98 Ark v Tenn on SECN now...

[Lawdawg.sixpack]

Hogs with the ball and the lead late. No way they blow this...

 

[Xenomorph]

Is this the Stoerner game where he literally reaches down and puts the ball on the ground?

 

[T-TownDawgg]

Clint Stoerner. Had Fat Phil on life support for a trip to Atlanta and let em off. Man I was a hog fan that night. Oh well.

Anyone else remember when Jay Cutler and his crew were driving late at Alabama? Early game, JP Sports. Down by a field goal, he led a magnificent drive late in the 4th and seemed destined to finish off Dubose's crew. The call was a halfback pass. The Gumps fell for it and were ballsack deep into it. Cutler was near the sideline on about the 15 when a perfect pass spiraled beautifully and gracefully right into his hands. Not a bammer within 20 yds of him. Freaking dropped what would have been Vanderbilts biggest road win ever. The look on the Gumps faces said, "Holy ****, we almost got beat at home by Vandy."

 

[thekimmer]

Clint Stoerner. Had Fat Phil on life support for a trip to Atlanta and let em off. Man I was a hog fan that night. Oh well.

Anyone else remember when Jay Cutler and his crew were driving late at Alabama? Early game, JP Sports. Down by a field goal, he led a magnificent drive late in the 4th and seemed destined to finish off Dubose's crew. The call was a halfback pass. The Gumps fell for it and were ballsack deep into it. Cutler was near the sideline on about the 15 when a perfect pass spiraled beautifully and gracefully right into his hands. Not a bammer within 20 yds of him. Freaking dropped what would have been Vanderbilts biggest road win ever. The look on the Gumps faces said, "Holy ****, we almost got beat at home by Vandy."

Well had the hogs won The Kang is the guy who would have missed atlanta not Phat Phil. UT would have still made it to the ATL because they held the tiebreaker vs UF. Perhaps a loss would have knocked them out of the NC game but they would have won the east.

Looking back at that 98 season it is astounding that we were blown out by two teams that ended the season with losing records (LSU 4-7 and OSU 5-6) and still managed to win the west.

 

[T-TownDawgg]

I meant Arkys trip to Atl. They were undefeated going into that game if my memory serves me.

 

[thekimmer]

I meant Arkys trip to Atl. They were undefeated going into that game if my memory serves me.

Oh I see what you are saying. That is correct UPigg was undefeated and we already had two conference losses. We knew before the game that if UT beat the pigs our game with porkers would be for the division lead and likely the title so I know I was rooting hard for the vols and they miraculously pulled it out. Then they pulled another one out of their butts against us in the SECCG.

 

[Lawdawg.sixpack]

Yeah, and maybe don't ask him about it:

[tweet]1030086939100278784[/tweet]

 

[BigDog72.sixpack]

I was at the District Cafe and it was packed. I think we'd just beat the snot (literally) out of Alabama in an early morning game and then we had to wait and pray for help from Tennessee. Tennessee played their worst game of the year until they caught fire. When Clint fumbled that ball, the District Cafe erupted like I have never seen. It was standing room only. Tennessee went on to win and we got a trip to Atlanta. For once, we weren't MSU on that day!!

 

[bomanishus]

The Cause of the Fumble ...

It appears that Stoerner lost the ball when his foot was stepped on by his right guard/tackle, Brandon Burlsworth. The UT defensive tackle/end put quite a push on him so that when BB tried to regain leverage, his foot stepped on Stoerner's and caused him to stumble. When he put his hand down to regain his balance, the ball stuck to the ground.

Burlsworth was the walk-on who played his way into the NFL draft's third round as a senior. He was killed only weeks later in an auto accident. Burlsworth is quite a story, and it had never occurred to me that he had a hand (foot, actually) in this epic play.

 

[campshelbydog842003]

Is this the Stoerner game where he literally reaches down and puts the ball on the ground?

The next week we played Arkansas and had Arkansas fans sitting right in front of us. I yelled “fumble!” as soon as they sat down in front of me. They were not amused.

 

[Raiderdawg.sixpack]

Hogs with the ball and the lead late. No way they blow this...

I was at this game with my dad. We were sitting in metal bleachers in the end zone The Hogs were driving toward. So many UT fans were leaving, my dad wanted to stay until the end to let the crowds clear out. So we were 2 of a handful of fans still in the stands when he fumbled. Absolutely couldn’t tell what happened from our view. Strange ending - both fanbases were in complete shock at how it ended. UT got so lucky 4 or 5 times that year.

 

[hogfan14]

It appears that Stoerner lost the ball when his foot was stepped on by his right guard/tackle, Brandon Burlsworth. The UT defensive tackle/end put quite a push on him so that when BB tried to regain leverage, his foot stepped on Stoerner's and caused him to stumble. When he put his hand down to regain his balance, the ball stuck to the ground.

Burlsworth was the walk-on who played his way into the NFL draft's third round as a senior. He was killed only weeks later in an auto accident. Burlsworth is quite a story, and it had never occurred to me that he had a hand (foot, actually) in this epic play.

There was a movie that came out about Burlsworth a few years ago and goes over all of that - Greater: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2950418/. It's a low budget film but worth checking out if you're into SEC football, very sad though.

That ending pretty much epitomizes Arkansas football in the SEC. Same with the muffed punt return in the SEC Championship game against Florida in 2006. I was reminded of it earlier this year when we couldn't catch a foul ball during the CWS championship that would have won it all. It's like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football over and over again.

It was fun getting revenge on Tennessee the very next year in 1999 though, with the exact same score. Fans carried the goalposts out of the stadium after that win. A little weird not playing Tennessee every year anymore for us.