FAYETTEVILLE, Ark--On a night when the Razorbacks became bowl eligible for the first time under Bobby Petrino sophomore quarterback Ryan Mallett displaced Clint Stoerner as the school's all-time single season passing leader. It almost didn't happen.

In the second quarter, as Mallett was just getting warmed up enroute to a 405 yard passsing performance, he went down in a heap of bodies. One of Troy's defenders stepped on Mallett's hand as he emerged from the pile up. Razorback fans gasped as Mallett grabbed the hand and rolled on the ground for a few brief seconds. Then he suddenly shot to his feet, shook off the pain and went back to work.

"It's part of football," Mallett recalled after the game. "It wasn't my throwing hand," he added. "(It was) my left one," Mallett concluded with a laugh.

Asked the significance of the record that Mallett had just set Petrino said simply, "You're happy for the individuals when they get the records and then you go out and sell it in recruiting and it helps us in recruiting."

Mallett said he didn't think about the record. "We got the 'W,' " he told reporters. "I thought about that."

Mallett wasn't the only Razorback to set a record in the Troy game. Sophomore running back Dennis Johnson eclipsed the career kickoff return mark set by current Dallas Cowboy Felix Jones back in 2007. Jones set his mark in three seasons. Johnson is not yet through his second season as a Razorback. Still he seemed unconcerned with the accomplishment as he wiped a towel across his forehead following the game. [read more]

FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas Razorbacks got bowl eligible with a night filled with record performances in a 56-20 drubbing of Troy University at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

The win moved Arkansas to 6-4 on the season while Troy falls to 7-3.

Sophomore quarterback Ryan Mallett tied his own school record with five touchdown passes, and did so in style by hitting five different receivers for the scores.

The sophomore threw for 405 yards, three shy of his career best, hitting 23-of-30 with one interception to mar his night.

Mallett also claimed the school records for consecutive attempts without an interception before that one miscue, and broke Clint Stoerner’s single-season passing record. He also tied Stoerner with his fourth 300-plus passing game of the season. [read more]

Arkansas didn't need its announced available eight to beat Alcorn State.

Rotnei "Records" Clarke almost would have sufficed by himself, it seems.

Add "Records" to Rotnei Clarke's name because Friday night the sophomore shooting guard from Claremore, Okla., scored more points in a game and sank more 3-pointers than any Razorback before him.

Clarke's 51 points in Friday night's 130-68 season-opening triumph over Alcorn State at Walton Arena broke the 36-year Razorbacks' scoring record 47 points set by Martin Terry against SMU in 1973 at Barnhill Fieldhouse. Clarke's 13 3-pointers Friday night not only surpassed the Razorbacks' record 12 set by Al Dillard against Delaware State in 1994 at Walton but set a SEC record, too.

Clarke simultaneously became the first Razorback to score 50 in a game and exceed a dozen 3s in a game when he connected trey No. 13 with 5:32 left. He was then removed from the game to a standing ovation as the Hogs stand an official 1-0 heading into Tuesday night's ESPN2-televised game against Louisville in St. Louis. [read more]

FAYETTEVILLE – Junior tight end D.J. Williams caught seven passes for 137 yards and Broderick Green scored two touchdowns as the University of Arkansas handed South Carolina a 33-16 defeat in Southeastern Conference play.

The victory moved Arkansas to 5-4 on the season, 2-4 in SEC games, while the Gamecocks dropped to 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the SEC.

"It was good to see us go out and be competitive," Razorback head coach Bobby Petrino said. "We did a nice job and I'm very proud of our players. We passed the test today."

Sophomore quarterback Ryan Mallett had a near-perfect day, hitting 23 of 27 passes with no interceptions and 329 yards. [read more]

South Carolina picked a bad week to be short handed.

Two Gamecock starters won’t be around to face a potent Arkansas offense Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark., at 12:20 p.m. on the SEC Network.

USC defensive end Cliff Matthews and his five sacks will be out with a left shoulder injury, and starting safety Chris Culliver won’t make the trip because of an injured shoulder and partial punishment for a poor performance last week at Tennessee.

That’ll leave a bruised, frustrated and banged up defense looking for ways to stop a Razorback attack that’s second in the league in scoring (35.9 points per game) and total offense (438 yards per game).

“We’ve had a long season, haven’t had a bye week yet, so people banged up,” USC defensive back Akeem Auguste said.

The healthy players will look first to contain Arkansas sophomore quarterback Ryan Mallet, a 6-foot-7, 238-pound transfer who started at Michigan. Mallet is completing 54 percent of his passes and has thrown for 2,148 yards and 18 touchdowns, which leads the SEC.

“Well, we haven’t played him yet, so we haven’t hit him enough to see if he can bounce back,” USC coach Steve Spurrier said about Mallet, who’s thrown three picks this year. “But he may be the best passer. He’s probably leading the conference in most of the passing statistics. He could be the best passer we’ve faced, definitely.” [read more]

Courtesy: Bakervscarr

I feel good about this one.

Arkansas hosts the South Carolina Gamecocks Saturday, and though it happens rarely, I already have a feeling how this one is going to go. South Carolina is beaten up, coming off a loss, and are facing their second consecutive road game against an SEC opponent in a “must-win” game scenario.

Arkansas found itself in this exact scenario when it traveled to Oxford to play Ole Miss, and we all know how that worked out.

If things play out the way I think they should, Arkansas will take advantage of the suspension of FS Chris Culliver and pick on whoever is playing in his place. If Mallett is able to get the ball to Joe Adams over the middle of the field, and Michael Smith can get going early, either Greg Childs or Jarius Wright could have a field day on deep passes out of play action. [read more]

Fayetteville, AR -- (Sports Network) - The Arkansas Razorbacks scored 49 unanswered points to start and never looked back as they crushed the Eastern Michigan Eagles, 63-27, in non-conference play at DWR Razorback Stadium.

Ryan Mallett missed on just two of his 16 pass attempts for the Razorbacks (4-4), leading to 248 yards and three touchdowns for the home team as they snapped a two-game slide. Broderick Green accounted for a game-high 134 yards and two touchdowns on a mere nine carries, while Knile Davis gained another 59 yards on the ground and also scored a pair of TDs.

The Eagles (0-8), who have now dropped all eight games this season, were led by Kyle McMahon who converted 10-of-19 passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns in the setback. Dwayne Priest chipped in a team-best 66 rushing yards and a score on 21 attempts. [read more]

Arkansas defensive tackle Zach Stadther admits he doesn't want to again spend his winter break at home.

It's not so much that he has a problem with seeing his family for the holidays. He'd just rather have a bowl game to prepare for than hang out in Little Rock for three weeks like he did last December.

"I want to go to a bowl game. I want to get a ring on my finger," Stadther said. "I want to show the world that Arkansas football is the big-time school to come to."

Before the season began, the Razorbacks had much loftier goals than simply getting the six wins needed to become bowl eligible.

They hoped to prove the critics wrong and become a darkhorse in the Southeastern Conference race.

However, as Arkansas heads into today's 6 p.m. game against Eastern Michigan (0-7) in Reynolds Razorback Stadium, the Hogs find themselves with the same record they had after seven games last season. While they've made strides on offense and defense, they're still 3-4 and at the bottom of the SEC West standings. [read more]

The Arkansas Razorbacks were riding high on a close game against the Florida Gators and convincing wins over Auburn and Texas A&M. That all came crashing down on Saturday in Oxford when the Arkansas Razorbacks fell 30-17 to Houston Nutt and his Ole Miss Rebels.

With all the hype surrounding the matchup between Bobby Petrino and Houston Nutt – Ryan Mallett and Jevan Snead – one Razorback and one Rebel – the day ended up being all about Dexter McCluster and Houston Nutt’s play calling. The stretch, the draw and the short pass destroyed the Arkansas defense all day long. Which begs the question many Hog fans were asking post-game – did Willy Robinson watch ANY tape on Ole Miss before kickoff on Saturday? It is obvious that Nutt’s playbook is not the most complicated piece of offensive literature in college football; yet the Rebels earned first down after first down with 553 yards on Saturday – which, by the way, was more than the Rebels have put on a team since 2004.

[read more]

Dexter McCluster set career highs in rushing and receiving, and Jevan Snead threw for a career-high 332 yards to lead Mississippi to a 30-17 victory over Arkansas on Saturday.

Rebels coach Houston Nutt beat his former team for the second straight year.

Ole Miss (5-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) jumped ahead 17-0 and controlled the line of scrimmage throughout. The Rebels could have won by more if not for three turnovers.

Arkansas (3-4, 1-4) pulled to 24-17 in the third quarter when Carlton Salters caught a tipped pass for a 58-yard touchdown, but the Razorbacks couldn't finish the rally and Ole Miss added two field goals in the fourth. [read more]