Talk about a bad weekend: On Saturday, Razorback backup running back Michael Smith committed a late first-half fumble that allowed Kentucky to get right back into the game. On Sunday, Smith was arrested on felony charges of forgery and theft by receiving.

According to The Slophouse blog, Nutt has suspended Smith indefinitely. The Hogs’ next two games are “gimme” ones against nondescript non-conference foes. We’re guessing that by the time the Auburn game rolls around in three weeks, Smith will have learned his lesson.

Boy - doesn’t Arkansas’ thrashing of then-No. 13 Tennessee last fall seem like it took place about five years ago? The week after that emotional victory, the Hogs posted a somewhat flat win against Mississippi State. Since then, however, as John outlines in the post below, it’s been a steady fall from grace.

Call it denial if you like, but after last week’s heartbreaking loss against Alabama, I was still optimistic that the Razorbacks had it in them to get back on track and enjoy a good season. Today, I’m not. That was an awfully one-dimensional, undisciplined team on the field last night.

Granted, there is a lot of football to be played, the quality of Arkansas’ opponents has been high, and several Houston Nutt teams have recovered from early or mid-season struggles to come on strong as the year progressed. Still … I’m having a hard time believing that we aren’t in for a tough year. I would love to be proved wrong, but after the running game, what else is there?

Watching last night’s game, I couldn’t escape the feeling that the end of the Houston Nutt era is approaching. With losing records in two of the three seasons before this one, all of the controversy of the last year and the fans’ growing animosity, he most likely can’t survive the sort of mediocre or worse season that the Hogs may be in for.

Just like the Razorbacks’ win over the Vols, Houston’s energetic and happy first couple of years on the Hill seem like a very long time ago.

A quick rundown of the numbers:

* Five losses in the last six games.

* Four straight conference losses - each of them extremely brutal in their own uniquely bad way.

* Three Kentucky touchdowns in the last eight minutes.

* Two pretty decent fourth quarter leads blown in a row.

* One Heisman candidacy pretty much over before it began (not D-Mac’s fault, but still…)

All those numbers add up to one incoming athletic director on the very hot seat about the future of the football program. And, it feels like time to reset our expectations for the rest of the season. The new reality seems to be that:

1) Even with the best player in college football, the Hogs simply aren’t that good. Sad, but true.

2) With a lot of tough games remaining, the rest of the season could get very ugly very quickly.

Big game today, one that could very well determine the course of the rest of the season. Some stuff to read over and ponder as the countdown to kickoff drags on:

* What SEC team does former Arkansas interim head coach and defensive coordinator Joe Kines regard as the conference’s biggest surprise so far? Hint: It’s the one the Hogs play this evening.

* The guys over at Scout.com have peered into their crystal ball and offered up their forecast for today’s game. Their prediction: Arkansas 38, UK 34. Money quote: “Shootout, shootout, shootout. Arkansas will run for 300 yards, Kentucky will work its way to 400 yards, and in the end, McFadden and Jones will come up with just enough big runs in the fourth quarter to overcome a brilliant day from Andre Woodson.”

* The Morning News’ sports staff has listed its keys to a Razorback victory tonight.

* The Democrat-Gazette’s Bob Holt has penned a nice refresher course on the history of Arkansas-Kentucky football games.

* For those who will be near both a computer and a TV set tonight, the Northwest Arkansas Times staff will be blogging live from the game.

* Ever wondered what Felix Jones’ favorite movie is? His favorite president? Answers: “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and Bill Clinton.

Let’s hope we all enjoy the game tonight. Go Hogs!

One of the most exciting sporting events I’ve ever attended in person was the 1989 Arkansas-Houston game. A classic shootout between two high-powered offenses (Quinn Grovey, James Rouse, Derek Russell, Barry Foster and crew for the Hogs; eventual Heisman winner Andre Ware for the run & shoot Cougars), it truly seemed like the last team to have the ball would win.

Of course, the Razorbacks ultimately pulled it out, 45-39, behind Quinn Grovey’s 335 yards of total offense (79 rushing, 256 passing) and five TDs. My main memory of that game was sitting in the north end zone at War Memorial, watching both teams throw bomb after bomb up and down the field. I’m sure time has effected my impressions just a little bit, but the way I recall it, every pass went for about 30 yards and every run went for about 15.

Reading about the Kentucky game tomorrow definitely brought back memories of this one against Houston. Again, the Hogs face a powerful offense with a nationally recognized QB. And again, we have quite a powerful attack of our own. Will it be another classic? We’ll see…I just hope the Razorbacks have the ball last.

Wally Watch: Where we read Wally Hall so you don’t have to.

September 18. 2007: Two third down plays loom large in defeat.

Controversy!!!: In this column Wally points out that the Houston Nutt Hogs have followed up their first SEC loss with a loss in the next conference game - every time. That’s nine straight years…a pretty interesting stat, no? Of course, the really interesting thing is that the Hog Blogger brought up the exact same point the day before. Coincidence? Probably. Controversy? Not really. But we do love the idea that maybe, just maybe, Wally is reading the blogs, and possibly even ours. If so, hi Wally! We’d love to do a Q&A with you sometime…just let us know when you’re free.

September 21, 2007: Spruced-up Superdome ready for prime time.

Breaking News: It’s the day before a huge Razorback football game - one that could set the tone for a strong SEC run or send the season into the tank. So naturally Wally steps up to bat and cranks out a column about…wait for it…the current condition of the Superdome. Glad we got that highly relevant issue cleared up.

The Way to Man’s Heart is Through His Stomach: Wally gave a glowing report about everything from the quality of the Superdome roof to New Orleans trash pickup to the decreasing crime rate. Of course, he also mentions being treated to at least two delicious meals. The moral of this story? A full-bellied Wally is a happy Wally.

In case you need any extra help getting fired up, we’ll be providing a handy pre-game cheat sheet detailing why you should hate each one of the Razorbacks’ opponents this fall. Some weeks will be easier than others…

1. They are Strong Where We are Weak. A visit from quarterback Andre Woodson and his high-octane attack is probably not what the doctor would order for a Razorback passing defense that’s trying to find its sea legs. Our intro to this post says that some teams are easier to hate than others, and we have to admit that it’s difficult to work up much animosity towards Kentucky football. But, we’ll almost certainly feel very differently if Woodson and Co. torch the Hogs the way they are capable of doing and send Arkansas to a second straight defeat.

2. They’re Heisman Spoilers. The Wildcats put a dent in Brian Brohm’s Heisman chances, thanks to their epic victory over Louisville last week. Can they do the same to D-Mac? (for what it’s worth, we’re guessing they can’t)

3. Enough of Ashley Judd Already. Ok, not really. But speaking as non-Kentucky fans, we wish she would spend a little less time rooting on the Wildcats and a little more time in Hollywood cranking out her patented “woman in peril” movies with Morgan Freeman.

4. They’re Not Paying Attention. To be fair, the Kentucky players and coaches have mostly been effusive in their praise of Darren McFadden. But then there’s this guy, who we suspect will get a rude awakening on Saturday (clip courtesy of the Hog Blogger):

5. That Other Sport Kentuckians Seem to Enjoy. UK footballers may be hard to hate, but the Wildcat hoopsters … well, that’s pretty easy. Mainly because we can’t seem to beat ‘em anymore. During the Hogs’ first four years in the SEC, they compiled a 4-3 record against Kentucky. Since then, Arkansas is a whopping 3-14 against UK - and the last victory came way back in the pre 9/11 era, on Feb. 25, 2001. The terrorists truly have won.

As part of the Kentucky Q&A featured below, we also answered some questions about the Hogs from Truzenzuzex over at A Sea of Blue. Being given the opportunity to share our “expertise” in a different setting was fun…check out our side of the interview here.

When it comes to football, Kentucky has always been a slightly mysterious entity to us. So, with a huge game against the Wildcats coming up this Saturday, we figured it was a good time to ask an expert for the scoop. With his thoughts on UK football, John Pelphrey and even Ashley Judd (who we’re assuming he knows personally), here’s our interview with Kentucky blogger Truzenzuzex, from A Sea of Blue. Please join us in extending a hearty thanks to Truzenzuzex for his time and insight!

1. What’s the current feeling among UK fans about the football team? Is this just a placeholder until basketball season, or do you see some genuine long-term interest building? Can the football team ever approach the basketball team in popularity?

Kentucky has always had a strong football following — in fact, despite our recent sub-mediocrity, we have a five-year average of the 22nd best attendance among the 119 FBS teams.

Back in the 1960s and before, UK was a very strong SEC football school. The decline of Kentucky as a football power in the SEC began in about 1955 and continued into mediocrity until about 1965. After that, we became a lower-tier football school and passion for football around the Bluegrass began to wane. In the late 1970’s, Kentucky rose back to prominence, but NCAA rules violations quickly returned the team to mediocrity, where it remained until 1990. The program then declined with a somewhat notable recovery in the Hal Mumme era, only to decline again as a result of more NCAA violations due to Mumme’s mismanagement.

Many Kentucky fans fear the cycle of semi-ascendancy followed by years of irrelevance is likely to repeat itself after this season, but hope springs eternal …

(Read on …)

Like a lot of you, we just haven’t been feeling like ourselves since The Game That Shall Not Be Mentioned on Saturday night. Frankly, blogging about the Hogs - or even thinking about the Hogs - was about the last thing I wanted to do for a few days.

But now, we’ve progressed through the Seven Stages of Grief and are at the last one: acceptance and hope. In other words, we’re moving on. If you haven’t made it to stage seven yet and still want to dissect and discuss Saturday’s game, there’s lots of typically thorough analysis over at the RazorBloggers Network and the Hog Blogger.

As for us, there’s a big game - a really big game, actually - coming up against the suddenly good Kentucky Wildcats and we’re going to focus our energies on that. No looking back.