Bret Bielema, Puberty, and a New Era of Arkansas Razorbacks Football: The Best & Worst Games I’ve Attended

Fredi Hayes

To preface this article, I want to say that I am one of those Arkansas fans. Yes, one of those ones: painted red, hog nose-owning, woo pig-yelling kind of fan. My adoration for Arkansas isn’t all natural; I was raised to be an Arkansas fan by my alumni father who took me to games months after I was born. We’ve estimated that I have gone to well over 100 Arkansas football games in the past 20 years of my life. This means that I literally went through puberty as a diehard Arkansas fan, and the progression photos are very telling of that.

This ranking list comes after my own graduation from the University of Arkansas and my recent reflection on my time as a fan. Reflection on the good, the bad, and ignoring the Chad Morris era. Someone I did not realize would be such a big influence on my time as a Razorback is former head coach (and current Illinois head coach) Bret Bielema. Yet the more I think about it, this new era of Razorback football at least in my life wouldn’t be possible without him. After Bobby Petrino left Arkansas fans hanging on for more, Bielema filled that gap and continued the hoping spirits of many. While there was ultimate disappointment, that hope carried on into this new era of Arkansas sports. My praise also comes from the fact that I was an early teenager during Bielema’s time at Arkansas where I didn’t understand the reality of college football and what it meant to be the head coach at Arkansas.

TOP 3

1. LSU in 2014

Background: Arkansas won 17-0 against the No. 17 Tigers. It was the first win against LSU in Fayetteville since 1992.

This was the first time I ever felt euphoria around being an Arkansas fan. The unbridled joy, the cold night, and the father-daughter memory made that night forever my favorite Razorback game. 

I was 13 years old, a moody teenager, at the time of this game. The panorama doesn’t even begin to explain how this game made things as an Arkansas fan click for me. Other than my full-fledged fandom being cemented (thank you Bret Bielema for the win), my favorite part of this game was watching the field storming before joining in with my dad. As we got onto the field much later than everyone else, we couldn’t go five feet without accidentally kicking an empty alcohol bottle. For my first time rushing the field at Razorback Stadium, it was certainly memorable.

2. Texas in 2021

Background: Arkansas won 40-21 against a ranked Texas, first win over a top 15 team since 2016.

Many Arkansas fans will look at this list and wonder why this game isn’t at the very top for someone my age. Two reasons specifically: the heat and the sprains. I camped out for this game, took myself to the store and got a tent. I got the fifth spot in line to get into the game at 8 a.m. on the Friday before. I sat in the heat for nearly 36 hours before they let us in and had the time of my life at the game, but when I jumped onto the field I did something gnarly to my wrist and elbow. For those two reasons, this game that defined my time at the University of Arkansas as a student is second on my list.

3. At TCU in 2016

Background: Arkansas won 41-38 in double overtime over No. 15 TCU.

This game, also won by Bret Bielema, was one of the first, if not the first, game in my home region of DFW Texas that Arkansas won. It was toasty going into the game and the seats were definitely nosebleeds, but it’s the earliest multiple overtime game that I remember (winning). The reason why it is on my list, like why the Texas Tech March Madness game is my top basketball game of all time, is how it finished. With a ton of Arkansas fans in attendance, there was a stream of fans leaving in the ramps of the stadium all singing and chanting. It was one of the first times during a game that it felt like a family rather than a bunch of fans. The video goes not do the volume nor joy justice.

WORST

1. 2010 Liberty Bowl vs. East Carolina

Background: Arkansas won 20-17 against favored East Carolina in Memphis in the first ever meeting between these two programs. It was Arkansas’s first bowl game win since the 2003 Independence Bowl.

When I asked my father to help recount some memories about these games, the word that came to his mind about this game is “miserable” and nearly unbearable for everyone but my father. It was well below freezing, and for someone who grew up in Dallas that was already bad, but then it started snowing in addition to the temperature dropping as it got later in the night. My mother, brother, and I could not stand the cold and were holding watery hot chocolate to keep our hands from hurting too much. I remember begging my parents to leave but my father, in all his Razorback ultimate fan glory, was not going to leave a bowl game in the third quarter. For the near frostbite and the multiple fire alarms at the hotel that weekend, it is the worst game I’ve ever attended.

2. Ole Miss in 2010

Background: Arkansas won 38-24 in the rain, with two lightning delays for a total of 89 minutes.

Wet. That is the first word that comes to mind when I think about this game. This was one of the few games that my father and I flew from Dallas to Fayetteville for. We were not prepared for the rain to come and so we got soaked. Once we realized it was going to be a long delay, we went to a local pizza joint and waited to watch it on TV. Our then-delayed flight got un-delayed once the rain cleared and we had to rush to XNA to catch it. If you have never been to XNA, I am jealous of you. We had to board the flight soaking wet. For that, I give it a one thumbs down and second worst on my list.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

At Rutgers in 2013 is neither a great nor bad memory for me. While Arkansas lost, I got a weekend in New York City with my dad, my godfather (nicknamed Rick Mom for slathering sunscreen on us), and brother. It made the honorable mentions list for my memory of actually going to the game. Walking into Penn Station and seeing all those other Hogs fans made me realize that my dad wasn’t the only one dedicated to the bone about Arkansas.

At Ole Miss in 2021 made the honorable mentions list for the varying experiences I had on the same day. My friend and I stayed in a dorm that was worse than Pomfret, were underwhelmed by the Grove, and stood in an end zone student section with nasty sunburns. The Ole Miss students were nice, friendly even, but the adults were nasty and things were thrown by Ole Miss adult fans at Arkansas fans. It was confusing and will be my last time in Oxford.

So in the end I want to thank what made me, me over these past 20 years. So thank you to Greg, Rick Mom and Lanita, my parents, Rick B and Dee, and those at the University of Arkansas (especially Bret Bielema and Sam Pittman) who made this life of mine possible. Thank y’all so much, and woo damn pig.

About the author

Fredi Hayes
Website | Read more posts by this author

I am a Texas born, Razorback by blood (3rd generation), University of Arkansas graduate and current graduate student. I received my Bachelors in Communications and Political Science with a History minor, and will receive my Masters in Public Administration with a plan to pursue Sports Management as a doctoral program at UARK. I survived the Chad Morris era at Arkansas and have been to 100+ CFB games.

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