Arkansas running back Darren McFadden led the Razorbacks to a 9-1 record and a chance to play in the SEC championship game after recovering from a toe injury in the summer. McFadden shredded Tennessee's defense for 181 rushing yards and 18 points, vaulting Arkansas to a #5 ranking. His breakout season has transformed him into a Heisman front-runner and the best player in the SEC since Bo Jackson due to his combination of size, speed, and power.

1. McFadden’s Game Has Arkansas Gaining Ground - New York Times
November 18, 2006
McFadden’s Game Has Arkansas Gaining Ground
By RAINER SABIN
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark., Nov. 16 — It was almost surreal, Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt thought. Here
he was last Saturday at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, singing the school fight song and
pumping his fist after watching his team run over Tennessee, 31-14, and vault itself into consideration
for the Bowl Championship Series title game.
A few feet away stood Darren McFadden, Arkansas’ talented sophomore running back who had just
shredded the Volunteers’ defense and most likely earned a trip to New York for December’s Heisman
Trophy ceremony.
Neither McFadden nor the Razorbacks (9-1, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) were expected to be in this
position — on national television, receiving praise and making headlines.
Go back 12 weeks and McFadden’s left foot was in a protective boot after he had surgery to repair a
dislocated joint in his big toe, an injury he sustained during a fight outside of a nightclub in Little Rock
in late July.
“I was sitting in the back of the ambulance and I was just looking at my foot and I just burst out into
tears,” said the 6-foot-2, 212-pound McFadden, who has rushed for 1,219 yards and 12 touchdowns this
season. “I knew at that point I let a lot of people down.”
At the time, the severity of the injury was unknown and there was speculation that he would miss as
many as three games.
But there was McFadden walking off the field with his teammates Sept. 2 after Southern California
blasted Arkansas, 50-14, in the Razorbacks’ season opener. He had gained only 42 yards on nine carries
as Arkansas flatlined on offense. After such a poor performance, the prognosis did not look good for
McFadden or the Razorbacks, who stumbled to losing records in each of their past two seasons.
“If you told me after U.S.C. we were going to win nine or 10 straight games and have a chance to win
the title — you just don’t look at it that way,” Nutt said. “You felt so low.”
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2. McFadden’s Game Has Arkansas Gaining Ground - New York Times
But McFadden, who rushed for 1,113 yards last season, regained his form and Arkansas gradually
gained momentum. In early October, the Razorbacks rolled over then-No. 2 Auburn, 27-10, after
McFadden piled up 145 yards on 28 carries and scored on a 63-yard run. Four weeks later, McFadden
ran for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns and the Razorbacks outlasted South Carolina, 26-20. Then came last
Saturday, when McFadden accounted for 18 points in one quarter and 181 rushing yards total against
Tennessee.
Suddenly, the Razorbacks find themselves ranked No. 5 in the Associated Press poll and trying to clinch
a spot in the SEC championship game by beating Mississippi State on Saturday.
It has all turned McFadden into college football’s new darling.
“There hasn’t been one like this in the conference since Bo,” the former Auburn coach Pat Dye said.
“That’s as high a compliment I can possibly give.”
Dye coached Bo Jackson, the gifted two-sport athlete, from 1982 to 1985 and watched him set records
and win the Heisman Trophy. Dye said McFadden has many of the same qualities Jackson had. He is
big, he is instinctive and he flashes an unusual combination of speed and power. Around the South,
college football fans became aware of McFadden’s abilities last season.
Even as Arkansas was struggling during a 4-7 season in 2005, McFadden stood out. On a 70-yard run
against Alabama, he spun a Crimson Tide defensive back to the turf with a ferocious stiff-arm. Later that
year, he piled up 190 yards against Georgia and knifed through its defense on another 70-yard sprint to
the end zone.
“McFadden’s been off the charts in my book,” Georgia Coach Mark Richt said. “There aren’t many
guys that can dominate the way he’s dominated.”
McFadden has become such a threat for Arkansas that he is no longer being used exclusively at tailback.
He is also playing quarterback on occasion. Back in the spring, Arkansas’ first-year offensive
coordinator, Gus Malzahn, began experimenting with McFadden in shotgun formations. But it was not
until the Razorbacks’ 38-3 victory over Mississippi on Oct. 21 that McFadden lined up at quarterback.
Since then, McFadden has taken 25 direct snaps. Most of the time, he has elected to run the ball or hand
it off to the backup running back Felix Jones. On occasion, however, he has shown off his arm. In fact,
the two passes McFadden has thrown this season have resulted in touchdowns.
“He’s so versatile,” Malzahn said. “He’s the focal point if you’re going to stop our offense.”
McFadden, though, has yet to be deterred. Like Arkansas, he keeps driving forward, picking up steam as
the season has progressed.
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3. McFadden’s Game Has Arkansas Gaining Ground - New York Times
“For me to be at this point is real crazy,” McFadden said. “I never doubted that I would play. It was just
a matter of how much and what I would be able to do.”
The answer to both those questions, opponents have discovered, is plenty.
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