Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

With nation’s eyes on him, Thomas fails Heisman test

LITTLE ROCK -- Of all the times for Jason Thomas to play the worst game of his collegiate career.

ESPN, which had been hyping Thomas in its magazine and also on its pregame show, was there. So were 52,000 Arkansas fans who couldn't wait for their chance to boo him following his Las Vegas Bowl MVP performance and controversial spitting incident with Razorback guard Kenny Sandlin. And no doubt a number of the nation's prominent college football media, who recently received their Thomas highlight CDs from UNLV along with a "Heisman Hopeful" poster, were watching across the nation.

Thomas did rush for 103 yards on 12 carries, including a spectacular 53-yard run on a broken play. But his normally pinpoint passing betrayed him. He completed just 4 of 16 passes for 40 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.

It took Thomas seven games in 2000 to hit the three interception mark. He did it in just three quarters on Thursday night at War Memorial Stadium.

When asked if he had ever thrown three interceptions in a game before, Thomas responded, "Never."

Not even in high school?

"Never," Thomas replied.

So what happened?

"It really wasn't anything in particular," Thomas said. "(Arkansas) blitzed a lot, which we expected them to do. They played a little more press coverage on the corners than we thought they would do, so it was harder for us to get our quick routes. (But) I just made bad decisions. Bad decisions. Period."

Could the 6-4, 240-pound junior have been pressing because of his summer awards hype?

"No, not at all," Thomas said. "I was going through the reads. The coaches were calling the plays. I was just trying to make plays. But a couple of the passes I threw right to the guy. I saw them. The first interception, I tried to get it around him and I threw it right at him. I threw it right into his chest. What can you say? You've just got to move on."

During one series in the first half, Thomas trotted over to the sidelines after each play to use a towel to dry off his hands.

"I had a problem with the humidity and keeping my hands dry," he said. "I couldn't get a good grip on the ball, so I couldn't throw it as well as I wanted to. ... I just didn't play a good game. There's no sugar-coating it, especially at my position."

Still, Thomas said he would have been more than satisfied if the Rebels had held on at the end for the victory.

"That's the worst part, the fact that we lost," he said. "I don't care how you perform as an individual -- if you win, you always accept it. But we lost, so it was a tough one. Real tough."

Don't expect Thomas to throw in the towel after one bad game.

"This is part of being a leader and getting where you want to go," Thomas said. "Adversity is part of it. If you can't respond to adversity, then you don't need to be here."

* HARO STARS: Somewhat overlooked in the crushing last-second loss was the performance of junior tailback Joe Haro.

The 5-10, 190-pounder from Clifton, N.J., who was playing cornerback at this time a year ago after starring in high school as a running back, finished with a game-high 131 yards rushing on 24 carries. All but three of those yards came after intermission.

"I just jumped on the offensive line's back," Haro said. "We've got the hogs up front and (Steve) Costa and (George) Gordon and Trevan Sorensen did a phenomenal job of blocking tonight. But Arkansas' defense was stingy tonight. We couldn't get it into the end zone. And that was a tough and disappointing thing."

Cook averaged 35.5 yards on six attempts, including a 48-yarder that rolled about 20 yards. Two of his punts were returned for 19 yards.

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