A Quarter Century of Hogs in the SEC

HOGS' MOST MEMORABLE FOOTBALL GAMES: No. 25 — 2012 bowl victory lifted Razorbacks to rarefied air

Arkansas wide receiver Joe Adams (3) is pushed out of bounds by Kansas State defensive back David Garrett (27) and defensive back Emmanuel Lamur (23) during the second half of the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game, Friday Jan. 6, 2012 in Arlington, Texas. Arkansas won 29-16. (AP Photo/Matt Strasen)
Arkansas wide receiver Joe Adams (3) is pushed out of bounds by Kansas State defensive back David Garrett (27) and defensive back Emmanuel Lamur (23) during the second half of the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game, Friday Jan. 6, 2012 in Arlington, Texas. Arkansas won 29-16. (AP Photo/Matt Strasen)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Bobby Petrino wore the remnants of a Gatorade bath and a big smile as he walked through the confetti and off the field at the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 6, 2012.

The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville coach had every reason to beam after leading the Razorbacks to a 29-16 victory over Kansas State at Cowboys Stadium. The postseason victory over the Wildcats gave the Razorbacks a school-record-tying 11-victory season and a No. 5 final ranking in The Associated Press poll after one of the best seasons in school history.

"It was a two-phase game. No. 1, send our seniors out with a win," Petrino said after the game. "We really wanted to get them 11 wins and make sure that everybody remembered this football team. And No. 2, it's the start of next season and everybody understands what our goals are."

Though no one knew it at the time, there would be no next season for Petrino at Arkansas. The Cotton Bowl was Petrino's last game after four seasons, a 34-17 record and a steady climb into the national limelight.

Petrino's swan song featured a Joe Adams' punt return for a touchdown, scoring passes from Tyler Wilson to Jarius Wright and Cobi Hamilton, and seven sacks from the defense. The fourth Cotton Bowl victory for the Razorbacks kicks off the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's countdown of the top 25 most memorable games since Arkansas joined the SEC 25 years ago.

Over the course of the summer, the Democrat-Gazette will present the 25 games chosen by our panel of 15 staff members.

The Razorbacks had only two losses in 2011 -- on the road at No. 3 Alabama and No. 1 LSU, a pair of SEC West rivals who would play for the BCS championship three days after Arkansas won the Cotton Bowl. The Razorbacks improved to 4-0 at what later would be called AT&T Stadium, the facility built for the Dallas Cowboys under owner Jerry Jones, the former Arkansas standout.

"That was one of the most memorable games for me because we beat Kansas State to get to 11 wins in the Cotton Bowl, which for Arkansas, for historic reasons, is one of those legendary bowl games that the old-timers think very highly of," said Wilson, the game's offensive MVP after passing for 216 yards and two touchdowns. "At the time, you're No. 6 or 7 in the country and finished in the top 5 with the win. For me, that was big."

The game marked the return of Paul Petrino as offensive coordinator after he spent two seasons at Illinois, and the debut of defensive coordinator Paul Haynes, who replaced the fired Willy Robinson after the Razorbacks' 41-17 loss at LSU on Nov. 25.

Arkansas was part of an historic moment in the national polls just a few weeks earlier when a 44-17 victory over Mississippi State, combined with losses from top 5 teams Oklahoma State, Oregon and Oklahoma, helped the Hogs rise to No. 3 behind LSU and Alabama in both the BCS and The Associated Press top 25 rankings.

It marked the first and only time in those rankings that three schools from the same division of the same conference occupied the top three spots. The Razorbacks could not play in a BCS bowl because the rules stated three teams from the same conference could not be in the BCS mix.

The 2012 Cotton Bowl pitted two teams with higher rankings in the BCS standings in No. 6 Arkansas and No. 8 Kansas State than two other BCS bowls that season, the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl. It was only the second time a non-BCS bowl could make that claim, following the 2008 Poinsettia Bowl between No. 9 Boise State and No. 11 TCU.

Arkansas did not have one of its flashier offensive displays against the Wildcats, with just 13 first downs and 345 total yards on 61 snaps. The Razorbacks finished No. 13 in passing offense that season with 300.7 yards per game and No. 29 in total offense with 438.1 yards per game.

But the Hogs' penchant for big plays was on display, evidenced by Adams' 51-yard punt return touchdown early in the second quarter.

"It was another one of those where you just go 'Wow!' " Petrino said of the touchdown return by Adams, his fourth of the year, helping the Little Rock native earn consensus All-American honors and the first Johnny "The Jet" Rodgers Award for the country's top return specialist.

Wilson's 45-yard touchdown strike to Wright late in the same quarter gave Arkansas a 19-0 lead.

The Arkansas defense came to play, slowing the vaunted Kansas State run game -- led by quarterback Collin Klein -- to 87 rushing yards. With the Hogs holding a 10-point lead entering the fourth quarter, Kansas State had to turn to the passing game and the results were disastrous.

Jake Bequette, the game's defensive MVP, and fellow end Chris Smith led Arkansas' sack parade with two apiece. Alonzo Highsmith, Tank Wright and Byran Jones all had one sack as the Razorbacks limited Kansas State to 260 total yards. Jerico Nelson sealed the game with a late interception.

"We knew on first and second down if we could stop the run and get them in third and long, we could really tee off on the quarterback," Bequette said at the postgame news conference.

"We pressured the quarterback," Petrino said. "We hit him and caused fumbles. Any time we made them throw the ball, our defensive front teed off."

Zach Hocker, who would go on to break the school scoring record by a wide margin with 354 points, added three field goals of 26, 22 and 30 yards for the Razorbacks.

Kansas State played well on defense but struggled with dropped passes and a couple of turnovers.

"We got off to an awfully bad start and really couldn't overcome the damage that we did, and most of it was pretty obvious," Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder said.

Sports on 06/08/2017

Why this game mattered: Winning the 2012 Cotton Bowl, which holds immense historic and nostalgic value for Arkansas fans, allowed the 2011 Razorbacks to tie the 1964 and 1977 teams for the school record with 11 victories.

Cotton Bowl

Jan. 6, 2012

Cowboys Stadium

Arlington, Texas

Kansas State;0 9 7 0 — 16

Arkansas;3 16 7 3 — 29

FIRST QUARTER

ARK—Hocker FG 26, 4:19

SECOND QUARTER

ARK—Adams 51 punt return (Hocker kick), 14:27

ARK—Hocker FG 22, 9:20

ARK—Wright 45 pass from Wilson (kick blocked), 4:10

KSU—Malone PAT return, 4:10

KSU—McDonald 3 pass from from Klein (Cantele, kick), :26

THIRD QUARTER

KSU—Klein 6 run (Cantele kick), 11:38

ARK—Hamilton 9 pass from Wilson (Hocker kick), 3:57

FOURTH QUARTER

ARK—Hocker FG 30, 3:30

Attendance—80,956

;KSU;ARK

First downs;19;13

Rushes-yards;40-87;30-129

Passing;173;216

Comp;Att;Int;30-16-1;31-20-0

Return yards;41;194

Fumbles-lost;1-1;1-1

Penalties-yards;5-38;6-43

Time of possession;33:51;26:09

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHNG—Kansas State, Klein 24-42, Hubert 12-37, Wilson 2-8, Pease 2-0. Arkansas, Green 7-60, Johnson 5-33, Wingo 9-18, Wilson 7-18, Adams 1-1, Team 1-(minus 1).

PASSING—Kansas State, Klein 16-30-1 173. Arkansas, Wilson 20-31-0 216.

RECEIVING— Kansas State, S.Smith 5-50, Thompson 3-57, B.Smith 2-29, Miller 2-22, Harper 1-11, Tannahill 1-6, McDonald 1-3, Hubert 1-(minus 5). Arkansas, Childs 5-48, Adams 5-22, Wright 3-88, Hamilton 3-26, Johnson 2-2, Gragg 1-26, Wingo 1-4.

25 for 25: Your say

Fifteen panelists for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette voted on the top 25 most memorable football games for the Arkansas Razorbacks since they moved to the SEC for the 1992 season. More than 80 games were considered. Over the next two months, our writers will count down from No. 25 to No. 1, providing insight into what made these games special, for better or worse. We also want to hear from our readers. Below are the 25 games that made the countdown, with the games that have not been revealed listed in chronological order. Please mail or email us your rankings 1-25. Your No. 1 game will receive 25 points, No. 2 will receive 24 points and so on. Also, write us a couple of sentences on some or all of the games. If we get enough, we will run selected responses when we unveil the readers’ choice list at the end of our countdown. Include your name and phone number so we can verify the comments if we choose to publish them. Send mail submissions to Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Attn. Jason Yates/Sports, 121 E. Capitol Ave., Little Rock, AR 72201. Or email jyates@arkansasonli….

25.2012 29-16 W Kansas State Hogs cap first 11-victory season since 1977

1992 10-3 L vs. Citadel Jack Crowe fired after loss

1992 25-24 W at Tennessee Hogs shock Vols in Knoxville

1995 20-19 W at Alabama J.J. Meadors catch/trap game

1995 34-3 L vs. Florida Hogs first besides Bama or Florida to play for title

1998 42-6 W vs. Alabama First SEC game of Houston Nutt era

1998 28-24 L at Tennessee Unbeaten Hogs fall on the “Stoerner Stumble”

1999 28-24 W vs. Tennessee Hogs get revenge by same score as year before

2000 27-6 W vs. Texas Satisfying victory over former SWC rival in Cotton

2001 58-56 W (7 OT) at Ole Miss Young Matt Jones outduels Eli Manning

2002 21-20 W vs. LSU in LR “Miracle on Markham”

2003 38-28 W at Texas Hogs go from unranked to No. 14

2003 71-63 W (7 OT) at Kentucky Matt Jones over Jared Lorenzen in shootout

2005 70-17 L at Southern Cal Hogs worst loss in modern era

2006 27-10 W at Auburn McFadden’s coming-out party

2006 38-28 L vs. No. 4 Florida Loss to eventual national champion in title game

2007 48-36 W vs. South Carolina McFadden runs for SEC-record tying 321 yards

2007 50-48 W (3 OT) at LSU McFadden: “We got that wood right here!”

2008 31-30 W vs. LSU “Miracle on Markham II”

2009 23-20 L at Florida Hogs take referee hosing against No. 1 Gators

2010 31-23 W vs. LSU in LR Victory leads to BCS bid

2011 31-26 L vs. Ohio State Mallett throws late INT in Sugar Bowl

2011 42-38 W vs. Texas A&M Wilson passes for school-record 510 yards

2012 34-31 L (OT) vs. La.-Monroe 2nd-half meltdown epitomizes John L. Smith era

2015 53-52 W (OT) at Ole Miss Hogs rally for victory after “Henry Heave”

Upcoming Events