Mallett Did Something at Arkansas Thought Not Possible

Former Razorback quarterback may be gone, but no one will forget how he elevated program

Author:
Kent Smith
Updated:
Jun 29, 2023 9:10 AM EDT
Original:
Jun 28, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – There are football fans from NFL cities and other college towns who might not understand why the drowning death of Ryan Mallett is hitting Arkansas fans so hard.

Unless someone spent the last 40 years having Saturdays in fall dictate the mood of his or her family and neighbors, only to witness their hearts ripped out over and over, there's no way to truly comprehend what he gave to the state of Arkansas. ESPN can run that Clint Stoerner fumble against Tennessee a million more times. It won't change the fact that the only time in modern Arkansas football that fans truly felt hope when it comes to the Razorbacks came as a result of Mallett at quarterback.

When he arrived in Fayetteville, Arkansas was the typical football team Razorback fans know and love through the worst of times out of blinding devotion. A lot of people forget that the Bobby Petrino era looked like every other Arkansas coach's since the late '80s. He needed a miracle to beat Louisiana-Monroe in his opening season, suffered the only legitimate loss to Texas since 1990 in blowout fashion, got rocked by Alabama, lost several close games to average to below average SEC teams, and made a Tim Tebow led Florida team look like the national champion it turned out to be.

In the end, Petrino kicked off his tenure with a very Arkansas-like 5-7 campaign. On the sideline, Mallett watched helplessly through that entire campaign as future NFL wide receivers Jarius Wright and Greg Childs, future NFL tight ends DJ Williams and Chris Gragg, plus another future NFL wide receiver in Little Rock's Joe Adams, cut their teeth in Petrino's offense. Transfer rules forced him to sit out a year after his transfer from Michigan.

The following season, another future NFL wide receiver, Cobi Hamilton, joined the fray along with a talented group of young running backs to help Mallett lead the Hogs to the infamous 8-5 record that so often lands Arkansas coaches a contract extension before proving to be the ceiling. But there were hints that this might be different.

Arkansas lost to a ranked Georgia team and eventual national champion Alabama to start SEC play, but the Razorbacks led late in a shootout against the Bulldogs before falling 52-41. Mallett caught the attention of the entire college football world that day, throwing for 408 yards and five touchdowns, which broke the school record for single game passing and touchdowns at the time. Not a bad way to make a splash in the SEC.

He then engineered a blowout of Texas A&M in Arlington back before the Aggies joined the SEC, and handed an Auburn team that would win the national title the following year its first loss of the season in a blowout. Over those two games, Mallett completed 54 passes for 619 yards and four touchdown, setting a pace against Power 5 teams early in the season that had never been seen before at Arkansas.

However, the moment that indicated Arkansas might be able to break through the 8-5 barrier in the future came against No. 1 Florida in The Swamp. Reigning Heisman winner Tim Tebow had to engineer a 69-yard, three minute drive for a field goal with nine seconds left to win the game, 23-20. Even a bit of Tebow magic wouldn't have mattered had Arkansas not missed a 38-yard field goal on the previous drive or Mallett been able to connect with a wide open Van Stumon on a pass that would have given Arkansas a 17-13 lead heading into the fourth quarter. And this was with three starters out of the line-up.

Arkansas won five of its last six games, the lone loss coming to No. 15 LSU in overtime. During that stretch, Mallett tied his own record for touchdown passes in a game twice, came within a yard of breaking his own passing record for yards in a game, shattered the school completion percentage record for games with more than 20 passes on an 85% completion rate of 27 passes against South Carolina, broke the completion percentage record for passes between 13-19 passes with 87.5% against Eastern Michigan on 16 passes, blew away the completions record in a season with 225, easily captured the touchdowns in a season record with 30, broke the school record for passing yards in a single season with 3,624, which put him at No. 9 in all-time passing for the moment.
Then he got good at football.

Almost all those records fell the following year. As did the perception that Arkansas couldn't be a legitimate national championship contender. Mallett was First Team All-SEC heading into the year and took the Razorbacks on a journey that had them at No. 7 in the BCS heading into the final week of the season, the poll that determined who played in the national championship game at the time.

Displaying an arm reminiscent of Brett Farve and elite NFL prescision, Mallett threw for over 300 yards nine times that season, including huge games against Georgia and No. 1 Alabama while also breaking his school record for passing yards in a game with 409 against Vanderbilt the day before Halloween.

The gunslinger had Arkansas in prime position against the Tide in a late September showdown. On the first two plays of the opening drive, he hit Wright for 31 yards and then running back Ronnie Wingo for a 43-yard touchdown. Mallett out-dueled future SEC Network analyst Greg McElroy for a 20-7 lead in the third quarter. He finished with 357 yards passing, but it wasn't enough as the Alabama secondary and Heisman winner Mark Ingram led a huge second half comeback to grab the win late, 24-20.

It was Mallett's only regular season loss. Two weeks later, the Razorbacks traveled to Jordan-Haire Stadium to face eventual national champion Auburn. Arkansas led 14-10 and steadily chewed up clock as Mallett started out 10-for-15, including 10 of his final 11 passes, with a touchdown on the first two drives of the game. However, he took a shot to the head, which forced him out of a battle with eventual Heisman winner Cam Newton in the game to vaulted the Tigers' quarterback into contention.

Newton responded with a long drive that gave Auburn the lead on a controversial touchdown. The injury forced sophomore Tyler Wilson, who had been doing all he could to catch up to Mallett in hopes of earning playing time over the past two seasons, to step into the game. He opened with a three and out that led to a blocked punt, creating a 14-point swing that slowed the Arkansas momentum as he adjusted to being abruptly inserted into the game. It was just enough to allow Auburn to head into the half with a 27-21 lead and keep the Razorbacks chasing the rest of the way.

The back-up QB did all he could to match both Mallett and Newton in a hostile environment with a possible national championship opportunity on the line. Meanwhile, Mallett coached from the sidelines, wearing a Razorback t-shirt and ball cap, a precursor to what would eventually be his calling late in life as a respected high school coach. As Wilson hit Childs for a 23-yard touchdown to put Arkansas up 41-37 in the fourth quarter, it was Mallett who walked out onto the edge of the field and appeared to be signaling for the 2-point conversion that would extend the lead to 43-37. Wilson threw for 334 yards and four touchdowns, but couldn't get Arkansas over the hump as Newton destroyed Arkansas down the stretch. Wilson threw two interceptions and the Razorbacks had a fumble as things simply fell apart.

Once Mallett returned, Arkansas didn't lose another regular season game, part of a stretch where the Razorbacks went 15-3 as records kept falling along the way. The Razorbacks put up a stunning 43 points per game and closed the regular season with a 31-23 win over No. 5 LSU in Little Rock. Mallett threw for 320 yard and three touchdowns as he and running back Kniles Davis obliterated the Tigers' defense. He was able to lead two long drives in the fourth quarter to put the game away early despite the much closer final score, launching the Razorbacks, who had been continually ranked much lower than history says an SEC team with only two losses to the No. 1 team in the country should be, into BCS bowl discussion.

When it came down that Arkansas earned a spot in the Sugar Bowl against Ohio State, no one inside the state borders batted an eye. If the Razorbacks were to lose, it would be an upset. To further entrench that perspective, it appeared Big 10 MVP runner-up, quarterback Terrell Pryor, and four of his teammates would be suspended for accepting improper benefits. However, Ohio State figured out a way to keep all five players on the team for the Sugar Bowl in lieu of large suspensions the following season.

Even at full strength, the general thought among the fan base was that it would still be stunning if the Buckeyes knocked off Mallett and his teammates despite their No. 2 ranking to start the season. It had been forever since Ohio St. took down an SEC team and there was nothing to suggest the Buckeyes would be able to shut down the Arkansas offense enough to squeeze out a win.

Think about that. Mallett and his band of merry men had done so much to change how the Razorback program was viewed that its fans expected a win over what may be the most revered college football program outside of the SEC. In what was an instant classic, it took all kinds of breaks for the Buckeyes to pull off the upset, 31-26.

On the opening play of the game, Mallett hit Adams deep over the middle for what would have been a touchdown, but the receiver was unable to hold on. Instead of an opening score, Arkansas had to settle for a punt. Then on the next drive, the Razorbacks forced a Terrell Pryor fumble that several Hogs had a chance to dive on. However, it squirted into the end zone, giving the Buckeyes a freakish touchdown on its opening drive.

Even still, Mallett threw for 277 yards and a pair of touchdowns when a blocked punt in the final minute of the game gave the Razorbacks a chance to go in for the winning score at the Ohio St. 18-yard line. His play sent Arkansas storming back from a 31-13 deficit and with victory close at hand, there seemed to be little hope of the Buckeyes holding on. Davis already had 139 yards rushing, so the balanced attack should have kept Ohio St. honest, creating space for running and passing lanes.

Had a pass not been dropped at the 10-yard line on first down, this may have been the case. The Hogs would have had second and short. However, after it was quickly ruled that Williams didn't secure the catch, Petrino called for Mallett to go back to the same area of the field, which was crowded, resulting in an interception that brought everything to a screeching halt. The Buckeyes eventually had to give up the win over the improper benefits, although no one in Arkansas cares. The game was played. It was lost.

What wasn't lost was the impact Mallet had on the program. As he headed off to a life in the NFL, taking 11 Arkansas passing records with him, Wilson was left behind, having been pushed by the foundation laid by Mallet to keep the new standard going.

And he did exactly that. The Razorbacks went 11-2, finishing the year ranked No. 5 in the country following a win over Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl. Also in the Top 5 were SEC West mates Alabama, the eventual national champion, and No. 2 LSU, SEC champion and national runner-up. Arkansas lost to both, dropping a game on the road in both cases. With the exception of wins over Texas A&M in Arlington and a win over Ole Miss in Oxford, none of the 11 wins were even close.

Wilson took over Mallett's role of tearing down the record books and was projected as the No. 1 draft pick heading into 2012. The Razorbacks were also being considered national championship contenders. Unfortunately, Petrino got into a lot of trouble stemming from revelations generated by a motorcycle accident, which sent the program into a tail spin.

However, for three seasons, the Razorbacks stood on the shoulders of Mallett. Shoulders that connected to a rocket of an arm that for a brief amount of time, made Arkansas fans know what it's like feel like they belong alongside the college football powers of the world.

For that, he should be honored. There are decades of evidence to support how borderline impossible that is. It should be noted that despite holding all those records, he doesn't appear in any of the negative record lists and also doesn't land in the Top 5 for pass attempts. It's truly a miracle. There's no other way to describe his time at Arkansas.

Mallett not only elevated fan expectations, he lifted so many players around him into the NFL spotlight. What happened in the midst of the Bobby Petrino era as a result of his talent was miraculous. Truly miraculous.