Enjoying warm weather, Hogs have productive workout

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Dec. 18, 2000 | 10:09 a.m.

Following a spirited two-hour practice on Sunday morning at Desert Pines High School, Arkansas linebacker Quinton Caver had to shield his eyes to block the sun while answering questions from a reporter.

Not that he was complaining, mind you.

"It feels great to be out in the sun again," the 6-5, 240-pound senior from Anniston, Ala., said. "Back in Arkansas, it was like 10 degrees and snow and cold. But this feels nice."

Especially considering that it means the Razorbacks (6-5) are in a bowl game for the third straight year. And especially considering they had to upset both Mississippi State (17-10 in overtime) and LSU (14-3) to do it.

And the main reason the Hogs are in Las Vegas and not waiting until next year to play UNLV is a strong defense led by first team all-SEC pick Caver.

Arkansas led the SEC and ranked 12th nationally in total defense, allowing just 292.1 yards per game. The Hogs were particularly tough in the season-ending wins over Mississippi State and LSU, allowing a total of 18 first downs in those two games and no offensive touchdowns.

In fact, the Arkansas defense hasn't allowed a touchdown in its last nine quarters going into Thursday night's Las Vegas Bowl matchup with UNLV.

"We all wanted to get into a bowl game very badly," said Caver, who earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week three times this season. "We knew those last two weeks that if we didn't get the job done we wouldn't get a bowl. We just stepped it up and played hard and the Lord blessed us with two victories."

Not surprisingly, Caver, rated the No. 4 senior NFL prospect in college football by ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr., played a key role in both wins.

In the Hogs' upset of then-No. 13 Mississippi State, the rangy Caver had 10 tackles and two sacks and also blocked a field goal attempt in the fourth quarter.

The following week in a 14-3 win over 24th-ranked LSU, Caver single-handedly outscored the Tigers by intercepting a Josh Booty pass and returning it 33 yards for a touchdown to give Arkansas a 7-0 first-quarter lead.

"Quinton has done a great job for us," Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt said. "Our defense has done an outstanding job of creating confusion and keeping quarterbacks and running backs off balanced. Hopefully, we can keep doing that against UNLV."

Steve Guiremand covers college football for the Sun. Reach him at 259-2324 or by e-mail at steveg@lasvegassun.com.