Runs of excellence

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks had more than the normal incentive to beat South Carolina on Nov. 3, 2007, at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

Coach Steve Spurrier was in town with the Gamecocks, and beating Spurrier was always good for extra motivation.

ADVERTISEMENT

More headlines

Then there was an additional push for the Hogs. The field at the stadium was being named Frank Broyles Field that day in honor of the legendary coach and athletic director who was in his 50th year on the Hill.

"You never want to lose, but that added to the game for us," said Houston Nutt, who was in the last of his 10 seasons as head coach at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. "We certainly wanted to be sure and win for coach Broyles."

All-American tailback Darren McFadden certainly did his part in the 48-36 slugfest.

McFadden ran for 321 yards that night, tying the 29-year-old SEC single-game rushing record held by Vanderbilt's Frank Mordica.

"Have you ever seen a more beautiful, perfect football night in your life?" Nutt asked in his postgame remarks.

Spurrier provided prime-time quotes after the shootout.

"Obviously, it was a mismatch tonight," Spurrier said. "Looked like a Division III team trying to play an SEC team. Or maybe a Division III team could have slowed them down a little bit better than we did. They ran right through us."

McFadden's 80-yard touchdown with 8:04 remaining in the fourth quarter clinched the victory, and the Little Rock native did his signature double bicep flex to put an exclamation point on the victory.

"They always talk about winning in the fourth quarter, and tonight we took it to heart," McFadden said.

McFadden had suffered bruised ribs in an earlier loss to Kentucky and had been held down in a loss to Auburn a few weeks earlier before breaking out in a big way.

"As soon as Darren put his foot down and decided to go, you only had to hold your block for a second or two and he was gone," said Arkansas lineman Jonathan Luigs, who would win the Rimington Trophy as the nation's top center that season. "I think Spurrier probably threw his visor down on that play. Or at least his headset."

McFadden was actually credited with 323 rushing yards on game night, which would have been an SEC record, but the Arkansas stat crew clarified the next day that McFadden had been credited with two extra yards, which left him officially at 321 yards.

The Gamecocks were in good form offensively, racking up 489 yards on 83 snaps, 29 first downs and winning time of possession by almost two minutes.

But they were no match for the ground-hugging Hogs, who churned out 542 rushing yards and 651 total yards.

"I always got geared up to play coach Spurrier," Nutt said. "I really felt like we could dominate the line of scrimmage if everybody was focused and ready to go. I felt like we were better than them in the trenches.

"But boy, the running game that night was much better than I ever thought it could be."

The teams combined for 1,140 yards of total offense, and the Razorbacks had to punt only once.

McFadden, a junior, put on the kind of show that helped him win the Doak Walker Award two years in a row and finish second in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2006 and 2007. He averaged 9.4 yards per carry and threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Robert Johnson on a reverse pass.

"Darren really got in a zone," Nutt said. "I remember he was taking some hits. It was almost like he was looking these safeties up.

"There was one play where they had two guys on him, and he was still trying to fight for that extra yard. I said, 'Hey, don't be afraid to go down every now and then.' But that's the way Darren played. He was in a zone that night. I mean, a complete zone."

Felix Jones had a huge night, scoring on runs of 40 and 72 yards in the first quarter as the Razorbacks built a 21-3 lead. Jones finished with 166 rushing yards, averaging 12.8 yards per carry, and 3 touchdowns. Peyton Hillis added another 35 yards rushing.

"We could run at will on them," Luigs said.

Quarterback Casey Dick completed 8 of 10 passes with 2 touchdowns. Dick opened the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Monk. He also found Lucas Miller for a 35-yard scoring pass in the second quarter on a reverse pass from the WildHog formation called by offensive coordinator David Lee. McFadden took the snap and handed to Jones, who pitched it back to Dick in the middle of the field.

"That's a play we've been working on for a long time," Nutt said. "David Lee called it at a good time. We ran the reverse and everybody's playing Felix Jones and McFadden, and that's how Lucas got behind them."

Defensively, safety Rashaad Johnson racked up 12 tackles, safety Matt Hewitt added 11 tackles and linebacker Weston Dacus had 10 to lead the Razorbacks.

Sports on 06/15/2017