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Things You Should Know About Arkansas 9/15/2006 Vanderbilt plays its home opener and continues its search for its first victory of the 2006 season when The Commodores host the Arkansas Razorbacks at Vanderbilt Stadium on Saturday Sept. 16 at 11:30 a.m. CST. Lincoln Financial Sports will televise the game. Razorbacks to Watch: #16 Mitch Mustain: Freshman QB (6-3, 205). Mustain became the first true freshman signal-caller in Arkansas history to make his first career start as early as the second game when he debuted last week in the Razorbacks’ 20-0 win over Utah State. The number one-rated high school quarterback in the 2006 recruiting class, Mustain completed nine of 17 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. He was just the eighth true freshman quarterback in Arkansas history and the first to win his first start since 1992. #5 Darren McFadden: Sophomore RB (6-2, 212). An All-America candidate and preseason All-SEC First Team selection, McFadden rushed for 184 yards on just 20 carries last week against Utah State, most in the SEC this season and the third-highest rushing total of his career. Already, McFadden has racked up three games of rushing for 180 yards or more. #24 Sam Olajubutu: Senior LB (5-9, 225). After being named to both the preseason Lombardi Award and Lott Trophy watch lists, Olajubutu collected 12 tackles and forced a fumble in Arkansas’ opening-week loss to USC. He had 13 tackles last week against Utah St., the 11th double-digit tackle performance of his career. His 118 tackles in 2005 ranked third overall in the SEC, and he had 14.5 tackles for losses last year as well. #25 Felix Jones: Sophomore RB (6-0, 200). A 2005 All-America kickoff returner, Jones combines with Sophomore Darren McFadden to comprise one of the nation’s most potent running back duos. He rushed for 68 yards on only nine carries last week against Utah State, after rushing seven times for 48 yards and catching three balls for 20 yards against USC. He returned 17 kickoffs for 543 yards in 2005, including one 100-yard return for a touchdown against Mississippi State. His 31.9 yards per kickoff return average last year was second in the nation. #10 Damian Williams: Freshman WR (6-1, 188). Williams was named Arkansas’ offensive player of the week in week one for his performance against USC in which he caught four passes for 61 yards. He became the first Arkansas true freshman to lead the team in receptions in his first career game since 2000 when Richard Smith did so. He had two catches for 53 yards last week, including one for 46 yards. Talking Points: Arkansas will be opening up its 2006 SEC schedule on Saturday, the second consecutive year that it has kicked off SEC play against Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt beat Arkansas last year in Fayetteville 28-24. Saturday’s game will mark the 100th of Arkansas Head Coach Houston Nutt’s career at Arkansas. He owns a 58-41 (.586) record as head coach of the Razorbacks and is just the third head coach in school history to coach 100 games or more. Last year’s loss to Vanderbilt came in the two teams’ first meeting in Nutt’s career at Arkansas. Arkansas and Vanderbilt will be meeting for just the seventh time in the schools’ history, with Arkansas holding a 4-2 edge, and a 2-1 edge since the Razorbacks entered the SEC for football in 1992. Saturday’s visit to Nashville by Arkansas is just the third in school history and the first since 1995, when the Razorbacks came away 35-7 winners. Arkansas ranks No. 1 in rushing offense in the SEC during Houston Nutt’s tenure by averaging 184.6 yards per game during Nutt’s nine-year career. Arkansas is once again leading the SEC in rushing after leading the league three out of the past four years. Thus far in 2006, Arkansas is averaging 204.5 yards per game. Arkansas has amassed 200 yards or more on the ground in eight of its last 14 games dating back to 2004, and has rushed for 190 yards or more on two additional occasions. Last week’s 20-0 victory over Utah State was the first shutout by Arkansas since 2002 when they had back-to-back 23-0 shutouts of Troy State and South Carolina. Arkansas kicks off its 15th SEC season Saturday since joining the league for football in 1992. It is 8-6 in conference openers since 1992, and had its two-game win streak in conference openers snapped last year by Vanderbilt. A moment of silence will be observed prior to Saturday’s game to honor the late Paul Eells, who was the Razorback football play-by-play voice from 1978 until his death last July. Eells served as the football play-by-play announcer at Vanderbilt from 1967-1978. |
