RICK McFARLAND Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Arkansas junior tailback Michael Smith breaks free en route to a fourth-quarter touchdown against Auburn Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala.

There was no moral victory for the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The Hogs pulled off the real thing, upsetting the No. 20 Auburn Tigers, 25-22.

Like everything Arkansas has done this season, the Razorbacks won the victory the hard way, but that probably made it that much sweeter for the players and coaching staff.

Last Saturday for three quarters, the Razorbacks showed improvement against a fine Florida squad, but lost 38-7 after a fourth- quarter team-wide letdown.

In fact for three quarters last week, the Hogs probably played better against the Gators than they played Saturday against Auburn.

ADVERTISEMENT

But, while improvement in a loss amounts to a nice parting gift on " Wheel of Fortune, " a road victory in Southeastern Conference play is like answering the final question on " Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. "

Saturday's victory over Tommy Tuberville's paper Tigers is something the Razorbacks can truly build upon.

It's a midseason booster shot of confidence that an inexperienced team like the Razorbacks could sorely use.

The victory doesn't make the next six games any easier. Nor does it erase the Hogs' mistakes that allowed Auburn to hang around until the final ticks of the clock despite Arkansas soundly beating them in the trenches and statistically.

But, it does put the Razorbacks on even footing at midseason with a 3-3 overall record and 1-2 mark in SEC play.

Heck, the Hogs are half way to bowl eligibility. Who would have thought that after the last few weeks ?

During Arkansas' threegame losing streak to Alabama, Texas and Florida, the Hogs hit bottom, but now they are on the rebound and have a reason to keep working and keep improving as a team.

Every Hog should take pride in the victory, but one would be remiss not to single out the work and leadership of Michael Smith.

Perhaps the smallest man on the field at 5-7, 175 pounds, he defied all his critics and most of his apologists by toting the ball 35 times for 176 yards and 1 touchdown and had 2 catches for 46 yards.

The past three years, Smith had to watch as Darren McFadden and Felix Jones had their time in the sun.

Now, it's his moment and he is making the most of it.

Also give Casey Dick some credit for keeping his composure and keeping the team together even after throwing two interceptions. Dick isn't perfect, but he is tough-minded and resilient.

Hats off to the Razorbacks' much-maligned defense. They busted their tails all day, and for the first time in recent weeks gave their team a chance to win.

One must also appreciate the work of Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino and his coaching staff. Lesser head coaches and staffs could have lost the attention of their team after the blowouts the Razorbacks absorbed.

Petrino and his staff found the right balance of how to correct and improve the poor play of their team without draining the life and desire out of their players.

This victory should only make the Hogs want to further buy into the new system Petrino and his staff are installing at Arkansas.

But, now, these Razorbacks need to learn how to handle this little bit of prosperity.

They must realize now is no time to relax but actually the point when they need to dig in and work that much harder to improve.

Winning the SEC title might be out of the question at this point, but if the Hogs keep improving, they can transform this season into something in which they can take pride.

Terry J. Wood is the sports editor of the Northwest Arkansas Times.