A couple of miles before reaching the Interstate 49 tunnel on the drive home after Arkansas' 45-17 victory over Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday, Bret Bielema had a sound bite on ESPN about guard Sebastian Tretola's 6-yard touchdown pass.
Paraphrasing, he said, Come here. we have fun.
Now, it isn't likely Bielema ran that play just for recruiting purposes,. But how many head coaches can tell offensive line recruits: Come to Arkansas, and not only will you fly first class, you may have a chance to throw a touchdown pass.
Yes, the Heavy Hitter Hogs fly first class, and the video of Tretola's pass went viral on the Internet.
The thing is, everyone on the field did the right thing at the right time.
Tight end Alex Voelzke lined up behind the line of scrimmage on the left of deep snapper Alan D'Appollonio, making the senior an eligible receiver.
The rest of the line did just enough blocking to let Tretola backpedal until D'Appollonio was alone in the end zone, and the rest is history.
It thrust the 4-4 Razorbacks into the national limelight in a positive way.
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Arkansas State head football Coach Blake Anderson spoke to the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday, and he was very impressive.
His program is about faith, family and football -- apparently in that order.
He also talked about the Arkansas Razorbacks, but he expressed nothing but respect for the Hogs. Anderson didn't challenge Arkansas in any way and said when good things happen to the Razorbacks, it is good for the state, same as it is with the Red Wolves.
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LSU's 10-7 victory over Ole Miss was a classic smash-mouth SEC grinder.
The Tigers rushed 55 times for 264 yards, with freshman Leonard Fournette leading the way with 113 yards on 23 carries, including one when he got his facemask ripped off.
He showed why he was the No. 1 recruited running back in the country last year by adding 2 catches for 41 yards and returned 2 kickoffs for 57 yards, giving him 211 all-purpose yards. But it might be time to get him out of kickoff duty; the odds of injury increase when you get 27 touches a game.
The Tigers' only touchdown was the game-winner in the fourth quarter, and it was notable because the 3-yard pass from Anthony Jennings to Logan Stokes was the senior tight end's first career catch.
Stokes transferred to LSU from Northeast Mississippi Community College for his final two seasons. He has primarily been a blocker and played on special teams, but Saturday night in Death Valley he became a Tigers hero.
The Tigers Nation might be scratching its heads this week as LSU moved up from No. 24 to No. 16 in the AP poll and from No. 23 to No. 17 in the coaches poll, while Ole Miss dropped from No. 3 to No. 7 in AP and No. 3 to No. 9 in the coaches.
Pretty sure that scoreboard read LSU 10, Ole Miss 7.
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One of the popular arguments on radio throughout the SEC footprint last week was whether the league could get three teams into the College Football Playoff.
The answer is probably not. One-loss teams such as Oregon, Notre Dame, TCU, Baylor and Michigan State are not going to be left out by the selection committee in favor of a one-loss SEC team, even if an undefeated SEC team -- and only Mississippi State has that chance now -- is in the final four.
The selection committee headed by Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long is too diverse and probably a little tired of the SEC's success.
Florida State looks like the only sure thing to be in the playoffs because the Seminoles are a powerful football team in a basketball conference.
Sports on 10/28/2014