Like it is

Cranky Petrino left impression at Cotton Bowl

Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino, right, shakes hands with Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder after the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game, Friday, Jan. 6, 2012, in Arlington, Texas. Arkansas won 29-16. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino, right, shakes hands with Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder after the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game, Friday, Jan. 6, 2012, in Arlington, Texas. Arkansas won 29-16. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

It was a 2012 game that had all the earmarks of being a classic: Kansas State was No. 8 in the final Bowl Championship Series rankings and the Arkansas Razorbacks were No. 6.

With luck, either could have been in a BCS game, but it was still the grand old Cotton Bowl.

If it were up to the media, every major game would be played in Cowboys Stadium and run by the Cotton Bowl folks. They are the friendliest and most helpful, which starts at the top with Rick Baker, continues with Charlie Fiss and runs all the way down to the final employee.

Only it wasn't a great game or a great week.

Bobby Petrino, who unknown to anyone was coaching his final game at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, was in a terrible mood all week.

This was one year after Arkansas had played Ohio State in the BCS Sugar Bowl, and for a competitor such as Petrino, it had to feel like a step down.

To give you an idea of how the week went, Kansas State's Bill Snyder -- never known as a media darling -- won the news conferences. In all fairness, Petrino was very happy in the postgame news conference after a 29-16 victory.

Both coaches had signed off on the week's schedule of events, but all week Petrino tried to get times changed to better fit his and the Razorbacks' schedule.

Maybe it was the pressure of dealing with Petrino all week, but then-Arkansas director of football media relations Zack Higbee cursed Fiss -- one of the most popular and likeable people in football -- about the statistics taking too long.

When word spread through the press box, a seasoned veteran said, "The way this week has gone, it may be a long time before Arkansas gets invited back."

Jeff Long, the UA athletic director, found out about the cursing and insisted Higbee apologize, and he did several months later when Fiss -- who had been highly offended at the words and treatment -- finally called Higbee back.

Higbee is now at the University of Oklahoma, where he's director of communications for the College of Arts and Sciences.

Anyway, both teams were 10-2 and the Hogs' only losses were to No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama, which became the first two schools from the same conference to play for the BCS championship. The Tide, which lost to the Tigers in the regular season, won the rematch.

The Razorbacks' challenge was to stop Wildcats quarterback Collin Klein, who led the team and ranked third nationally in rushing by a quarterback with 1,099 yards and scored 26 touchdowns going into the game. He had passed for 12 touchdowns, so he was mildly a dual threat.

Klein was sacked seven times, and defensive end Jake Bequette was named defensive MVP of the game.

Tyler Wilson threw for two touchdowns, Zach Hocker kicked three field goals and Joe Adams returned a punt 51 yards for a touchdown, and the game was never as close as the final score.

It was the first time since 1977 that the Hogs won 11 games, and the future looked bright that night for the Hogs. As everyone knows, within months everything went south.

A couple of notes about this series of Silver Anniversary games for the Hogs.

This game beat out the six-overtime loss to Tennessee in 2002 by just two points. A total of 57 games got votes.

It is because there have been so many great games that we want our readers to vote on their top 25. Email them to [email protected] or mail them to Attn: Jason Yates, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Sports, 121 E. Capitol Ave., Little Rock, AR 72201.

Sports on 06/08/2017

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