Cotton Bowl Updates:
Dont miss the action Cotton Bowl Tickets are one click away.
01/01/08
DALLAS | Forget the scoreboard, the statistics, the hanging heads of Arkansas players.
To understand how totally Missouri dominated Arkansas on Tuesday in the Cotton Bowl, just eavesdrop on a conversation between Tigers nose tackle Lorenzo Williams and safety William Moore.
"I need an interception from you," Williams told Moore.
Moore responded, "If y'all would let the quarterback throw the ball."
Yes, No. 7 Missouri was that dominating in its 38-7 embarrassment of No. 25 Arkansas.
So dominating, in fact, that Tony Temple's Cotton Bowl and Missouri postseason-record 281 yards rushing will go down as one of the greatest bowl performances ever.
"Days like this, games like this, you can't dream about it," said Temple, who also set a Cotton Bowl and MU postseason record with four rushing touchdowns - one in each quarter.
After the last one, which Temple gutted out in spite of a hamstring that seized up on him inside the 5,
quarterback Chase Daniel and offensive lineman Tyler Luellen carried him off the field while fans chanted his name.
Missouri's offensive line opened holes in the Arkansas defense so wide that grumpy Arkansas interim coach Reggie Herring (now giving way to Bobby Petrino) complained about everything from the deficiency of Arkansas' tackling to whomever had called a timeout that negated a first down off a Hogs' fake punt.
"It wasn't me," Herring said. "The way we played today we couldn't have beat anybody. I'm not used to seeing our defenders dive at ankles.
"I mean, half (Temple's) runs were on air."
As in wide-open spaces uninhabited by the hint of an Arkansas defender until Temple was far down the field.
Missouri, 12-2, at least would have sent this game into overtime even if its offense hadn't scored a single point.
That requested interception? Moore came up with it midway through the third quarter off a tipped Casey Dick pass by MU linebacker Sean Weatherspoon and ran 26 yards for a touchdown.
That matched Arkansas, which scored its only touchdown 3 1/2 minutes later on Darren McFadden's 3-yard run.
It was one of the few times anyone in the over-capacity crowd of 73,114 - nearly split evenly between Arkansas and Missouri faithful - saw McFadden not wrapped up shortly after the snap by the Missouri linebacking trio of Luke Lambert (10 tackles), Brock Christopher (10 tackles) and Weatherspoon (six tackles).
McFadden, a two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up and 2007 All-America running back, admitted: "They wanted it more than us. We didn't get our 1-2 going."
McFadden gained 105 yards in 21 attempts. Felix Jones had only 45 yards in 10 carries.
Temple outrushed the entire Arkansas team; the Hogs gained 164 yards in 50 carries.
"Sitting there watching a running back do that against you, it's just a hard thing to watch," McFadden said.
Arkansas, 8-5, sold out to limit Missouri's vaunted passing attack.
Daniel completed only 12 of 29 passes for 136 yards and no touchdowns and had one interception.
Senior wideout Will Franklin led the Tigers with five receptions for 77 yards, and could have gone over 100 yards if he hadn't tried to run with one football before he caught it. Tight ends Martin Rucker and Chase Coffman combined for only four catches (three by Rucker) and 27 yards.
But Rucker was openly incredulous of Arkansas' insistence on sticking with man-to-man coverage on Missouri's wideouts and tight ends, and a three-man rush that opened up canyons for the Mizzou running game.
"We knew we would be able to run on them all week long," Rucker said, "when they started talking about shutting down the tight ends."
It was almost as if Arkansas conceded defeat by ground to make certain it didn't suffer heavy damage by air.
"That's exactly what it seemed like," Rucker said. "But thanks
11/25/07
The AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic has another intriguing possibility. With LSU and Georgia probably headed to BCS games, the Razorbacks are now an option with eight wins.
11/24/07 Update
Razorbacks hoping to be picked by Cotton
The Cotton Bowl wasn't here Friday, but the Razorbacks might be there New Year's Day.
Arkansas improved to 8-4 and enhanced its chances of moving up the chain of bowls and playing in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas by beating No. 1 LSU 50-48 on Friday.
"I hope the Cotton Bowl comes and gets us," Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt said. "I love it... I hope they give us that invitation. I want to go to the Cotton Bowl." The Cotton Bowl has had representatives at other Arkansas games this season, but didn't have one in the Tiger Stadium press box Friday.
"The Razorbacks certainly played their way back onto our radar screen with their impressive upset of the No. 1 team," Cotton Bowl President Rick Baker said. "However, there are a lot of football games to be played and we will be monitoring them closely, this week and next.
" The great thing about the current system is that everyone can wait for all the games to be played before the final matchups are determined." Bowl matchups won't be announced until after next weekend's games, including several conference championship games.
If LSU loses in next Saturday night's SEC Championship Game against either Georgia or Tennessee, the Tigers might be an attractive pick for the Cotton Bowl.
Georgia and Tennessee also are possibilities along with Arkansas and LSU, and Kentucky might be in the Cotton Bowl mix if it beats Tennessee today.
Auburn will be 8-4 if it beats Alabama today, but the Tigers beat Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl last season, and bowls usually prefer not to invite the same team in consecutive years.
Big 12 teams the Cotton Bowl figures to be considering are Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
The Liberty, Independence and Chick-fil-A bowls had representatives at Tiger Stadium on Friday to watch the Razorbacks, but like Nutt, Arkansas' players are hoping for the Cotton Bowl.
"Our goal coming into the game was to get to the Cotton Bowl, and beating LSU has to help that," Arkansas junior center Jonathan Luigs said. "The Cotton Bowl is where we want to be for sure." Arkansas senior cornerback Matterral Richardson, who intercepted a two-point conversion pass on the final play to beat LSU, is from Marlin, Texas, and said he hopes to finish his college career in his home state.
"My mother has never seen me play a game in person since I came to Arkansas," Richardson said. "But if we go to the Cotton Bowl, I think she'll be able to come to the game." If the Razorbacks don't make it to the Cotton Bowl, the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 29 in Memphis figures to be a strong possibility.
"We're very high on Arkansas, as we are a lot of teams," Liberty Bowl scout John Barzizza said. "It's still pretty convoluted right now in the SEC." In addition to Arkansas, other SEC teams being considered by the Liberty Bowl figure to be Auburn, Mississippi State, Kentucky and Alabama - if the Crimson Tide beats Auburn.
The Liberty Bowl matches an SEC team against the Conference USA champion, which likely will be Tulsa or Central Florida.
Albert Maslia, a scout for the Chick-fil-A Bowl, said his game is looking at Arkansas, even though it is played in Atlanta and usually prefers to invite an SEC East team.
"You want to know who's in the mix for us ? Who isn't ?" Maslia said with a laugh. "I really think it's wide-open."
Purchase Official Cotton Bowl Tickets
Cotton Bowl Articles
Cotton Bowl events schedule
Arkansas gets another Top 10 opponent in Missouri in Cotton Bowl
Cotton Bowl Update
Few tickets, but many ways to Cotton Bowl
Cotton Bowl games mean big money
Other Bowl Game News
Super Bowl
Sugar Bowl
Pro Bowl
Rose Bowl
| 
