For three years, the Razorback nation awaited the replacement of Casey Dick's starting quarterback job. And for three years, Razorback fans were disappointed when Casey kept throwing to the guys in other color uniforms, and the coaches stayed behind him the whole way.
Then, last week against Mississippi State, first year Arkansas coach, Bobby Petrino finally pulled the plug on Casey Dick. He was replaced by...none other than his younger brother Nathan Dick, who started the season third on the depth chart.
When Arkansas recruited Nathan Dick, Razorback faithful were left wondering why. Why would you recruit the brother of Arkansas's current infamous starter?
But Nathan held his own against the Bulldogs, leading the Razorbacks to a rally and put the overtime hopes into Arkansas's kicking game, which just happened to be the Razorback's other Achilles' heel this season...
Heavily recruited kicker Alex Tejada had a great freshman year. However, he missed several easy kicks to start this season, forcing Petrino to turn to sophomore backup, Shay Haddock. However, Haddock was as inconsistent, as Tejada and didn't have as strong a leg.
So Petrino went back to Tejada and gave him a chance to redeem himself on a kick that would send Arkansas and Mississippi State to overtime and keep the Razorbacks bowl hopes alive.
But he missed it.
So on went the Razorbacks, now lead by the younger Dick brother, to a matchup against rival LSU in what would be the last game of Arkansas's season and the equivalent of a Razorback bowl game for this year.
Nathan started the game off hot, marching Arkansas down to field to put the Hogs up 14-3 and setting the tone early.
However, the Tigers would claw back.
Arkansas went into the half down by 16 and the momentum swung to the other side of War Memorial Stadium.
When Arkansas lined up for their first possession of the second half, it was none other than No. 11 under center. Casey Dick was back...
And better than ever.
Casey matched the intensity and play of his younger brother's first half performance, rallying the Razorbacks the entire second half. With under a minute left, senior Casey Dick hit fellow upperclassman London Crawford for the tying touchdown. The Razorbacks were just one extra point away from a 31-30 lead with under 30 seconds to go in the ball game.
Yes, unfortunately once again, the game was put into the hands of a kicker.
Alex Tejada lined up and kicked a line drive down the uprights.
You could read the emotion all over Casey's face. His last game in a Razorback uniform had probably not started exactly as he'd wanted, on the sidelines, but ended in yet another "Miracle on Markham."
Isn't it ironic? What was thought to be the Arkansas Razorbacks' weakest points, the quarterback position and the kicking game, sealed the deal and the season for the Hogs.
1 comments Last one added 7 months ago — Leave a Comment
Brian Scott 7 months ago
"Dick Brothers"? No need to insult them - they seem like nice kids! :)
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