SEC eyes will be on Starkville Saturday|[11/14/06]
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, November 14, 2006
From the Plains of Auburn, Ala., to Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, many eyes will be keyed into a non-televised afternoon matchup in Starkville.
Both LSU and Auburn still have fleeting thoughts of an SEC West championship, but to do it, the two Tigers will need Mississippi State to do the unthinkable – stop the buzzsaw that is the University of Arkansas.
The Razorbacks will clinch the West and a matchup with Florida in the SEC championship game with a win over the Bulldogs (3-7, 1-5 SEC). An Arkansas loss keeps both Auburn and LSU on life support for a Western Division championship.
“We had a great Sunday meeting and there was fire in the players’ eyes,” Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said on Monday. “They know that this is championship week for us. This is our Super Bowl week.”
Arkansas (9-1, 6-0) manhandled Tennessee 31-14 on Saturday in much the same fashion as it has beaten every opponent since the opening week of the season. A 50-14 loss to Southern Cal on Sept. 2 gave way to a freshman quarterback’s rise and a sophomore running back’s coming of age that is already generating Heisman talk in Fayetteville.
“I am really proud of him and he deserves it,” Nutt said. “I’ve only been around one Heisman winner and that was Barry Sanders (at Oklahoma State) and I would put Darren right under him. Darren has handled everything really well.”
Three close wins in September fueled the Hogs’ run and the team has showed few signs of slowing down. They beat Auburn by 17, Ole Miss by 35, and Tennessee by 17. Arkansas has only Mississippi State on Saturday and the annual day-after-Thanksgiving matchup with LSU left on the schedule.
In addition, Arkansas moved into seventh in the latest Bowl Championship Series standings.
Arkansas coach Houston Nutt on Monday said that this week’s game in Starkville could be perceived as a trap game, but added the Razorbacks have no intention of overlooking Mississippi State.
“They are feeling good right now,” Nutt said of the Bulldogs. “They went to Alabama and won, which is difficult for anyone, and are coming off a week off.
“They have had two weeks to prepare and we know they will be prepared. We have a lot of respect for Mississippi State.”
McFadden spearheads the offense, averaging nearly 122 yards rushing per game. Felix Jones, considered by many to be the best backup running back in America, has run for 786 yards and three touchdowns.
McFadden, who has run for 12 touchdowns, thrown for two and caught one, will line up in the backfield and under center.
Mississippi State is coming off a bye week which followed a 24-16 victory over Alabama in Tuscaloosa, the first SEC road win since the 2000 season for the Bulldogs.