Reflections on a Miracle, Part 1

by John Expat on Dec 1, 2008 11:43 AM CST in Casey Dick

AP Photo/David Quinn

Full confession: living in California, I hadn't had a chance to see this year's Razorbacks on TV until Friday's game against LSU (the Dmac and Jones-less Hogs aren't much of a national television draw, apparently). So, not only was it fantastic to see them win in such dramatic fashion, it was also nice for me to actually watch the Petrino-led Hogs for the first time.

As it turns out, I made up for not seeing any of their earlier games by obsessively watching my Tivo'ed version of the 2nd Miracle on Markham throughout the rest of the weekend. I think I watched the entire 4th quarter four times, and the final drive a few more times than that. During that immersive process, I managed to hatch several thoughts about the game...here are the first few:

* the fascinating psychological dynamic of the Dick brothers. My wife made the good point that maybe what the Hogs needed all along was this sense of brotherly competition at QB...Nathan comes in and wants to finally step out of Casey's shadow so he does well at first, but when he peters out we bring in Casey who desperately wants to redeem himself after the embarrassment of getting supplanted by little bro. In other words, a solo Dick brother might not quite get the job done, but put two Dicks together (tee hee) and you're gold.

* along those lines, the sight of Casey falling to his knees and sort of putting his head in his hands at the emotion of it all after throwing that final TD pass was truly one of those "why I love sports" moments. Unforgettable.

* the defense really deserves a tremendous amount of credit for their efforts from the middle of the 3rd quarter on. When LSU went up 30-14, it was looking like a final score of something like 47-17 was inevitable, but the 'D' locked it down and set up the big comeback with stop after stop. Most impressive.

* more on the defense: football is pretty simple...the two teams line up, and whichever one is tougher is generally able to impose their will on the other. One team wins, the other loses...it's very unambiguous. When Arkansas turned the ball over on downs with about five minutes left, all LSU needed was two first downs to close out the game...a simple matter of imposing their will on the Hogs by running it up the middle over and over. Everyone knew it was coming, but this time it was our guys who were the bigger men. Very satisfying.

* speaking of satisfying, that 3rd down sack on Jordan Jefferson by Matt Harris and Jerrico Nelson that ended the possession described above was a thing of beauty.

* and speaking of being bigger men, how awesome was Dennis Johnson? Yeah, he was dominant in the 1st quarter, but some of my favorite plays of the entire game were watching him fight for yardage to extend drives in the 4th. He had a few runs that will only show up as two or three yard gains in the stats, but were truly inspiring to watch as he literally dragged multiple defenders across the 1st down marker. All heart. Talk about imposing your will...

That's it for now...more fond reminisces coming soon!

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Re: Dennis Johnson.

Petrino said essentially the same thing on his show. Great performance. We’re going to have major depth on offense over the next coupla years.

by derek on Dec 1, 2008 12:37 PM CST reply actions

Hey, since we won’t be playing in a bowl game, could one of the local channels replay the Miracle on Markham II sometime in December? You know, just like the 1998 Tennesse/Hogs victory was replayed a couple of times in its entirety. That would be nice… then we could all sit back and enjoy our own “bowl” game.

by Dalla$ on Dec 1, 2008 1:16 PM CST reply actions

Dalla$ that sounds like a great idea! Show it again. And again! haha. It is so rare for Arkansas football to end on a winning note that it has made up, in my mind at least, a lot for the fact that we aren’t going to a bowl this year.

Something I read in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Luigs had to tell Casey that it was 4th down, for he was about to spike the ball to kill the clock. Oh, gosh, how horrible would that have been! I am glad Luigs was there, and I think we are going to miss having him there on the line next year. Centers don’t get near enough credit for all that they do. Thank you, Jonathan, for your cool head!

by KevinHog on Dec 1, 2008 2:30 PM CST reply actions

the game will re-air on the cbs college sports network tuesday (tomorrow) at 5 eastern. that’s channel 613 on directv. i’m sure it’ll have another few airings over the next couple weeks

by thebeave on Dec 1, 2008 3:40 PM CST reply actions

Beave,

Thanks for the info. Thankfully, I have that channel on my cable system. I’ll be able to DVR it and watch it over and over like my fellow Expat.

by Stephen on Dec 1, 2008 3:51 PM CST reply actions

Kev,

Wouldn’t that have been terrible? Casey would have had to enter the witness protection program.

by Stephen on Dec 1, 2008 3:53 PM CST reply actions

Stephen,

Haha, yeah, he would have! Thank goodness that won’t be necessary. I do wonder what plans he has for the future. I don’t think he is going to get much of a look from the NFL. But he might want to be a coach. I think he could use his own experience to make himself a good coach. He has experienced two very different styles of head coaching, so could draw upon the better aspects of each.

by KevinHog on Dec 1, 2008 4:53 PM CST reply actions

Dennis Johnson was a warrior. I kinda forgot about him in the Dick lovefest, but he stepped up bigtime. I didn’t think we had much of a shot without Michael Smith, but DJ owned the 1st quarter and made some huge small runs in the 4th.

by Skywalker on Dec 1, 2008 6:09 PM CST reply actions

Not to rain on our lovefest, but here’s a few of my observations:

— Re the Dicks. The sibling rivalry dynamic makes us warm and fuzzy, but more likely is that Nathan could only handle a small package, and could not make good audibles. So, he looks great the first two series, but then the defense adjusts and he can’t do anything at all. Older brother, who, while mistake-prone, has more of the package and can read a defense (a little) and audible, comes in and looks like a world beater. But still needed Luigs to save him from what would have been the most boneheaded moment of a boneheaded career.

— The magnificent Hog D. Okay really, go back and watch the 2d quarter. Were we good or lucky that LSU’s frosh QB got a little confused and panicky later on? We made some nice plays late, but the truth is, the defense is light-years from being top flight SEC caliber.

— The key to the game, and the only reason we had a shot to win, was the lengthy drive for a field goal that wouldn’t have been but for three major LSU penalties. Without the personal foul when they had us pinned and facing 4th and 20, that game doesn’t get away from LSU. Stupidity, thy name is LSU in Little Rock.

The future looks bright, no doubt. But I am saying we still have a long road ahead. Enjoy this win, but don’t start thinking we were much of anything more than due a few breaks.

by J. Hawg 3 on Dec 2, 2008 7:30 AM CST reply actions

I don’t know if y’all want to post this on your blog or just leave it here in the comments, but it sure is interesting. Matt Jones’s appearance in drug court: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgNhacoS1Xg

by Dalla$ on Dec 2, 2008 10:30 AM CST reply actions