Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

11/27/2010 at 10:41pm

Image by Mark Wagner

Arkansas wide receiver Cobi Hamilton scored on an 80-yard touchdown just before halftime. His touchdown gave the Razorbacks a 21-14 lead and was one of several risky play calls that paid off big for Coach Bobby Petrino. Arkansas won 31-23.

Only six seconds remained until halftime of Saturday’s game between No. 12 Arkansas and fifth-ranked LSU. A hike of the ball and a kneel-down from quarterback Ryan Mallett would have ended the first half with the teams tied.

Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino wasn’t interested in playing it safe. A victory was too important. Win and the Razorbacks would put themselves in position for a Sugar Bowl berth and secure just the fifth 10-win regular season since 1979.

Petrino knew the game was huge. That’s why he showed off some really big, um, calls in Saturday’s 31-23 victory against the Tigers.

It started with a gutsy decision right before halftime. Petrino dialed up a pass play to Cobi Hamilton that went for 80 yards and a touchdown with no time on the clock. Arkansas went into the locker room up a touchdown and led for good.

It got better as the Razorbacks built on the 21-14 halftime lead. Petrino didn’t stop with one huge call. He came back with another one in the fourth quarter, going for it on fourth down and winding up with a 39-yard Joe Adams touchdown and 28-20 lead.

Ballgame.

“We came to win,” Petrino said, shortly after the victory and a wild celebration that included a water cooler bath for the head coach and players posing for pictures with the "Golden Boot." Reps from the Sugar Bowl took pictures of a wild scene that played out on the field as the War Memorial PA blasted "Pour Some Sugar On Me," a not so-sutble nod to the Razorbacks' bowl preference.

Arkansas (10-2, 6-2) did its part. And now the Razorbacks are an Auburn victory in next week’s SEC title game away from their first BCS bowl game. It has taken Petrino only three years to get the program to this point.

Since Arkansas began the season, Petrino has talked about how much faith he has in this team. His words of support didn’t waver after losses to Auburn and Alabama. And Petrino paid the team a great compliment with his play calling on Saturday.

Razorback players clearly appreciated the confidence shown by Petrino. It was a source of pride and a motivating factor as they put the finishing touches on the biggest victory of the Petrino era.

“He put great trust in us to make plays, so we had to make them,” Adams said. “We had to win.”

Adams said he had faith in the play from the second he knew the ball was coming his way on a fourth-and-three play. Arkansas has been saving that particular play, one inspired by last year’s loss to LSU in Baton Rouge (more on that in a bit).

Hamilton admitted to feeling shocked by what the play call was. Not so surprised that he didn’t turn a pass from Ryan Mallett into an 80-yard touchdown.

Interestingly, it was LSU’s Les Miles who entered Saturday’s game with the reputation as a risk taker. He’d used fourth down calls, fake punts and other unorthodox calls to the Tigers’ advantage throughout the season.

Seeing those types of plays work against his team was tough for Miles, who said, “It’s certainly not how it’s supposed to end for us.”

Petrino’s approach wasn’t quite as willy-nilly as it might seem, honestly. This was still vintage plotting and planning by Petrino, just with a touch of Miles’ unpredictability. It was far more calculating than crazy.

Arkansas had been sitting on the Adams’ touchdown play since the spring. Last year LSU gave the Razorbacks trouble with man blitzes and the Tigers jumped several routes in Baton Rouge. Petrino and staff came up with a plan to beat that look and worked on it extensively in spring practice.

Coincidentally, the play was never used this season against anybody else. And when LSU showed blitz on the play, Mallett went to Adams who made a double move on the defensive back and had an easy time getting into the end zone.

Really, it was exactly what Arkansas has done all year: take advantage of what the defense allows.

“We make plays when plays present themselves,” said Mallett, who notched his 58^th, 59^th and 60^th career touchdowns on Saturday. Mallett is now the school record holder in touchdown passes and two of them stunned just about everyone of the 55,808 in attendance.

From the press box and the stands they seemed like big risks to take. And if the plays had gone poorly (like that fake field goal against Texas A&M earlier this year) there would have been plenty of second-guessing.

Fear was never part of the discussion on the Razorback sidelines. No negative thoughts were allowed and both plays were seen as opportunities for touchdowns.

Petrino said he was following a philosophy he learned from mentor and current staff member John L. Smith. Petrino called Smith over on the fourth-and-three play to discuss going for it. Smith was in favor of taking the risk.

“I worked for Coach Smith a long time and we always had a saying, ‘We didn’t come to paint. We came to win the game,’" Petrino said.

"We went for it."

Tagged: Arkansas Razorbacks, Cobi Hamilton, Bobby Petrino, Ryan Mallett, John L. Smith