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Arkansas takes show to Las Vegas
Associated Press

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The Arkansas Razorbacks' down and dirty finish in the wet and cold earned them some December days in Las Vegas.

On Sunday, Arkansas officially accepted an invitation to play Nevada-Las Vegas (7-5). UNLV wrapped up a bid by beating Hawaii 34-32.

The trip to Las Vegas will be Arkansas' third straight bowl trip under coach Houston Nutt and, maybe even more importantly, will mean 15 extra practices for the young players and the redshirts.

Nutt said Sunday he was very excited about the Las Vegas game.

At one point, it appeared that the Pac-10 was going to trade Arizona State for Vegas' at-large team, which apparently would have been Arkansas. Such a deal would have put the Razorbacks in the Oahu Bowl in Hawaii on Dec. 24, but that deal was never completed.

Oklahoma's 27-24 victory over Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game set the wheels in motion for the trip to Las Vegas. If Kansas State had won, Arkansas would have been in line for a trip to the galleryfurniture.com Bowl in Houston on Dec. 27.

Arkansas (6-5) became bowl-eligible by beating Mississippi State 17-10 in overtime at Starkville and LSU 14-3 in Little Rock. Both the Bulldogs and the Tigers were nationally ranked at the time and both had plenty of incentive.

The victories were even more remarkable considering that Arkansas had lost four straight and had not won a Southeastern Conference game on the road in more than two years. On top of that, their 63-20 loss to Tennessee on Nov. 11 sent the media thumbing through the school record book under points allowed.

Against Mississippi State, the Razorbacks trailed 10-0 and had plenty of opportunities to quit. Brandon Holmes filled in for an injured Fred Talley and made big yardage inside as the Razorbacks rallied. He scored the tying touchdown and a touchdown in overtime and then the defense came up with two big plays in OT.

Six days later, Quinton Caver returned an interception 33 yards for a touchdown on LSU's first play and Richie Butler constantly punted the Tigers into a hole. Robby Hampton's execution of a fourth-and-4 pass to Richard Smith set up another Holmes touchdown and secured the victory.

Arkansas officials said tickets for the Las Vegas game would cost $50 each and would be available through the school ticket office. In addition, the alumni association is expected to announce some packages for fans.




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