razorbacks ready to run

[radbag]

from hawgsports.com



The Arkansas Razorbacks have won five of the last six games, but can they continue their run heading into Knoxville this weekend to face the Tennessee Volunteers?

While the defense struggled to keep it together in the second half, the offense flourished the entire game. For the first time this season, the Razorbacks used Darren McFadden at quarterback for extended periods. McFadden ended up tying an SEC record for rushing yards in a game, 321, that had stood for 29 years.

"We did add a couple of formations, it wasn't just the WildHog, but when you have Darren McFadden at quarterback, and you're hitting runs, and those first few runs we had nine yards a carry, it makes you want to stay in it. And so I just told David [Lee]to stay in it right now because of the production," Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said on Monday.

On the season, McFadden has rushed for 1,316 yards and 12 touchdowns. He has been banged up in recent weeks and has not been the same back that he was before being hurt against Alabama, but he was clearly back to being his old self on Saturday. McFadden entered the season as the leader for the Heisman Trophy. While prognosticators have been searching for another player to give the trophy in recent weeks, McFadden's name has not been mentioned among the favorites, mainly due to Arkansas' three losses.

"It just bewilders me many times when I hear people talk Saturday. We're sitting in the hotel waiting on the game and hear the experts talk about the Heisman and the top three, top four, and his name's not mentioned," Nutt said. "I've been around Barry Sanders for three years, I've been around Thurman Thomas. Barry was a Heisman Trophy winner.

"Darren McFadden is the best player in the country. If you took what he does for the team as a player - blocking, running, catching, throwing, kick return. No one does all those things. Then to be able to take the ball 35 times and put it under your arm and play every game, have that many long runs, take that many big hits, give out that many big hits, catch that many balls, block for his teammates, be the difference maker. There's a reason he got flown to New York last year, and he was second. Now, all of a sudden, he's dropped out of it? -There's no way. Something's wrong. I don't understand that."

McFadden had no idea he had as many yards as he did, even late into the game. But with the game in hand and under two minutes remaining, Arkansas sports information director Kevin Trainor got word to Nutt that McFadden was extremely close to breaking the SEC record for rushing yards in a game. McFadden broke the record, but after further review of film it was discovered he was credited for a two-yard Jones run, and so he ended up tying the mark.

"It was a very big shock to me. After the 80-yard run, they told me that it puts me at 274, and that was a big shock to me," McFadden said. "We were sitting over on the sidelines talking midway through or late in the third, and they asked me what I think I have, and I said I have like 110, 120. Then I ran for 80, and I thought that probably puts me at 200, 220, but I had no idea I was up as high as I was in yardage."

After the half on Saturday, it appeared as though Felix Jones would have the bigger day among the two Razorback 1,000-yard rushers. Jones ran 13 times for 166 yards and 3 touchdowns. He had touchdown runs of 40 and 72 yards and also had a big kickoff return.

"That game was the most fun I ever had," Jones said. "Everything was hard, going good, and we executed well. It was like everything was clicking. That's what made the game so fun. I would say last Saturday was the most fun I've had out of 30 games since I've been here, and it was an intense game."

Split end Marcus Monk contributed in the first quarter with a four-yard touchdown reception, but he was not seen in the second half after hurting his calf. This was supposed to be the first game where Monk saw extended action, but he had to sit for half the game.

"Probably not a hundred percent, but the thing about Marcus is he gets real close by the end of the week of being close to 100," Nutt said. "The other night he got kind of kicked in the calf muscle. So, it wasn't his knee, he just kind of had a strained calf muscle. He's had some tough luck, but we'd say he'll be pretty close to full-speed on Saturday, and we all know what he can do."

If Arkansas can get some things corrected with the defense, they have a chance to finish extremely strong this season. In the five games before South Carolina, Arkansas was giving up an average of 9.8 points per game. They gave up 36 to the Gamecocks.

"We feel like we're at the point where we were last year when we got on our winning streak, and we feel like we can win every game from here on out," UA linebacker Weston Dacus said. "We've got to keep practicing hard. I think coach Nutt mentioned he was going to take it off of us a little bit and make sure everybody's fresh. It's late in the year, people are banged up."

The Arkansas-Tennessee game will kick off at 11:30 a.m. (CST) in Neyland Stadium in Knoxville (Tenn.). The game will be regionally televised by Lincoln Financial Sports.

"They always look the same to me, just tremendous athletes that can really execute and play together," Nutt said. "They're one of the best teams in the conference. That's very evident when they played Georgia. Very good quarterback, they do a good job of mixing things up, and defensively they're physical."

[TheTodd]

Wooo Pig Soie