Arkansas Football: Remembering last win over Crimson Tide

Please excuse us if we decide to veer a bit today on our typical Saturday morning game coverage. It’s just that it’s been a long time since Arkansas football has beaten the Alabama Crimson Tide. So we cannot prep you for this game without talking about the 16-year-old elephant in the room.

Let’s set the stage: Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” was on everyone’s iPod Nano. Jackass: Number Two made almost ten million dollars at the box office. Grey’s Anatomy was drama-filled appointment viewing unless you Tivo’ed it.

Arkansas football last beat Alabama on September 23rd, 2006. Unfortunately, the Alabama losing streak is old enough to drive a car.

We may not have fully known it then, but Arkansas football was amidst some drama that rivaled Meredith Grey’s love life. Our McDreamy was a flashy new offensive coordinator, and the crew of high school players he coached to glory the year before joining the Hogs. Our McSteamy was the long-time coach, and his desire to feed the ball to the most outstanding player in school history.

(I have no idea if this analogy works. I’ve never seen Grey’s Anatomy.)

What’s crazy is that both camps played a significant role in the win. Mitch Mustain threw the winning touchdown to his Springdale teammate Ben Cleveland. Darren McFadden rushed for 112 yards and was the best player on the field.

(Also, special shoutout to Felix Jones because how can you not love that guy? He averaged 16.3 yards per carry that day.)

What’s crazier is how quaint the Houston Nutt versus Gus Malzahn drama seems compared to what Arkansas football has been through since it last beat Alabama.

Since 2006, Arkansas has technically had eight head coaches if you count the interim head coaches (Reggie Herring and Barry Lunney, Jr). Alabama has had one. The one. I can’t quite place his name right now, though.

I was in the student section for this one as a college junior. The win itself felt typical of the Nutt-era at Arkansas. Get down early (10-3 at halftime), come from behind, and squeak it out in overtime.

Fans who loved Nutt would celebrate the win and his eventual Coach of the Year award that season. Fans who hated him would point to Alabama’s three missed field goals and one missed extra point as evidence that he, yet again, got lucky.

So much has changed since 2006, and nothing has changed. Grey’s Anatomy is still on TV. The Jackass guys are still making movies. Depending on who you ask, Timberlake is still sexy.

There will be similarities on the field as well. Just like in 2006, The Crimson Tide will try to exploit Arkansas football through the air. The Hogs are going to need to run the ball to win today.

Like all Arkansas football fans, I’m ready for the streak to end and hope today is the day. I don’t want to be here in two years writing about how the Alabama losing streak can vote. I don’t want to be here talking about the Alabama losing streak’s ability to rent a car or its midlife crisis.

Sam Pittman deserves a ton of credit for righting the ship here. Still, one monkey rests on the back of the entire program.

And Nick Saban is riding that monkey with Little Debbies in hand.

2006 was a watershed season in the history of Arkansas football. Maybe today will be the same.