FAYETTEVILLE — Stick just the scores by their names and you'd know without proof the different University ofAlabamas, the Arkansas Razorbacks and Texas A&M Aggies played on Saturday.
A&M swamped the University of Alabama-Birmingham56-19 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.
Arkansas played the real football University of Alabama and took a real SEC whipping, 35-7 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Their recent results make a contrast for potential mindsets going into this Arkansas vs. Texas A&M game. The old rivals of the deceased Southwest Conference resume their rivalry in an ESPN2-televised 6:30 p.m. clash Saturday at Jerry Jones' new Cowboys Stadium.
A&M is 3-0 but all are nonconference so-so's at home - New Mexico, Utah State and UAB.
So coach Mike Sherman's Big 12 Aggies still haven't played a Big 12 game nor a game against a traditional BCS power conference.
Nor have they played outside of College Station. They still won't have ventured outside the State of Texas after Saturday, but will play in a house divided.
Arkansas has a big alumni base in North Texas.
The Aggies should feel confident from their 3-0 start but maybe a little apprehensive in their first foray from Kyle Field if they are sufficiently tested for an SEC team.
As for Arkansas, the Hogs are tested but unfortunately have flunked.
After vanquishing lower division Missouri State 44-10 in Little Rock, the Razorbacks lost a 52-41 SEC game they maybe could have won against a better Georgia team in Fayetteville. As expected, the Tide trounced them in Tuscaloosa.
Up next are Saturday's tussle with Texas A&M and the Oct. 10 Auburn SEC visit to Fayetteville.
To an Arkansas program already likely out of the SEC West chase and facing an SEC gauntlet also including Florida, Ole Miss and LSU on the road, these next two games are critical.
Lose them both and these Hogs would perch precariously behind the 8-ball to achieve bowl eligibility in coach Bobby Petrino's second season after a 5-7 record last year.
So restoring confidence is paramount, especially with Petrino galled by the Hogs seeming to arrive in Tuscaloosa with the can't-win mindset that oddsmakers projected.
"In our execution," Petrino said postgame in Tuscaloosa, "we didn't really believe we could come in and win the game. When you don't believe you can come in and win the game you drop passes. Youdon't do the things you've been coached to do. You don't do the things you normally do. You don't set your feet and throw the ball with conviction."
The Hogs believed they could and would beat Georgia.
Offensively that showed. They generally protected quarterback Ryan Mallett and he planted school records of 408 passing yards and five touchdowns to receivers who never dropped a pass in their grasp.
Alabama's great defense coupled with the Hogs' lack of self-belief triggered Arkansas' offensive meltdown.
It's all in the mind whether Arkansas offensively shakes the Alabama hangover.
A&M has a great defensive coordinator, Joe Kines, the Arkansas defensive coordinator from 1991-94 and Arkansas interim head coach in 1992, but its defense is not be confused with Alabama's or the great A&M "Wrecking Crews" of bygone SWC days.
Defensively, the Hogs in Tuscaloosa improved from abysmal versus Georgia to at times pretty good. But as happened too often last year, adversity at key times folded the tent.
"It hits you in the stomach," Malcolm Sheppard, the Razorbacks defensive tackle and senior captain said. "There's nothing you can do about it now, so you've got to show your true character and just move on from it and fight back."◊◊ ◊
Nate Allen's Razorback column appears Mondays in The Daily Record. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Sports, Pages 6, 7 on 09/28/2009