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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Houston Nutt rejected Nebraska's $2-million offer to coach the Cornhuskers on Saturday, saying strong family ties and a job left undone would not let him leave Arkansas.
"I could not take my family, myself, and get on that plane," Nutt said at a news conference. "My heart was here."
Nutt said he never accepted the job and was flattered at Nebraska's offer, but it was best for him to remain at Arkansas. He informed Nebraska officials Friday night of his decision.
"For six long years we've poured our heart into this program and we feel that our work isn't finished," Nutt said. "I know we can do better. So many times I think we're not far off."
Details were not announced, but Nutt said the contract was close to $1.5-million per year, which would almost double his salary, with a few more details to be worked out.
Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson said the job hasn't been offered to anyone and he simply wanted Nutt to come to the campus for a formal interview. Pederson also said reports Nutt was offered a package worth up to $2.5-million were false.
"I about fell out of my chair when I read that," Pederson said.
Nutt confirmed there had been no offer on the table.
"He didn't actually ever offer me the job, but I'm protecting him a little bit, too," Nutt said. "Things would have gotten very difficult if I had gotten on that plane."
Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles extended Nutt's contract by a year to 2010 two weeks ago to show potential recruits he had faith in Nutt, who is 48-27 in six seasons.
Money wasn't the only factor for Nutt.
"They don't know my heart. They don't know what I see. They don't know my vision. They weren't born and raised in Little Rock, Ark.," said Nutt, who got teary-eyed during part of the news conference.
"I never try to use money as a leverage. I told Coach (Broyles) when I came here in 1997 that I would work for free the first year," Nutt said.
Frank Solich, whom Pederson fired Nov. 29, made $1.1-million annually; Nutt has made $800,000 with Arkansas. Pederson fired Solich at the end of a 9-3 season, which gave Solich 58 victories in six years.
Georgia Tech stings TulsaBOISE, Idaho - P.J. Daniels ran for 307 yards, the second-highest total in school history and a school bowl record, and four touchdowns to lead Georgia Tech 52-10 over Tulsa in the Humanitarian Bowl.
"I feed off of negative energy, man because I'm a positive person," said Daniels, who never had scored more than one touchdown in a game. "A couple of fans gave me some encouraging, negative words. I feed off of that."
The Yellow Jackets (7-6) haven't had a losing season since going 5-6 in 1996. Tech faced criticism that perhaps it didn't deserve to be in a bowl, even the distant outpost of the Humanitarian Bowl.
Not many could say that after Saturday.
"A lot of people doubted us. They didn't think we were going to make it to a bowl game. We proved a lot of people wrong, so I feel good and I know my teammates do, too," Daniels said.
Tulsa (8-5) closed the regular season on a five-game win streak for the school's first bowl berth since 1991, but Saturday's appearance was hardly memorable. The Golden Hurricane didn't score a touchdown until the fourth quarter and finished with 144 total yards. The team was sacked seven times and held to minus-56 yards rushing.
"We had a great season. We didn't have a great day," first-year coach Steve Kragthorpe said.
Tech's rushing high in a bowl game was 199 yards by Eddie Prokop in the 1944 Sugar Bowl, a 20-18 win over Tulsa. Daniels had 104 yards at halftime, topped Prokop's mark early in the third quarter and kept going. He scored on runs of 9, 1, 33 and 38 yards.
Tech recovered six Tulsa fumbles, scored six touchdowns in the second half and broke the school bowl record for points set in a 45-21 win over Nebraska in the 1991 Florida Citrus Bowl.
With the win, ACC teams went 5-1 in bowl games this season. League champion Florida State, which lost 16-14 to Miami in the Orange Bowl on Thursday, was the only ACC team to lose.
Daniels also set several records in the Humanitarian Bowl. His yardage total more than doubled Brock Forsey's 152 yards for Boise State against Louisville in 1999, and he broke Forsey's mark of three touchdowns scored last season in a win over Iowa State.