FAYETTEVILLE — On Sept. 23, 2006, the Arkansas Razorbacks and Alabama Crimson Tide played a mistake-filled but drama-laden football game at Razorback Stadium.
The game went into double overtime after a series of turnovers, missed field goals and extra points, and other blunders. That’s when the Tide decided to slap down their final bungle card: A missed extra point by Leigh Tiffin.
Arkansas capitalized quickly. Mitch Mustain threw an 11-yard touchdown strike to Ben Cleveland, a fellow member of the Springdale 5 who came over with first-year offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, and Jeremy Davis kicked the game-winning extra point for a wild 24-23 victory.
At the time, beating Bama was no extraordinary feat for ninth-year Coach Houston Nutt, who would post a 5-5 head-to-head record against the Crimson Tide.
Little did anyone know that would stand as the Razorbacks’ last win in the series for 13 years and counting.
Fans in attendance that sunny afternoon might recall the game for a few reasons: Tiffin’s three missed field goals and fatal failed PAT; Mustain’s three interceptions; or Nutt jumping on the band director’s stand after the game in front of the student section to celebrate the victory.
I was there, covering the game from the visitor’s perspective in my final year with the Mobile Register.
To the credit of Tiffin and the media-relations folks at Alabama, the son of Tide kicker Van Tiffin talked to the media that day underneath the south stands at Razorback Stadium. I don’t recall what Tiffin said then, but I respected the fact he stood up in front of the cameras and microphones to talk about his missed kicks.
As a side note: Tiffin would get a big measure of revenge the next season with a long field goal late in the game as part of Alabama’s recovery from three consecutive Arkansas touchdowns to rebound from a 38-31 deficit and win 41-38.
I had covered several Crimson Tide losses to the Razorbacks by that point, including the 42-6 Hog walloping in 1998, which was my first SEC game as a beat reporter and Nutt’s first SEC game as a head coach. I think that still stands as Alabama’s worst margin of defeat in a conference game.
But never had the Crimson Tide so thoroughly stumbled over their own feet like in the 2006 loss. After Tiffin missed a 30-yard field goal with 3:06 left in regulation, he was off again on a 37-yard try in overtime that would have given Alabama the victory.
At that point, Coach Mike Shula, the former Tide quarterback, had regular kicker Jamie Christensen — who was nursing a groin injury — start warming up because it appeared Tiffin’s day was done. Instead, Shula called on him again for the PAT after Nick Walker’s 1-yard touchdown catch from John Parker Wilson in the second overtime. Tiffin missed that one, too.
Shula would be fired shortly after a loss to Auburn on Thanksgiving weekend later that season. Nutt and the Razorbacks went strongly in the other direction during a largely dysfunctional season.
The win over Alabama was the Razorbacks’ third straight victory in what would grow into a 10-game winning streak that led to the SEC West title — the Razorbacks’ third and last under Nutt — and a matchup with No. 4 Florida in the SEC Championship Game.
Arkansas beat Bama despite Mustain completing 7 of 22 passes to his teammates for 97 yards, and 3 passes to the Tide for 62 yards in interception returns.
Lionel Mitchell’s interception off Mustain in the first overtime could have been the game winner, but Felix Jones tracked the linebacker down after a 51-yard return to prevent the Tide from winning on a defensive score. Tiffin missed his 37-yard try wide right a few moments later after Alabama played it conservative with its first overtime possession.
Darren McFadden had a solid performance near the beginning of a banner sophomore season in which he claimed the first of consecutive Doak Walker awards and finished runner-up in Heisman Trophy voting. He rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, and caught a two-point conversion pass from Mustain to give the Razorbacks a 17-10 lead late in the third quarter.
The two-point conversion, which was needed after Davis missed a PAT earlier in the quarter, came after safety Randy Kelly returned a Wilson fumble, forced by Antwain Robinson, 39 yards for a touchdown. Kelly had a massive day with 10 solo tackles, 16 total tackles, a half-sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, a pass breakup and a hurry.
Cleveland caught two passes that day, though the first is not memorable. After his second in double overtime, Cleveland performed a wobbly legged dance in the north end zone that served as a prelude for the big party to come seconds later when Davis’ PAT sailed properly through the uprights.
That Arkansas win was almost 14 years ago, but it probably feels like a lifetime to Razorback fans. They have seen five new head coaches since that day. Alabama has had one new head coach since then.
Nick Saban’s Tide have won 13 in a row in the series, 10 of them by double figures, including back-to-back 52-0 stompings in 2012 and 2013. Even those routs seem many, many moons ago in a series that has skewed heavily in Alabama’s favor after years of parity.