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AUMACDAD
(205.188.209.80) on 9/24/2003 - 7:39 p.m. says: ( 8 views
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"Houston Nutt: Fayetteville's Tuberville?"
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(EDITED BY AUTHOR: 9/24/2003 - 8:23 p.m.) Heading into the 2003 season, Houton Nutt's career winning percentage is 62%.
Tommy Tuberville's over-all winning percentage is 59%.
Nutt's SEC record: 62%.
Tuberville's SEC record: 61%.
Nutt owns Auburn. I assume that there are other teams which Arkansas considers a more important rival to Razorback fans (I guess Tennessee, LSU, and Ole Miss because of geographical proximity.) But the Auburn-Arkansas game has had major Western Division implications the past four years. Every SEC game is important, but none more so than those in the Western rat race.
Tuberville owns Georgia, which is a traditional rival for Auburn. Any win over your traditional rivals endears you to the faithful fans and booster of the programs.
Nutt has engineered some of the most thrilling Razorback wins since Arkansas joined the SEC, most recently against Texas 2 weeks ago.
Tuberville has posted similiar big wins in his tenure at Auburn -- granted, you have to go back to last season to find a big Tuberville win.
The major difference between the two: Nutt, of course, owns Tuberville. Nutt likewise owns his home stadium. Tuberville has made a habit of embarrassing home losses. All in all, however, I think the coaches find themselves in similiar situations this season.
Tuberville has a respectable SEC record against every SEC team except Arkansas and Florida (most Auburn fans forgive Tuberville the loses to Florida since he did beat Spurrier in '01.) But Tuberville needs a win over Arkansas to remove any doubt that he is the coach to take Auburn to the proverbial "next level."
Nutt has a respectable SEC record against every SEC team except Alabama. But if Nutt loses to Bama this weekend, I think much of the good-will from the Texas upset will be dampened. Just as Tuberville needs to beat Arkansas more regularly to become a contender in the SEC championship race, Nutt needs a win over Bama to take Arkansas to the next level.
This Tiger fan will be in attendance at the Bama-Arkansas game watching with vested interest in the outcome of this crucial SEC Western Division match-up. I expect an old fashioned SEC slugfest -- in other words, your typical Tide-Hawg football game. My prediction: 21-17, Arkansas. Bama's defense is good, but I think this is the year Nutt finally breaks out from the middle of the Western Division pack.
I can only hope that by some miraculous turn of events, I had the same confidence that Tuberville could do the same.
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