College Football Potpourri Deluxe

Don't Call it a Comeback

By: Robert Beckmann

Posted: 11/5/08

Hey, sports fans. Here's a veritable potpourri of college football-related goodness:

Jerry Franklin Update: Franklin continues his tear. Against Tulsa, he recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass. Post-game, Bobby Petrino mentioned that it's easy to forget that Franklin is only a freshman.

In the preseason, Petrino briefly considered playing Franklin at tailback until they had a meeting and settled on linebacker. Here are a few lesser known Franklin facts:

• Tulsa ran a constant hurry-up offense against Arkansas because being a sitting duck for even a second against Franklin is akin to suicide.

• Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer announced Monday that this is his final season with the Volunteers. Despite rumors of being forced out, Fulmer willfully resigned to avoid possible future dates in which the Vols would be slated to face the UA and Franklin.

• Tulsa quarterback David Johnson's punt against the Hogs was not planned. Johnson accidentally made eye-contact with Franklin, temporarily short-circuiting his brain.

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The Tulsa offense had its occasional problems handling Arkansas. Especially early, the Golden Hurricane pass protection crumbled against the Razorback defense.

However, Tulsa finally got its legs, and in the end they amassed 528 offensive yards. And they're Tulsa. And they had 528 yards.

Kudos to Gus Malzahn. If he can turn a second-rate team into non-BCS powerhouse, the college football world should be frightened for when Malzahn gets a head coaching job at a BCS school.

Sooner or later, it will happen. And when it does, he can hire the best defensive coordinator he can find. And then it's on.

If he gets a job at a Southeastern Conference school or the like, he will also be able to load up on blue-chip recruits. There's no coach on the rise with his potential, and he'll be a great hire for the athletic director who notices.

After the 30-23 win, Arkansas fans began chanting "overrated" in reference to Tulsa's Top 25 ranking. I never envisioned the day that Hog fans would be calling Tulsa overrated.

Also, why do fans want to call the opposing team overrated anyway? Aren't you simply devaluing your own team's win?

I'm sure it's very encouraging to the coaches and players. "You guys just beat a team that wasn't that good!"

Score.

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To commemorate the upcoming Arkansas-South Carolina game, here are my favorite Steve Spurrier quotes:

• After Spurrier signed a player from the state of Alabama to South Carolina: "In 12 years at Florida, I don't think we ever signed a kid from the state of Alabama. Of course, we found out later that the scholarships they were giving out at Alabama were worth a whole lot more than ours." (Referencing Alabama's recruiting violations)

• On a 1991 fire in Auburn's football dorm that destroyed 20 books: "The real tragedy was that 15 hadn't been colored yet."

• On whether coaching in the NFL is more difficult than coaching in college football: "Yes, because they're no Vanderbilts in the NFL."

• To the photographer taking the Gators' SEC Championship team photo after they had won their fourth consecutive conference title: "This is our annual team picture."

• While at Florida, in alleging Florida State was delivering cheap shots to Gator quarterback Danny Wuerffel: "[Wuerffel] is a New Testament guy. You slap him upside the helmet, and he'll turn the other cheek and say, 'Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do.' I'm a little more Old Testament. If you spear our guy in the earhole, I think we're supposed to be able to spear your guy in the earhole."

Robert Beckmann is a senior staff writer for The Arkansas Traveler.