stadiums."

Strong shook his head later when asked about the small controversy.

"I know how excited they are," Strong told the San Antonio Express-News. "You get guys on a stage and they say the things they don't need to say."

Controversies aside, the Razorbacks are nearly a touchdown favorite to improve to 2-0 against Texas in bowl games.

The Razorbacks, who played an SEC schedule of all ranked teams, will meet their first unranked opponent from a Power 5 conference since defeating Texas Tech 49-28 in Lubbock, Texas, on Sept. 13.

"I think it's definitely going to help," Allen said of Arkansas' daunting conference schedule. "We know what it's like to play major teams and high-ranked teams, and I think that this Texas team is a big program."

Senior end Trey Flowers said the Razorbacks brought a business-like approach to Houston.

"We understand that we've got a big-time opponent that we've got to face," Flowers said. "One of the main things we've focused on is tackling, because you can fall off that without playing for two weeks with live tackling."

Sports on 12/29/2014