By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Well, the Arkansas Razorbacks did everything they were supposed to do against Tennessee Tech last week.
That’s right, the Hogs didn’t stink.
And that’s really all we know so far about the 2010 Razorbacks. Right now, they don’t stink.
They certainly didn’t suffer the ignominious fate of former coach Houston Nutt, whose Ole Miss Rebels fell 49-48 in overtime to lowly Jacksonville State, led by another former Hogs coach Jack Crowe.
But more on that in a minute.
Razorbacks fans might have been concerned their heroes opened the season against the lowly Golden Eagles by getting outscored 3-0 in the first quarter. Even against the worst programs, a team can be expected to make a goof or two in its first game of the year.
And Tennessee Tech isn’t one of the worst teams, just an average member of the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision once known as Division I-AA.
After spotting the Golden Eagles’ Matthew Barker a 27-yard field goal and being stopped on fourth down in the first quarter, the Razorbacks rose up like the top 25 team they are.
Not only did Heisman Trophy candidate Ryan Mallett go 21 of 24 for 301 yards and three touchdowns, he had the longest scoring completion of his career on an 85-yard connection with Joe Adams.
So all is well in Hog land for at least another week. No embarrassing losses or close calls, no program-breaking injuries.
For all we know the defense is as improved as coach Bobby Petrino wants it to be. For all we know, Mallett is on his way to Times Square to pick up his Heisman.
Let’s face it, we won’t really know if this is the national championship-caliber team fans are praying for until No. 14 Arkansas plays No. 22 Georgia in one week and top-ranked, defending national champ Alabama in two.
Unless, of course, Sun Belt Conference member Louisiana-Monroe trips up Arkansas in Little Rock today. If that happens you can just about write off Georgia and Alabama and start planning your Liberty Bowl trip.
But for now, Arkansas is sitting pretty, and it certainly isn’t Ole Miss. Which brings me back to Nutt.
After falling out of favor at Arkansas for a slew of reasons both personal and professional, Nutt jumped to fellow SEC member Ole Miss and went 18-8 his first two seasons, beating Arkansas twice and winning two Cotton Bowls.
So the Razorbacks fans were thrilled to see Nutt drop his opener to Championship Subdivision member Jacksonville State, a defeat reminiscent of the embarrassing way Crowe’s Razorbacks lost to the Citadel and hastened Crowe’s departure in 1992.
I get why Hogs fans would have it in for Nutt — now — because, after all, he is coaching for a rival conference school.
However, I would remind fans that Nutt was nothing if not an enthusiastic Hogs coach, an Arkansas native who posted a 75-48 record at the university and was usually good for a winning season and a decent bowl game, a guy who beat Texas and had those thrilling victories over LSU.
And no one has to remind me how Nutt screwed up through his flirtations with Nebraska and a certain female television reporter while he was unable to work up any sort of romance with offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn and quarterback Mitch Mustain.
We’ve been over that.
What gets me about the Hogs fans cheering Ole Miss’ season-opening flop is that these are the same fans, come bowl season, who will root for the SEC because it somehow makes the Hogs look better.
Certainly, if you want to say you come from the toughest conference — and the SEC, if not THE toughest is right up there — wouldn’t you root for Ole Miss in a non-conference game? Especially if it’s a team from a lower classification?
How does such a loss help your national image?
Say Arkansas, which faces Ole Miss on Oct. 23 in Fayetteville, is on the bubble for a really good bowl and someone on a selection committee considers strength of schedule. What happens when they take into account Ole Miss’ loss to Jacksonville State, especially if the Hogs have already played patsies like Tennessee Tech and Louisiana-Monroe?
North Carolina’s near upset of SEC member LSU last week doesn’t help either.
Look, the Hogs will have their chance to get back at Nutt in October.
Until then, if it’s SEC supremacy the fans want, they may need to find some charity in their hearts and hope Nutt gets the Rebels up to speed tonight against Tulane.
