Houston out; to take Ole Miss job

You never thought it could get more chaotic than last off-season's firestorm of controversy, right?

Well, the end of this football season is just as bizarro. Following up on the upset of the century against No. 1 LSU on the road last Friday, Houston Nutt announced his resignation as the Arkansas football coach on Monday. In a press conference with the man who just fired him, no less, and the outgoing AD, Frank Broyles.

Only in Arkansas.

Just to put the icing on the cake, Ole Miss has scheduled a press conference at 12:30 today to announce Houston as its new coach.

Should be fun times in the SEC West next year. Burning question of the day is, how will the Arkansas-Ole Miss series go over the next few years? Arkansas has dominated lately, but will Houston's hiring as Ole Miss coach cause momentum to swing in the series?

Bye, Houston. We'll miss ya. Especially one Jimmy G.

Hogs Upset LSU 50-48 in Triple Overtime

The Arkansas Razorbacks finished their season with a bang as they upset the number one-rated team in the country, the LSU Tigers, in Death Valley last Friday by a final score of 50-48 in triple overtime. Once again, it was Darren McFadden leading the way with 206 yards on 32 carries, including 3 rushing touchdowns. He also completed 3 passes for 34 yards and a crucial touchdown toss to Peyton Hillis with 5 minutes remaining. Again, as I said after the South Carolina game, it is criminal that I am so numb to McFadden's greatness that I am not even surprised at his performance. I expect him to be Superman, because he's done it time after time, especially in the biggest games. The LSU defense had not given up a 100-yard rusher all season, and the Hogs nearly had 3, with Peyton Hillis and Felix Jones gaining 89 and 85 yards respectively. Simply put, although Les Miles made several coaching blunders, the true story is that on the day after Thanksgiving, the Hogs were the better team.

It was a great win to cap a roller coaster season for the Hogs. Putting away the questions swirling around Houston Nutt, it was great to cheer the Hogs to a big victory. A victory most of us will always remember where we were when it happened. Those games are few and far between, and surely all but the darkest of darksider could set aside their hatred, at least for a few hours, and soak up the win. At least I hope so.

Razorpod and Elisha on Thanksgiving Break

There will be no show this week due to Thanksgiving, but the Razorpod crew have submitted their national predictions. All you need to know about the LSU game is that every Razorpod member, even Johnny Fayetteville, picked the Tigers to defeat the Razorbacks. Happy Thanksgiving.

Tom Logan (44-28): Arizona State, Mississippi State, Auburn, Kansas, LSU, Boise State

Jimmy G (41-31): USC, Mississippi State, Auburn, Missouri, LSU, UCLA

Johnny Fayetteville (39-33): USC, Mississippi State, Auburn, Kansas, LSU, Oklahoma State

Patrick Williams (31-41): USC, Mississippi State, Alabama, Missouri, LSU, Connecticut

Should He Stay Or Should He Go?

There are as many stories about whether or not Houston Nutt is going to return as the head coach of the Razorbacks that you can get confused. Since it's my role on the show to be a homer, I'll attach one from The Sporting News that says he's staying.

Whatever happens, I hope the University realizes that this is a very important hire/fire situation. A misstep could be felt for a decade. Lets all be careful what we wish for. The Callahan/Coach O factor could rear its ugly head. I'm just sayin' . . .

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=307682

By the way, the story on Butch Davis is he's getting an extension to $3.2 million per year for 5 years and expedited expansion of the stadium. That could play a factor, as he is expected to have to make a decision before Friday.

Hogs Defeat MSU 45-31

Despite our predictions, the Hogs and Dawgs put on quite an offensive show this past Saturday at War Memorial Stadium. Casey Dick was the bright spot for the Razorbacks, throwing for 199 yards and 4 touchdowns. This was the sort of passing game that we expected to see this year, in that when defenses key on McFadden and gang up on him, we strike downfield for long touchdown passes. This might have helped in September. Oh well. Hogs win 45-31. Darren McFadden, although held to 88 yards rushing, had a 57 yard touchdown catch from Casey Dick and a 24 yard touchdown pass to Robert Johnson.

On to LSU.

New Episode Up

The newest episode of Razorpod is posted here. The crew discusses the disappointment at Neyland, Houston Nutt's disinterested game plan, and why our defense can't line up onsides. Fun times.

College Football Rivalries

The 2007 college football season is winding down, and that means that the traditional rivalry games will taking place over the final three weekends of the regular season. Ohio State and Michigan play this Saturday with yet another Big Ten Title and Rose Bowl berth at stake. Here are my favorite rivalries (also, let the Razorpod crew know what your favorite rivalries are in the comments section):

1. Auburn-Alabama

2. Oklahoma-Texas

3. Army-Navy

4. Michigan-Ohio State

5. Florida-Florida State

6. Alabama-Tennessee

7. Texas-Texas A&M

8. USC-UCLA

9. Notre Dame-USC

10. Ole Miss-Mississippi State

Davis to Arkansas Rumors Not just in Arkansas

http://www.gastongazette.com/sports/davis_12781___article.html/arkansas_one

Rocky Top Horror Show

Arkansas' team plane found its way to Knoxville on Friday afternoon, and the team bus arrived at Neyland Stadium on Saturday morning. However, it's still not apparent if the Arkansas Razorbacks coaches and players ever arrived. Tennessee hammered the Hogs 34-13 on Saturday afternoon in front of nearly 105,000 fans. Darren McFadden did all he could while rushing for 117 yards, but with no passing game or Felix Jones for most of the game, it was nowhere near enough against a Tennessee defense that played inspired football. Arkansas fell behind 20-3 at halftime, and any hope for a comeback was dashed when Arian Foster ran for 59 yards to give Tennessee a 27-3 lead. Jerod Mayo put the finishing touches on the romp by returning an interception for a touchdown late in the 4th quarter.

The reasons for the loss were numerous: no semblance of a game plan, inept play calling, curious personnel moves, lack of emotion, undisciplined play, etc. A total all-around dud. Give credit to Tennessee for taking the gift that Arkansas gave them. It's hard to imagine that the Vols thought it would be so easy on Saturday afternoon against an Arkansas team that ran for 541 yards against South Carolina the previous week.

As Tennessee prepares for Vanderbilt and Kentucky with East division title hopes in their own hands, Arkansas will return to Little Rock this Saturday to face revitalized Mississippi State. The Bulldogs defeated Alabama 17-12 last Saturday and have now defeated the Crimson Tide, Auburn, and Kentucky to stand at 3-3 in SEC play. Yes, that's one game better than the Hogs. Arkansas then travels to Baton Rouge to face No. 1 LSU the day after Thanksgiving. Should Arkansas lose both games, they will find themselves home at bowl time and possibly, minus a head coach.

Such is life in the SEC. Two 6-3 teams took the field last Saturday in Knoxville. Now, one team has dreams of an SEC Championship and BCS bowl berth, while the other is staring at a lost season. It's not hard to guess which team is which.

Tennessee Preview Episode Posted

This week's Razorpod is posted here. We are "Logan-less" this week but that doesn't stop us from insightful analysis and a thorough trashing of South Carolina.

Will the Tennessee game be more of the same? Listen and find out.