McFadden solid in last home game Darren McFadden got up from the pile after a short gain on third-and-11 late in the fourth quarter of Arkansas’ 45-31 victory and trotted off the field at War Memorial Stadium. He looked to the crowd and waved his arms, imploring them to continue cheering the Razorbacks’ victory, but he might as well have been waving goodbye, as well.
McFadden, a junior who is widely expected to turn pro and be one of the first few picks in next year’s NFL Draft, likely played his final home collegiate home game Saturday. If so, he went out on a high note.
McFadden was held to 88 yards rushing, well short of his season average, but he made up for it in other ways. McFadden caught a 57-yard touchdown pass and threw a 24-yard touchdown pass. He played quarterback for nine snaps, and it was during those snaps that Arkansas offensive coordinator David Lee said the Razorbacks took control of the game.
After the victory McFadden declined to say if Saturday marked his final home game, but he did say it was nice to end the home schedule with a victory.
“It was just a great feeling to be out there playing,” he said. “I don’t know if it will be my last game or not. I didn’t want to do anything special. I just wanted to go out and play my game.” Bowl assured Arkansas won its sixth game of the season two weeks ago to become bowl-eligible, but Saturday’s seventh victory assures the Razorbacks a 13 th game.
The picture is becoming a bit clearer, too.
Representatives from the Cotton Bowl, Chick-Fil-A Bowl, Liberty Bowl and Independence Bowl were on hand to see Arkansas’ victory. Interestingly, no representatives from the Music City Bowl attended the game, leading one bowl representative to comment, “Well, the bowls that are interested in Arkansas are here.” Only a victory against LSU gives Arkansas an outside chance at the Cotton Bowl, and the Chick-Fil-A Bowl is a long shot, as well.
The most likely scenario has Arkansas in either the Liberty or Independence Bowl, and both Joe Darwin, the Independence Bowl chairman, and Patrick Byrne, director of sales and marketing for the Liberty Bowl, said they are interested in Arkansas.
The Liberty Bowl gets to select a team before the Independence Bowl. Back at ya Two of Arkansas’ most famous and accomplished athletes apparently have been trading notes.
Former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, like he did when Arkansas played South Carolina, watched Arkansas play from the Razorbacks sideline, this time wearing a Darren Mc-Fadden jersey.
McFadden, likewise, showed some mutual admiration for Taylor after his 57-yard touchdown reception with 9: 33 left in the third quarter. Rather than his customary double-biceps flex, McFadden celebrated the score by raising a first in the air and pawing at the ground with both feet, imitating the bull-rush move that Taylor enacts as he is introduced before fights.
“Just showing love for [Taylor ],” McFadden said. “He’s showing me love, so I wanted to show love for him. Just returning the favor.” Coincidence ?
Arkansas defensive end Antwain Robinson’s name was not on the preprinted numerical roster or two-deep roster distributed to media before the game. This was chalked up as an inadvertent mistake by Arkansas’ sports information department. But, and perhaps this is just coincidental, there were rumors out of Fayetteville this week that Robinson had left the team.
Even without the roster help, no one on press row had to ask who No. 97 was when Robinson scored on a 30-yard interception return in the fourth quarter. Felix feeling it Junior tailback Felix Jones took a pitch around right end during pregame warmups, slipped on the loose rubber pellets and fell in a heap. He walked gingerly back toward the offensive players, and his thigh bruise was immediately attended to by trainers.
Jones entered the game for the first time with 13: 20 remaining in the second quarter. He caught a pass for no gain and didn’t play again. Did you notice ? Arkansas got out of its base 4-3 defense to start Saturday’s game against the pass-challenged Bulldogs. Fred Bledsoe got a start as the third defensive tackle as the Razorbacks played five defensive linemen and only two linebackers. Mississippi State took a page from the Arkansas playbook when Anthony Dixon ran for 8 yards on a third-and-6 draw play to the Arkansas 42 on the Bulldogs’ first drive. Mississippi State converted its first four third downs. London Crawford had two nice reverses, one for 31 yards and one for 21 yards. Role reversal Senior backup Farrod Jackson is listed in the Arkansas media guide as a regular in the Razorbacks backfield as a “blocking fullback” and starting fullback Peyton Hillis has been Arkansas’ most reliable receiver all season.
So naturally it was Hillis who laid the crushing block on Mississippi State safety Derek Pegues to spring Jackson for a 30-yard touchdown reception for the Razorbacks’ first touchdown of the game.
The catch was the first of the season for Jackson, and only the fourth of his career. Good penalty It likely will be the only time Arkansas coaches are fine with a player getting a personal foul.
Darren McFadden was stuffed for a 1-yard gain on third-and-2 at the Mississippi State 5-yard line late in the second quarter. However, Andrew Davie was called for a 15-yard hands-to-theface penalty. Rather than settle for a fourth-down field-goal attempt, the Razorbacks offense got another third-down play. Casey Dick made good, throwing a touchdown pass to Marcus Monk. Timeout ! Timeout !
Mississippi State had a chance to gain some momentum heading to halftime after a disastrous second quarter. Wesley Carroll moved the team down the field, and with eight seconds left and two timeouts, he completed a pass to Jamayel Smith to the Arkansas 15 in the middle of the field. Smith made one move too many and got tackled as time expired before the Bulldogs could call a timeout. Thumbs up to...
Arkansas’ passing game. Five touchdowns, enough said.
Mitch Petrus’ acting ability, which gained 15 yards for Arkansas. After receiving a slight bump from Mississippi State’s K. J. Wright in the fourth, Petrus went down like he was shot. He remained completely motionless, facedown, until the yellow flag came out for a late hit. Then Petrus jumped right up and jogged to the huddle.
Alex Tejada, who tied the school single-season kick-scoring record. He is now tied with Kendall Trainor (1988 ) with 102 points. Thumbs down to...
Arkansas’ defensive backs, who got burned for three long touchdowns and helped allow 421 passing yards.
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