LITTLE ROCK — Phillip Fulmer was speaking to the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday when he said: "To win the SEC, you have to have a quarterback who can make plays and you have to have a good defensive line."
Fulmer should know. His Tennessee teams played for the championship five times and won it twice.
He added that he believed Bobby Petrino had the quarterback in Ryan Mallett and that the defense would improve.
While much of the early dismay over the Arkansas Razorbacks defense has been focused on the lack of pass coverage, the defensive line had only five unassisted tackles combined.
Joe Cox, the Georgia quarterback, had very little pressure on him and hit open receivers for 375 yards and five touchdowns Saturday night.
While Fulmer was optimistic about the Razorbacks' future, most of his talk was about memories, including a few games against Arkansas, such as 1998 when the Hogs appeared to have the Volunteers beat in Knoxville.
Both were undefeated, and the Razorbacks were leading 24-21 late in the fourth quarter when Clint Stoerner stumbled over the foot of Brandon Burlsworth, fumbled and Tennessee recovered.
Arkansas never took a timeout, and the Vols ran the ball to a 28-24 victory and went on to win the national championship.
Tennessee was on a course to repeat the next season, but Stoerner hit Anthony Lucas in the back of the end zone late in the fourth quarter, then the defense held the Vols and Arkansas had its revenge by the identical score of 28-24.
In 1992, Arkansas' first year in the SEC, interim coach Joe Kines decided to start freshman quarterback Barry Lunney Jr., in Knoxville. The Hogs had lost three consecutive at that point.
Lunney directed the Razorbacks to a dramatic 25-24 victory.
In 1995, unranked Arkansas went into Tuscaloosa, Ala., to play No. 13 Alabama and got an upset victory, 20-19. In 1997, the Hogs again went into Tuscaloosa and knocked off the No. 11 Crimson Tide, 17-16.
Arkansas fans can recall many upsets, both on the road and at home. So while the Razorbacks' defensive play against Georgia on Saturday night did not leave great hope of a victory at Alabama this weekend, anything is possible.
Admittedly, it's not probable if the Hogs don't find a way to slow down the Tide's running attack and defend the play-action pass, which Alabama Coach Nick Saban loves so dearly.
"Bobby will get them better," Fulmer said. "The defense has to play better, and they need to run the ball better. But they hadn't been tested until last Saturday."
So now the Hogs know what they have to do.
Fulmer was a very pleasant surprise Monday for the almost 400 who came to hear him talk.
He talked about when he was getting ready to play Nebraska and his wife told him that Sports Illustrated was on the line.
It was going to be Tom Osborne's last game, and quarterback Peyton Manning had a bruised knee. Fulmer said he was trying to decide what to say about those situations when he picked up the phone and a lady said, "Sir, for only $19.99 per month ..."
And he was honest from the get-go.
"In December of 2007, we played for the SEC championship, won our bowl game, and after we got home I got a new contract, a grandson was born, I had got my 150th win and was voted into the Knoxville Hall of Fame that spring" Fulmer said. "And then I got fired."
Fulmer said he plans to coach again, and he should. He knows football, and Monday, he was a vote of confidence for Bobby Petrino and the Razorbacks.
Sports, Pages 21 on 09/23/2009