It was a relief to hear that the Arkansas offense burned through the Troy football team and left it in flames on Saturday. My normal observation post is curtailed this weekend because all I have done so far is hear about the game. My cable package doesn't include the outer fringe cable channel that the Hogs were relegated to. I choose not to have the internet at my place simply because of the distraction factor, and I spend enough time looking at a computer screen already at work. But I did have the ESPN screen crawl and Hog fans calling me with updates. Thanks guys!

First, an apology. Hogs, I doubted you. I am sorry that I did. I thought you would get a victory, but I saw a sluggish one coming and was truly fearful of a big letdown, maybe even an upset. What nearly happened to LSU this weekend vs. Louisiana Tech was the game that I feared the Hogs would get into against a good Troy team that did move the ball on us on Saturday. They just couldn't score, however, like our Mallett captained offense could and did..........[more]

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..........[more]

The large gap between a middle-of-the-pack Southeastern Conference team and the Sun Belt’s best was evident Saturday night.

Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett threw for 405 yards and five touchdowns as the Razorbacks gained bowl eligibility with a 56-20 win over Troy, which saw its seven-game win streak snapped.

The Razorbacks (6-4) rolled up 592 yards of total offense. Troy (7-3) had a respectable 455, but it turned the ball over four times.

Troy had won seven straight, but six came against Sun Belt schools and one against UAB, a member of Conference USA, a team from a conference that doesn’t have an automatic BCS berth.

But head coach Larry Blakeney said the SEC stood strong as the best in the country, and he was right..........[more]

ARKANSAS 56, TROY 20

WHY ARKANAS WON Troy was simply no match for the Razorbacks, who piled up 592 yards of total offense. Quarterback Ryan Mallett completed 20 of 30 passes for 405 yards and five touchdowns and the Razorbacks had three running backs rush for scores and they finished with 216 yards rushing. Defensively, the Razorbacks gave up a lot of yard, but not many points in a game they dedicated to ailing defensive coordinator Willy Robinson.

RECORD NIGHT
Is there a record Ryan Mallett doesn't own after Saturday's game?

OK. Mallett doesn't actually have them all yet, but he set or tied four different records in going 20 of 30 for 405 yards and five touchdowns..........[more]

Senior night. Pride. Bowl eligibility. The fact that losing isn't much fun.

Arkansas needed and wanted a victory Saturday against Troy for any number of reasons. There was one that stood out in particular.

Defensive coordinator Willy Robinson missed the game after being hospitalized and undergoing treatment for what the school called "an infection." Players elected Friday night in their final team meeting to dedicate the game to Robinson, who was rushed to Washington Regional Hospital in an ambulance earlier in the day.

When you dedicate the game to somebody, well, you'd better win.

Arkansas did it convincingly, dispatching Troy 56-20..........[more]

When Troy faces Arkansas tonight at 6:30, the Trojans won’t see stud running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, but they will see another explosive offense.

Two years and one coaching staff from the last time Troy played at Arkansas, the Razorbacks (5-4) are still locked and loaded on offense, but with 6-foot-7 quarterback Ryan Mallett and several receiving threats, led by Jeremy Childs, Joe Adams and tight end D.J. Williams.

In 2007, Arkansas beat Troy 46-26.

“We moved the ball a little bit on them,” Troy head coach Larry Blakeney said. “They were certainly very good, especially when they put both of those running backs out there and did their Wild Hog stuff. It was tough stopping it, and I’m sure they’ll be tough to stop now.

“They’re a little bit different style, but have a great player at quarterback.”.........[more]

To repeat history, you've still got to make history.

So this since-1995-when-Arkansas-beats-South-Carolina-it-always-goes-to-a-bowl-game history still must be made to repeat off last Saturday's 33-16 SEC victory over South Carolina at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

It can be made tonight.

At 5-4, with three to play and needing one victory to be bowl-eligible, the Razorbacks host Troy University in a 6:30 p.m. CSS-televised nonconference game at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

It's the season's final nonconference game and Fay- etteville farewell for the Razorbacks, who close on succeeding SEC Saturdays versus Mississippi State in Little Rock and at LSU.

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino says he isn't a fan of playing a nonconference game this late but says circumstances attach SEC importance to this out-of- league November matchup..........[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..........[more]

Ryan Mallett owns the Arkansas record for completion percentage on 20 or more passes in a game. His .852 completion rate against South Carolina put Mallett ahead of notable names like Clint Stoerner, Barry Lunney Jr. and Kevin Scanlon.

Mallett is tied for third most touchdowns in a season with 18 and has at least three regular season games and possibly a bowl remaining to get more. He trails only Stoerner (26) in that department.

Mallett is third on the list of Razorbacks quarterbacks with the most passing yards in a season. He has 2,477 and needs just 153 more passing yards to move past Casey Dick and Stoerner to break the 11-year-old record.

Oh, and Mallett needs 11 more pass attempts without an interception to set a school record. He's at 124 right now and Stoerner's record is 134.

Impressive stuff..........[more]

Arkansas finds itself in a much better position this week. The hogs have again won two straight. Yet this time, winning a third straight doesn't require beating Florida, the nation's No. 1 team. And it doesn't require winning on the road or even winning an SEC game. Arkansas must beat the Troy (Ala.) Trojans to do this hat trick that eluded them last year.

As I've written before, Arkansas was expected to lose at Bama and at Florida and was expected to have won their non-conference games and to have beaten Auburn and to beat Mississippi State next week. It was the games against Georgia, Ole Miss, and South Carolina that the hogs needed to split 2-1 but ended up splitting 1-2 instead..........[more]