1998 Arkansas Razorbacks football team

1998 Arkansas Razorbacks football
SEC Western Division co-champion
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionWestern Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 17
APNo. 16
Record9–3 (6–2 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorHouston Nutt (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinators
Captains
Home stadiumRazorback Stadium
War Memorial Stadium
1998 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Eastern Division
No. 1 Tennessee x$#   8 – 0     13 – 0  
No. 5 Florida %   7 – 1     10 – 2  
No. 14 Georgia   6 – 2     9 – 3  
Kentucky   4 – 4     7 – 5  
Vanderbilt   1 – 7     2 – 9  
South Carolina   0 – 8     1 – 10  
Western Division
Mississippi State xy   6 – 2     8 – 5  
No. 16 Arkansas x   6 – 2     9 – 3  
Alabama   4 – 4     7 – 5  
Ole Miss   3 – 5     7 – 5  
LSU   2 – 6     4 – 7  
Auburn   1 – 7     3 – 8  
Championship: Tennessee 24, Mississippi State 14
  • # – BCS National Champion
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1998 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represented the University of Arkansas as a member of the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference during the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by first-year head coach Houston Nutt, the Razorbacks compiled an overall record 9–3 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, sharing the SEC's Western Division title with Mississippi State. By virtue of a head-to-head loss to the Bulldogs, Arkansas was left out of the SEC Championship Game. The Razorbacks were invited to the Florida Citrus Bowl, where they lost to Michigan. The team played home games at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas and War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Nutt became the first Arkansas head coach to win his first eight games. In the ninth game of the season, undefeated, No. 10 Arkansas lost to the future national champion, No. 1 Tennessee in Knoxville, 28–24, due in large part to a fumble late in the game by Arkansas quarterback Clint Stoerner. Tennessee recovered the fumble and then drove the short field for the go-ahead touchdown with less than a minute to play. It is considered one of the most devastating losses in Razorback football history. The emotional hangover from that loss adversely affected Arkansas the following week, leading to an upset loss at Mississippi State, 22–21. Beating LSU in the regular season finale secured Arkansas a share of the division title and sent the 9–2 Razorbacks to the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando on New Year's Day to play the Michigan Wolverines. In the first meeting ever between the two schools, the Tom Brady-led Wolverines won, 45–31, and Arkansas finished the season 9–3 and ranked No. 16 in the final AP poll.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 56:00 pmSouthwestern Louisiana*
W 38–1747,562[1]
September 196:00 pmSMU*
W 44–1755,544[2]
September 265:00 pmNo. 22 Alabama
  • Razorback Stadium
  • Fayetteville, AR
ESPN2W 42–651,763[3]
October 35:00 pmKentuckyNo. 22
  • War Memorial Stadium
  • Little Rock, AR
ESPN2W 27–2055,782[4]
October 102:30 pmat Memphis*No. 20
ESPN2W 23–942,766[5]
October 1712:00 pmat South CarolinaNo. 17
PPVW 41–2867,930[6]
October 311:00 pmat AuburnNo. 14
PPVW 24–2178,439[7]
November 711:30 amOle MissNo. 11
  • Razorback Stadium
  • Fayetteville, AR (rivalry)
JPSW 34–049,115[8]
November 142:30 pmat No. 1 TennesseeNo. 10
CBSL 24–28106,365[9]
November 2111:30 amat Mississippi StateNo. 9
JPSL 21–2236,656[10]
November 271:30 pmLSUNo. 13
  • War Memorial Stadium
  • Little Rock, AR (rivalry)
CBSW 41–1455,831[11]
January 11:00 pmvs. No. 15 Michigan*No. 11
ABCL 31–4563,584[12]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

[13]

Rankings

See also: 1998 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
AP——RVRV22201715141110913111116
Coaches—RVRVRV2419161212109913111117
BCSNot released121179131313Not released

Game summaries

vs No. 22 Alabama

See also: 1998 Alabama Crimson Tide football team
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 22 Crimson Tide 3 3 0 0 6
Razorbacks 0 14 7 21 42

After leading by eight at halftime, Arkansas shut out Alabama in the second half to earn a dominant 36-point win.

Statistics Alabama Arkansas
First downs 7 26
Total yards 152 445
Rushing yards 104 206
Passing yards 48 239
Turnovers 1 3
Time of possession 31:09 28:51
Team Category Player Statistics
Alabama Passing John David Phillips 9–21, 48 yards, 1 INT
Rushing Shaun Alexander 21 carries, 48 yards
Receiving Michael Vaughn
Quincy Jackson		 2 receptions, 13 yards
Arkansas Passing Clint Stoerner 13–29, 239 yards, 3 TD's
Rushing Madre Hill 20 carries, 120 yards, 1 TD
Receiving Michael Snowden 3 receptions, 69 yards, 2 TD's

at No. 1 Tennessee

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 10 Razorbacks 7 14 3 0 24
No. 1 Volunteers 0 10 10 8 28

Arkansas led 21–3 in the first half, but couldn't survive a season-saving comeback by the Volunteers. A late turnover by the Hogs gave Tennessee an opportunity to drive for the game-winning touchdown.[14] Tennessee would go on to win the national championship.

Florida Citrus Bowl (vs No. 15 Michigan)

Main article: 1999 Florida Citrus Bowl
Arkansas vs. Michigan
Team 1 234Total
No. 11 Arkansas 0 10147 31
• No. 15 Michigan 3 21021 45
        
Scoring summary
110:37MICHJay Feely 43-yard field goalMICH 3–0
210:37ARKMichael Williams 35-yard pass from Clint Stoerner (Todd Latourette kick)ARK 7–3
7:40MICHAnthony Thomas 2-yard run (Feely kick)MICH 10–7
5:39MICHIan Gold 46-yard interception return (Feely kick)MICH 17–7
2:12ARKLatourette 42-yard field goalMICH 17–10
0:34MICHThomas 5-yard run (Feely kick)MICH 24–10
39:10ARKChrys Chukwuma 2-yard run (Latourette kick)MICH 24–17
5:48ARKChukwuma 1-yard run (Latourette kick)TIE 24–24
412:18ARKJoe Dean Davenport 9-yard pass from Stoerner (Latourette kick)ARK 31–24
5:49MICHThomas 1-yard run (Feely kick)TIE 31–31
2:25MICHDiAllo Johnson 21-yard pass from Brady (Feely kick)MICH 38–31
3:48MICHJames Whitley 26-yard interception return (Feely kick)MICH 45–31
[15]

On January 1, 1999, No. 15 Michigan defeated No. 11 Arkansas, 45–31, before a crowd of 63,584 in the 1999 Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida.

Statistics Arkansas Michigan
First downs 20 21
Plays–yards 82–348 76–434
Rushes–yards 40–116 46–204
Passing yards 232 230
Passing: comp–att–int 17-42-2 16–30–2
Time of possession 28:43 31:17
Team Category Player Statistics
Arkansas Passing Clint Stoerner 17/42, 232 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
Rushing Chrys Chukwuma 17 carries, 56 yards, 2 TD
Receiving Michael Williams 7 receptions, 90 yards, 1 TD
Michigan Passing Tom Brady 14/27, 209 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing Anthony Thomas 21 carries, 132 yards, 3 TD
Receiving Tai Streets 7 receptions, 129 yards

Roster

1998 Arkansas Razorbacks football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 14 Clint Stoerner Jr
RB 22 Chrys Chukwuma Jr
RB 34 Madre Hill Sr
FB 47 Nathan Norman
C 54 Grant Garrett
G 60 Russ Brown
OT 69 Bobbie Williams Jr
OT 72 Chad Abernathy Sr
G 77 Brandon Burlsworth Sr
SE 80 Anthony Lucas Jr
FL 81 Emanuel Smith Jr
TE 85 Joe Dean Davenport Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DE 1 Randy Garner
CB 18 David Barrett Jr
FS 29 Kenoy Kennedy Jr
DB 30 Jeremy Flowers
DL 41 Melvin Bradley Sr
LB 53 Quenton Caver So
NG 96 Ryan Hale Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 8 Chris Akin
K 10 Todd Latourette Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Roster

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ "Arkansas wins first under Nutt". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. September 6, 1998. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Arkansas romps past SMU". The Sun. September 20, 1998. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Tide hog-tied, 42–6". The Anniston Star. September 27, 1998. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Aw, Nutts! Hogs overtake 'Cats". The Paducah Sun. October 4, 1998. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Hogs still unbeaten after Memphis rout". Paragould Daily Press. October 11, 1998. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Carolina falls apart in third quarter of 41–28 loss to Hogs". The Item. October 18, 1998. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Arkansas overcomes turnovers to beat Auburn". The Marshall News Messenger. November 1, 1998. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Arkansas throws shutout at Rebels". The Montgomery Advertiser. November 8, 1998. Retrieved July 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Friendly fumble; Late turnover brings UT back from brink". The Leaf-Chronicle. November 15, 1998. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Bulldogs take Hogs to wire". The Shreveport Times. November 22, 1998. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "LSU ends season with a thud". Alexandria Daily Town Talk. November 28, 1998. Retrieved July 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Michigan strikes late, tops Arkansas". The Miami Herald. January 2, 1999. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "1998 Arkansas Razorbacks Schedule and Results". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
  14. ^ Broussard, Chris (November 15, 1998). "College Football; Tennessee's Title Drive Stays Alive, Just Barely". The New York Times. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  15. ^ "U-M Summary". Detroit Free Press. January 2, 1999. p. 8B – via Newspapers.com.
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