Razorback football is an obsession in Arkansas, from the Ozarks to the Delta, and a rallying point for displaced Arkansans everywhere. The whole history of Hog football is covered in this lively chronicle. The story begins in 1894, when the playing field was a patch of spriggy dirt and the team players were derided as “thugs, puguglies, and roughnecks”by a local newspaper.
For a time,Arkansas suffered sporadic losing seasons as the only non-Texas team in the Southwest Conference. Then Frank Broyles turned the program around and won a national championship in 1964. Later, Lou Holtz stunned the nation with a Razorback Orange Bowl victory over Oklahoma in 1978. In the 1990s, the Hogs have arrived in the Southeastern Conference, reentered national rankings, and gained bowl invitations. All the great names and major players are here, including Hugo Bezdek, Steve Creekmore, Wear Schoonover, John Barnhill, Preston Carpenter, Lance Alworth, Ken Hatfield, Bobby Crockett, Jim Lindsey, Jerry Jones, Bill Montgomery, Chuck Dicus, Ben Cowins, Ron Calcagni, Billy Ray Smith, Quinn Grovey, Danny Ford,Madre Hill, J. J. Meadors, and many more.
Complete appendices detail the game schedules and statistics, the roster of coaches, the bowl game results, a list of all the lettermen, and the statistics of selected players. Engagingly written and fun to read, this story tells how a small college team came to represent its home state’s collective identity. Hog fans everywhere will experience the sway of the packed stadium, the surge of the pig sooooie call, and the rallying strains of the Razorback Marching Band.
Revised, updated, and enlarged, with over 80 photographs, Orville Henry’s and Jim Bailey’s newest edition of The Razorbacks brings the written history of a powerful collegiate football team into the 1990s.
