 |
| Decori Birmingham comes down with the game-winning touchdown pass that would become known as the "Miracle on Markham". |
If you visit Little Rock, Arkansas you may find yourself on Markham Street, a street that runs east-to-west just a little south of the Arkansas River.
Adjacent to Markham Street is War Memorial Stadium, a 50,000 plus seat football stadium where the Arkansas Razorbacks play at least one game per season.
That is where on November 29, 2002 a miracle occurred when the Razorbacks played host to the #18 LSU Tigers where the winner of the game would clinch the SEC Western division title and a spot in the SEC Championship Game.
Arkansas came into the game on a five-game winning streak after a 3-3 start to the season as the Hogs' vaunted running game which featured tailback Fred Talley and quarterback Matt Jones had put head coach Houston Nutt's team in position to win the school's second ever SEC West division title.
Standing in the Hogs' way were the LSU Tigers who were the defending SEC champions and were hoping to return to play in the SEC Championship Game for the second straight year under head coach Nick Saban.
Destiny seemed to be on the Tigers' side especially after their 33-30 win over Kentucky three weeks earlier on quarterback Marcus Randall's 75-yard touchdown pass to Devery Henderson as time expired which would be nicknamed the "Bluegrass Miracle".
A trip to Arkansas to take on the Hogs was the last obstacle for the Tigers' path to a second straight SEC championship while the Hogs were looking to complete a remarkable turnaround after their sluggish start to the season.
Arkansas would begin the game on offense with the ball at their 20-yard-line as Jones threw an incomplete pass on the first play from scrimmage, which was followed by eight consecutive running plays that picked up 33 yards on a drive that took over five minutes off the clock but ended with the Hogs punting the ball back to the Tigers.
Starting at their 15-yard-line, the Tigers would only move 18 yards in seven plays until they were faced with a 3rd & 15 when Randall completed a short screen pass to Skyler Green, who then outran the Arkansas defense for a 67-yard touchdown to give LSU a 7-0 lead with 6:44 left in the first quarter.
As the game moved into the second quarter, the Hogs got the ball at their 25-yard-line as Jones would hit Richard Smith for 11 yards to start the Arkansas drive as three straight running plays would gain nine yards to set up a 4th & 1 situation at the Arkansas 45-yard-line.
Nutt gambled and went for the 1st down which he got as Jones snuck for the 1st down as he picked up two yards to give the Hogs a fresh set of downs at their 47-yard-line.
Following another incomplete pass, the Hogs would keep it on the ground as they ran the ball nine straight times for 44 yards to give Arkansas a 1st & goal at the LSU nine-yard-line.
Two more running plays which went nowhere would set up 3rd & goal when Jones put the ball back in the air as he tried to hit Smith in the back of the end zone only to have LSU cornerback Corey Webster make the interception to end the 17-play, 66-yard drive by the Hogs which resulted in zero points.
After both teams went three-and-out on their ensuing possessions, the Tigers got the ball back at their 10-yard-line with 3:18 left before halftime and all three timeouts remaining.
LSU would drive 58 yards in 10 plays to set up John Corbello's 49-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to extend the Tigers' lead to 10-0.
 |
| Matt Jones would complete four passes in the game but his last completion would be the "Miralce on Markham." |
The Tigers would start the second half on offense but would go three-and-out to give the ball back to Arkansas who took over at its 39-yard-line as back-to-back LSU penalties would give the Hogs a 1st down when Talley ran for just one yard to set up 2nd & 9 at the 50-yard-line.
That is when Jones completed a 35-yard pass to George Wilson to give Arkansas a 1st down at the LSU 15-yard-line as the Hogs went back to the ground game as De'Arrius Howard would carry the ball five straight times for 14 yards to set up 4th & goal from the one-yard-line.
Once again, Nutt would go for it on 4th down and was rewarded with an one-yard touchdown run by Mark Pierce that cut LSU's lead to 10-7 midway through the third quarter.
The Tigers would respond with a seven-play, 89-yard drive which featured a 48-yard pass from Randall to Clayton that would eventually led to a five-yard touchdown run by Randall to put the LSU lead back into double digits at 17-7 with 5:34 left in the third quarter.
The Tigers would hold the Hogs to a three-and-out to get the ball back at their 32-yard-line as LSU would drive into Arkansas territory until LaBrandon Toefield fumbled the football after he was hit by Arkansas defensive end Jeb Huckeba leading to a recovery by Raymond House at the Arkansas 46-yard-line.
However, the Hogs would go three-and-out again as the game turned into a defensive stalemate as both teams traded punts until midway through the fourth quarter when the Hogs got the ball at their 20-yard-line and drove to their 44-yard-line when they were faced with a 2nd & 19.
That is when Talley took a handoff from Jones and busted through the middle for a 56-yard touchdown to bring Arkansas to within a field goal at 17-14 with 6:33 left in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers would begin their ensuing possession at their 35-yard-line as they would drive 53 yards in 12 plays as LSU would convert on three straight 3rd down situations.
The first would be a seven-yard run by Toefield on 3rd & 1 from the LSU 44-yard-line, followed by a nine-yard pass from Randall to Clayton on 3rd & 2 from the Arkansas 41-yard-line, and then a nine-yard run by Randall on 3rd & 4 from the Arkansas 26-yard-line.
The Tigers would not make it 4-for-4 on 3rd down conversions as Toefield gained only one yard on 3rd & 6 at the Arkansas 13-yard-line but they would kick a 29-yard field goal which increased their lead to 20-14 with just 40 seconds to go in the game.
It seemed hopeless for Arkansas as it would begin its ensuing possession at its 19-yard-line needing to drive 81 yards in 34 seconds for a possible go-ahead touchdown, especially with a dormant passing game as Jones had completed only two passes up to this point.
However, hope was renewed when Jones went deep and hit Smith for a 50-yard completion to give Arkansas a 1st down at the LSU 31-yard-line as the Hogs ran up to spike the ball to stop the clock with 17 seconds left and facing a 2nd & 10.
That is when the miracle happened as Jones fired a pass toward the right corner of the end zone that was caught by Decori Birmingham who made the catch for a stunning 31-yard touchdown that tied the game at 20 with nine seconds to go.
But because the Hogs would be called for excessive celebration following the touchdown which resulted in a 15-yard penalty meaning that they would have to kick a 35-yard extra point.
David Carlton would come on to make the extra point to give Arkansas its first lead of the game at 21-20.
The Tigers would get one last chance to pull off another "Bluegrass Miracle" but Randall would be sacked before he could get a pass away as time ran out with the Hogs on top 21-20 and the SEC Western division championship.
The loss would drop the Tigers out of the top 25 as they would be invited to play Texas in the Cotton Bowl as the Longhorns would defeat LSU 35-20 as the Tigers would finish the season with a 8-5 record.
As for Arkansas, the "Miracle on Markham" would be the last win of the season for the Hogs as they fall to the Georgia Bulldogs 30-3 in the SEC Championship Game, then lost to the Minnesota Golden Gophers 29-14 in the Music City Bowl to finish the season with a 9-5 record.
Six years after the "Miracle on Markham", the Hogs would once again play host to LSU at War Memorial Stadium in the final game of the regular season.
In that game, the Hogs would overcome a 16-point deficit to defeat the Tigers 31-30 when quarterback Casey Dick completed a 24-yard touchdown pass to London Crawford with 24 seconds to go in approximately the same spot where Birmingham caught his game-winning touchdown.
This lead to Arkansas fans to dub their 2008 win over LSU as the "Miracle on Markham 2".
No comments:
Post a Comment