So I'm in the Fayetteville Walmart last night, and they've got their big football/tailgate section all set up with a TV in the middle of the area showing the 2007 Arkansas/LSU game on loop. Naturally, I stood there and watched all three overtimes. It's still nerve-wracking.
Anyway, when I started looking up a player to represent 49 days until kickoff because there's not a current one on the roster, and I see that David Carlton, the kicker who won the Miracle on Markham, wore the number. And since it's never a bad time to look back on this game, here we are.
ArkansasOnline has a great recording of Paul Eells' call of the final plays that you can see here.
Matt Jones' pass to DeCori Birmingham is, deservedly, the most famous part of it. But because of the excessive celebration penalty that followed, Carlton was forced to kick an extra point of about 35 yards. If Carlton missed it, the game likely would have gone to overtime, and who knows how it might have ended.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/M-NSic9ldgE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The kick is kind of like the gold medal hockey game in the 1980 Winter Olympics. The US team's miracle against the Soviets in the semis will always be what's best remembered, but they still needed to beat Finland in the finals to win gold.
Carlton played for Arkansas from 2001-2004, and kicked 21 field goals for Arkansas during that time.