ARE TEXAS AND ARKANSAS REALLY RIVALS?

Arkansas Coach Frank Broyles, Texas Coach Darell Royal after 1969 "Big Shootout"

The Arkansas-Texas rivalry, essentially renewed yesterday on ESPN, but also in front of 74,000 fans in Fayetteville, Arkansas, is worth examining.

Unranked Arkansas, winning 40-21 against 6th ranked Texas had the feel of history repeating itself.

A rivalry is typically more important to the underdog and Arkansas was certainly the underdog most years in the series that began in 1894 with Texas winning the first 14 annual games.

The rivalry was more balanced in the modern era, especially during the almost concurrent coaching tenures of close personal friends Frank Broyles and Darrell Royal, longtime coaches of Arkansas and Texas respectively.

There were so many memorable games between the two teams.

On a road trip back from Kansas City in the fall of 1969, we took the scenic route back to Brownsville, traveling down beautiful Highway 71 in Arkansas.

A man came up to me excitedly at the self-service pump:

"Can you believe that damn Frank Broyles calling a belly play on 3rd and 2?"

I was unaware that just a few miles away, #1 Texas and #2 Arkansas had just played the classic "Big Shootout" with President Nixon in attendance and Evangelist Billy Graham giving the opening invocation.

In what Nixon had labeled the "Game of the Century," Texas fell behind 14-0, then won 15-14 with two touchdowns and a two point play in the final quarter.

Forty years before this past Saturday, September 11, 1981, Texas again came into Fayetteville as #1 in the country after beating Oklahoma.

The fiery, but self-deprecating Lou Holtz was now the coach of the unranked Razorbacks.

Lou Holtz as Arkansas Coach

Holtz, a master of sports psychology, told his team all week:  "When the press come in after the game, tell them it was not an upset."

Arkansas dominated that day, 42-11, using several plays Holtz had put in "just for Texas."

Texas and Arkansas should not be rivals. 

Arkansas is 1/5th the size of Texas with 1/10th the population.

There is no comparison in recruiting as Texas can handpick 30 blue chip athletes each year, while Arkansas can hope for 7 or 8 at best from among the country's highly ranked players.

If the University of Arkansas has an advantage, it's that it receives unified support from the entire state with no professional teams syphoning off fan interest.

On game days in Arkansas, supermarkets, malls, even Walmart, play the Arkansas game over their public address system.  Otherwise, few Arkansans would leave their homes for beer, chips or anything until the game was over.

Good ol' boys, black and white, perhaps not world class athletes, play with pride for the Razorbacks, returning to their families as home town heroes.

This quote from Texas Coach Darrell Royal fits these boys:  

"God gives talent, size, speed. But a guy can control how hard he tries."

On game day, most bars in Fayetteville, Little Rock and other cities that allow alcoholic beverages to be sold, are filled with customers watching the game on big screen TVs.  Anyone walking past will hear the patrons thunderously "calling the Hogs" at critical points of the game.

Razorback Hog Hat

Arkansas Razorback paraphernalia fills the stores, including the infamous hog hat pictured above.

"Woooo pigggggggggggg  souieeeeeeeeeeeee!   woooooo pigggggggggggggg   souieeeeeeeeeeee!!!   Wooooo  pig souieeeee!!!  Razorbacks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

While wins are certainly important to the Texas Longhorns, wins by Arkansas over Texas are EVERYTHING in the State of Arkansas.

Addendum: In the waning seconds of the 1981 Texas-Arkansas game, an estimated 1,500 fans started swarming the field.  Little 165 lb. Lou Holtz ran onto the field, screaming at the fans to get back in their seats.  The fans complied.

 Holtz, like Darrell Royal, believed in "acting like you've been there before."