"Houston Bowl" Comes To Fayetteville, Arkansas

There are many great college football games this weekend but the one I personally look forward to will kick off at Reynolds Razorback Stadium Saturday night. Ole Miss at Arkansas may not be on your list but it tops mine.

Saturday, Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt returns to Arkansas for the first time since he resigned last November as head coach of the Razorbacks. Nutt became a polarizing figure in the Razorback nation the last couple of years. From the Gus Malzahn experience to cell phone gate, blah, blah, blah, no sense rehashing the chain of events that led to Nutt's getting the heck out of dodge (or Fayetteville.) Nutt wasn't interested either when asked about it during his weekly press conference.

"I don’t want to get into all that. How did they know I was leaving or when I was leaving?" Nutt said. "All I know is that we gave a lot of effort and a lot of energy to that program for 10 years every single day from daylight to exhaustion."

There were many in the Razorback nation who wanted to see Nutt throw it a little more, to have a more entertaining offense. I thought it was pretty entertaining watching Darren McFadden and Felix Jones bust some long TD runs. I suspect Nutt knew he didn't have the type of quarterback that could sling it, and Hog fans, judging from this year Nutt might have been correct.

On the flipside, Bobby Petrino came to Arkansas in a storm of controversy that initially created a deeper divide among Razorback Nation. I've got to give Petrino credit, he practiced good P.R., showed a bit of personality and won over those Hog fans who had doubt. Petrino is taking a beat down this year but the track record is there for success.

Petrino is playing down the side story of Saturday's Ole Miss - Arkansas game.

"I understand the build up by the Razorback fans, that’s natural." Patrino said. "Our players understand that it’s our football team against their football team. Let’s take the coaches out of it, let’s take the past out of it and let’s just get ready to go out there and compete, play hard, play the game that we all love."

You bet Ole Miss and especially Arkansas (myself included) circled this date on their calendar. He didn't circle the date but Nutt thought about it.

"I don’t know an exact number, but off and on." Nutt said. "There have been several times when you think about what it’s going to be like when you’re coming from the opposite side, coming from the other dressing room. Now, you’re halfway through the season, you’re locked into Ole Miss, you’re locked into the players you have here and I’ve gotten very close to them. I’m looking forward to it, but I can’t give you an exact number of how many times. It’s definitely crossed my mind."

If anything, Saturday's Ole Miss - Arkansas game ramps up this rivalry.

"There will be a lot of people at the ball game, and it was probably an instant rival as soon as most of our staff came over here since there was so much talk about it." Nutt said.

What kind of reception will Houston Nutt get at the game? My guess it will be a mixture of polite applause and a cold reception. There still many wounds that haven't healed among the Hog fan base.

I can tell you this, Ole Miss will play hard, Arkansas will play hard. Nutt's Arkansas recruits will play hard. It should be an intense football game Saturday in the Ozarks.

You can read more from Wally Hall’s column in Friday’s Arkansas Democrat – Gazette.

More analysis from the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.

Houston Nutt Photo Courtesy: Getty Images

Bobby Petrino Photo Courtesy: Wesley Hitt/Arkansas