One of the greatest feelings from Friday night was the sound, or lack there of, from 92,000+ after Matt Flynn's interception on the final play of the game.  It was as though someone pushed the mute button on the televesion.  But I want to go back to the first half when I felt like LSU's offense on Arkansas's side of the field was horrendous.  When McFadden fumbled the opening kickoff, as an Arkansas fan, I felt like the game was over before it started.  Our defensive backs have been below average all year and with the talent, height, and speed of LSU's wide receivers, I thought it was going to be a long day.  But Arkansas's defensive coordinator, Reggie Herring did something that I haven't seen since he had gotten there and that was play a majority of zone defense, especially during the first two quarters.  This subtle change, that maybe a majority of fans probably didn't even notice, had a profound impact throughout the entire game.  This look had Flynn looking confused at times, and this was never more apparent than when during a 9 pass attempt streak, he was 1-9. Sure, the drops by his receivers didn't help, but Flynn's accuracy was disappointing all game.  This had to be the first QB that didn't complete better than 50% of his pass attempts against Arkansas (He was 22-47).  What was working was turning around and handing the ball to Hester, the all everything back that seemed like he had more tackles on special teams than Glenn Dorsey had on defense.  And not one time during the game did I think to myself "Wow, Glenn Dorsey is one heck of a player".  But after watching Hester's performance Friday, I have no doubt that he can play in the NFL.  He's tough, hard-nosed, and surprisingly fast.  As one person told me, he can play several differenct positions in the pros, mostly being used as a backup, therefore leaving several roster spots open to sign a much needed player at a different position.  They should only take Hester out when they absolutely have to.  

Now, let's move on to the running back on the other side of the field.  Not that his performance changed my mind about what kind of player he is, but given the number of times he carried the ball, especially against the physical, hard hitting defense of LSU, coupled with the 206 yards he chalked up, makes the game he played Friday night so much more impressive than any I had seen before from him.   In my opinion, he is hands down the best college football player in the country.  McFadden became the first running back to rush for 100 yards against LSU this year.  Schaeffer was the first player to, but he's a quarterback, and not all eleven players were keying on him, like they were against McFadden.  LSU's defense came into the game ranked #4 in the country in yardage per game and #7 in rushing yards allowed per game.  But David Lee and the coaching staff from Arkansas came into the game with a perfect gameplan to neutralize LSU's speed.  They would have McFadden, Hillis, and Jones in the game, with McFadden lined up at quarterback and would basically run the triple option out of the Wild Hog.  This kept the LSU D off balance and instead of just keying on McFadden, they had to worry about Hillis (over 85 yards and two touchdowns) and Jones (over 80 yards).  Everyone watching the game knew Casey Dick was not going to win the game for Arkansas, but I felt that if he didn't make mistakes and committ turnovers, he wouldn't lose it for Arkansas either.  He managed the game well when he actually did line up at quarterback and that's all Arkansas needed.  Not to mention he threw a block on Chad Jones that allowed McFadden to score on his long touchdown run.  I can't give enough credit to the offensive line for Arkansas either.  These guys just reload every year and that's why Arkansas is at the top of the SEC in rushing year in and year out.  They kept Dorsey off the QB all night, whether it was Dick or McFadden and didn't allow a sack all game.  

On to overtime.  When the extra period started, I really felt like it wasn't going to be the offensive or defensive units who were going to be the difference makers, because each defensive unit was so exhausted, but it was going to come down to what coaching staff made the first mistake.  It turned out to be Miles who decided that Flynn throwing the ball was a better bet than turning around and handing the ball to Hester.  Also, why did Miles call his 3rd overtime timeout on defense instead of using it on offense during their two point conversion opportunity so they could pick a play that they felt absolutely confident on?  Nutt stuck with what worked, and that was keeping it in the hands of your running backs, even when we had to throw the ball on 4th and 10, we managed to find Hillis out of the backfield for a first down. He even called his timeout for his two point conversion to pick what he felt was going to be the best play possible. The rest is history, and this was the first time since 1981 when Arkansas beat Texas, that we beat a #1 team.  

 Now what happens because of this outcome?  

1. Miles is headed to Michigan, and if I was a betting man (Ha!), I would say he'll be gone before they even play in the bowl game.

2. Steve Spurrier will coach LSU next year.

3. Houston Nutt is still going to be gone after this year.  Frank Broyles isn't going to be there to save him anymore.

4. LSU will lose the SEC Championship game and most likely lose the Capital One Bowl game.  This sure sounds like Arkansas's season from one year ago.

5. Arkansas will play Texas in the Cotton Bowl and win. 

This is purely speculation and meant to only to spark debate.  But hey, what if they all came true? 

Photo courtesy of AP/Alex Brandon