One More For The Road

One good thing you can say about Missouri scoring 38 points against the Razorbacks — we held them below their season scoring average.

The Razorback defense gave up 21 points in three quarters…one touchdown per quarter.  I know you’re going to say I’m crazy, but I think the defense played well enough for three quarters to keep us in the game.  While obviously we would’ve all liked the defense to perform better, we had to expect Missouri would score over 30 points.

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Missouri 38, Arkansas 7

Hogwired.com: Razorbacks Fall to No. 7 Missouri in Cotton Bowl, 38-7

In a match up of Heisman Trophy finalists, Darren McFadden and Chase Daniel, at the 72nd AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, it was Missouri tailback Tony Temple who put in a record-breaking performance in front of 73,114 fans.

The senior back tallied 281 yards on the ground and four rushing touchdowns, both Cotton Bowl records, to lead No. 7 Missouri to a 38-7 win over the No. 25 Razorbacks.

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Missouri Preview: Herring’s Hogs Hungry?

When it comes to holidays and bowl games, few mean as much to Hog fans as a trip to Dallas and the Cotton Bowl.  After all, the January 1 bowl used to be the pinnacle  — a reward for winning a conference championship.  These days, it’s a nice consolation prize that will soon be even better when Jerry Jones’ palace opens in 2009.

But if anyone tells you they know how this 2008 Cotton Bowl is going to turn out, they are flat-out crazy…or sipping too much eggnog.  At least on the surface, both teams seem to have little incentive to win.

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Talking Cotton Bowl

A few weeks ago, we were contacted by the folks over at NBCSports.com to find out if we wanted to record a blogger ’showdown’ segment as part of their site’s “Bowlnanza” coverage.  (Love the name, guys.)

Our very own HogBlogger participated along with Ross Taylor of the Missouri blog RockMNation.com.  You can see the video here:

Blogger Bowlnanza: Cotton Bowl

I thought the segment hosted by John Walters (a.k.a. “JDub“) was done really well.  Ross was cool and wasn’t into stirring up a bunch of trash talk.  And the trivia contest was fun, although HogBlogger is kicking himself for not remembering Ricky Williams.  We want to thank Matt at NBC Universal for inviting us to participate.

But, of course, the big thing to come out of this interview…HogBlogger is no longer anonymous!

Bowl Predictions - Missouri

Congratulations to HOGFAN23 for the closest prediction last time of 34-31.  His quote: “When did LSU become the greatest team ever?  What has been said all year will ring true…if we do what we do well, we’ll win.”  I gotta give it to you, HOGFAN23…that was the pick of the year.  I guess we’ll see now if ‘The Ohio State University’ can do what they do well against the Bayou Bengals.

For correctly predicting the first Razorback victory over a top-ranked team in 26 years, HOGFAN23 received a RazorBloggers Network T-shirt courtesy of Carpenter Clothing Co.  (Thanks again to those guys for sponsoring our predictions contest this year.)  And for those (three) of you who have been wondering all season what a RBN T-shirt looks like, click here for your wait to be finally over.  Nice and understated, huh?

As for our own mini-predictions contest, it comes down to the last game: HogBlogger 5, TipsterHog 4…while Sunshine and HogBaller are on the outside looking in.  (Although props to HogBaller for predicting a victory over LSU.)

So here we go:

Walking on Sunshine: I have no doubt that Louis Campbell will do all he can do to scheme a good defensive plan, but I worry that our offensive studs will play it safe in their finale.  Missouri 30, Arkansas 22.

HogBaller: I think the Razorback players and coaches have something to prove in this game.  David Lee may finally get to turn it loose now that the ‘Ole Play Caller’ has moved on to Ole Miss.  Arkansas 38, Missouri 21.

HogBlogger: While both teams averaged 40 points a game in the regular season, getting back on track after the break is harder for a passing team than a running team.  The Razorback players are looking to get noticed for their excellent last half of the year.  Herring wants to prove he is head coaching material.  Missouri wants to prove they should have been BCS bowl bound.  I like the Hogs.  Arkansas 35, Missouri 31.

TipsterHog: The only time I got to watch Missouri play this year was against Oklahoma.  And while the Tigers held their own in both games, the Sooners defeated them twice while averaging over 3.5 yards per carry.  If we don’t come close to doubling that stat, I’ll be very surprised.  Arkansas 41, Missouri 31.

Leave a comment with your name, e-mail address and pick.  And feel free to add your own take like “Daniel and McFadden prove Heisman voters were wrong” or “We’ve already shown we can beat Tigers.  Hogs roll.”

Razorbacks Accept Invitation To 2008 Cotton Bowl

Hogwired.com: Razorbacks Accept Cotton Bowl Invitation to Play Missouri

For the 11th time in school history, the Arkansas football team has accepted an invitation to play in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic.

The No. 24 Razorbacks will square off with No. 7 Missouri (11-2).

Also:

• Hogwired.com: Reggie Herring Press Conference - Cotton Bowl, Coach Broyles Statement
• AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic: Official Site, Game Press Release
• StubHub (Affiliate Link): 2008 Cotton Bowl Tickets
• Chris Bahn: Late Surge Has Razorbacks Picking Cotton
• Alex Abrams: Hogs Accept Cotton Bowl Invite At Uncertain Time
• Tom Murphy: Arkansas draws Missouri
• The Dallas Morning News: Arkansas vs. Missouri in Cotton Bowl Classic

Updated 12/3/07 7:05 a.m.