# 1998 Arkansas Razorbacks football team

The 1998 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represented the University of Arkansas during the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. Houston Nutt became the first Arkansas head coach to win his first eight games, and the Razorbacks won a share of the 1998 SEC Western Division championship.
In the 9th game of the season, undefeated #10 Arkansas lost to eventual national champion #1 Tennessee in Knoxville, 24-28, due in large part to a fumble late in the game by Arkansas QB Clint Stoerner. Tennessee recovered the fumble and then drove the short field for the go-ahead touchdown with less than a minute to play. It is considered one of the most devastating losses in Razorback football history. The emotional hangover from that loss adversely affected Arkansas the following week, leading to an upset loss at Mississippi State, 21-22. Beating LSU in the season finale secured Arkansas a share of the division title and sent the 9-2 Razorbacks to the 1999 Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando on New Year's Day to play the Michigan Wolverines. In the first meeting ever between the two schools, the Tom Brady-led Wolverines won, 31-45, and Arkansas finished the season 9-3 and ranked #16 in the final AP Poll.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 5 | 6:00 pm | Southwestern Louisiana* | | Razorback StadiumFayetteville, AR | | W 38–17 | 47,562 |
| September 19 | 6:00 pm | SMU* | | War Memorial StadiumLittle Rock, AR | | W 44–17 | 55,544 |
| September 26 | 5:00 pm | No. 22 Alabama | | Razorback StadiumFayetteville, AR | ESPN2 | W 42–6 | 51,763 |
| October 3 | 5:00 pm | Kentucky | No. 22 | War Memorial StadiumLittle Rock, AR | ESPN2 | W 27–20 | 55,782 |
| October 10 | 2:30 pm | at Memphis* | No. 20 | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ESPN2 | W 23–9 | 42,766 |
| October 17 | 12:00 pm | at South Carolina | No. 17 | Williams–Brice StadiumColumbia, SC | PPV | W 41–28 | 67,930 |
| October 31 | 1:00 pm | at Auburn | No. 14 | Jordan-Hare StadiumAuburn, AL | PPV | W 24–21 | 78,439 |
| November 7 | 11:30 am | Ole Miss | No. 11 | Razorback StadiumFayetteville, AR (rivalry) | JPS | W 34–0 | 49,115 |
| November 14 | 2:30 pm | at No. 1 Tennessee | No. 10 | Neyland StadiumKnoxville, TN | CBS | L 24–28 | 106,365 |
| November 21 | 11:30 am | at Mississippi State | No. 9 | Scott FieldStarkville, MS | JPS | L 21–22 | 36,656 |
| November 27 | 1:30 pm | LSU | No. 13 | War Memorial StadiumLittle Rock, AR (rivalry) | CBS | W 41–14 | 55,831 |
| January 1 | 1:00 pm | vs. No. 15 Michigan* | No. 11 | Florida Citrus BowlOrlando, FL (Florida Citrus Bowl) | ABC | L 31–45 | 63,584 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | — | — | RV | RV | 22 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 16 |
| Coaches Poll | — | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 19 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 17 |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 12 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 13 | 13 | Not released |

## Roster

Michael Snowden