COTTON BOWL NOTES : Luigs to stay; McFadden, Jones still undecided
Posted on Wednesday, January 2, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Sports/60818/
DALLAS — Like his teammate, Darren McFadden, Arkansas junior running back Felix Jones was evasive Tuesday when asked whether he will turn pro or return for his senior season.
But whereas McFadden’s future already seems predetermined, there is a possibility that Jones would come back to be the Hogs’ feature tailback.
“ I don’t know, ” Jones said after Arkansas’ 38-7 loss to Missouri on Tuesday in the Cotton Bowl. “ I will sit down with my family and I will talk to my coaches. I will make a decision and let you know. ” Jones, who rushed for 1, 162 yards this year as McFadden’s sidekick, has already met with Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino. Taking a page from Jones ’ playbook, McFadden also refused to reveal whether Tuesday’s game was his last as a Razorback. “ That’s something I’m going to sit down with my parents and decide here in a little while, ” said McFadden, who is projected as a top pick in the 2008 NFL Draft after rushing for 1, 830 yards this season. Junior center Jonathan Luigs, on the other hand, has already made up his mind about his plans for next season “ I am coming back, ” said Luigs, an All-American. “ I don’t think I am ready. I just wanted to come back. The NFL will always be there. ”
Bronze busts The main subplot in the Arkansas-Missouri game was the battle between two of the four 2007 Heisman Trophy finalists — Tigers quarterback Chase Daniel and McFadden. Both players didn’t live up to the hype Tuesday. Daniel completed 12 of 29 pass attempts for 136 yards — statistically his worst performance of the season. McFadden’s output — 105 yards on 21 carries — was also underwhelming.
“ I don’t know about Darren’s game today, but Darren McFadden is a great football player and a great competitor, ” Arkansas interim coach Reggie Herring said. “ He had his moments. People ganged and got on him, but I don’t ever question Darren McFadden. I don’t think any Razorback would. ”
McFadden scored Arkansas’ only touchdown of the day on a 3-yard run late in the third quarter. But his longest carry went for only 19 yards. Daniel was also held in check.
“ They were dropping nine, 10 guys into coverage, ” Daniel said. “ It’s hard to throw the football through that. I had a lot of throwaways today. Just didn’t have a good day. ”
Trick play backfires It should have worked. It did work. But Arkansas’ fakepunt play didn’t produce a positive result. Instead, the Hogs handed Missouri some momentum late in the first quarter when a strange sequence of events unfolded.
Facing a fourthand-four situation at Missouri’s 35-yard line, wide receiver Reggie Fish took the handoff on a reverse and gained seven yards and a first down on a fake punt. But the Razorbacks called a timeout the moment before the ball was snapped, and the gain was negated. After the timeout, the Razorbacks ran another play out of the same fake-punt formation. Fullback Farod Jackson got stuffed for a one-yard loss and Missouri took possession. “ You know, the ball was, what, on the 35 or so ? ” Herring said. “ You know, in that area, that really was the deal where we probably either should have gone for it into the wind or you punt or you fake it. We faked it. It was early in the game. I was trying to create something. It didn’t work out. ”
Quick Hits • Arkansas senior strong safety Matt Hewitt didn’t play much in his last game as a Razorback. “ Matt didn’t seem to be himself, ” Herring said. “ I know that he didn’t move around very well in pregame and look himself. ” Hewitt was left out of Arkansas’ dollar package, which is loaded with defensive backs.
• Missouri tailback Tony Temple’s 281 yards rushing was the most ever yielded by Arkansas in a bowl game. The Tigers gained more rushing yards (323 ) than any other opponent has piled up against Arkansas this season.
“ You can’t win a football game and give up 300 and something yards rushing, ” Herring said. “ We just didn’t play well defensively. ”
• McFadden is now the second on the all-time career rushing list in the Southeastern Conference. He passed LSU’s Kevin Faulk after gaining 105 yards Tuesday. He has 4, 557 career rushing yards.
McFadden’s 1, 830 rushing yards this season is the second-highest total ever accumulated by a running back in the Southeastern Conference.
• Arkansas is now 11-22-3 in bowl games and is 3-7-1 in the Cotton Bowl.