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Darren McFadden
McFadden in the Razorbacks' home uniform
College	University of Arkansas
Conference	SEC
Sport	Football
Position	Tailback
Jersey #	5
Class	Junior
Major	Kinesiology
Nickname	Run DMC, Mr. 501, D-Mac
Career	2005–present
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	215 lb (98 kg)
Nationality	USA
Born	(1987-08-27) August 27, 1987 (age 37) North Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
High school	Oak Grove HS, North Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
Career highlights
Awards
2006 Doak Walker Award 2007 Doak Walker Award 2007 Walter Camp Award
Honors
2005 Freshman SEC Offensive Player of the Year 2006 Heisman Memorial Trophy Award Runner-Up 2006 SEC Offensive Player of the Year 2006 Walter Camp Award Finalist 2007 Heisman Memorial Trophy Award Runner-Up 2007 Maxwell Award Finalist 2007 SEC Offensive Player of the Year
Championships
2006 SEC Western Division Champions
Bowl games
2007 Capital One Bowl - Arkansas 14, Wisconsin 17 2008 Cotton Bowl - Arkansas vs. Missouri

Darren McFadden (born August 27, 1987 in North Little Rock, Arkansas) is a three time All-American starting tailback for the University of Arkansas. In 2006, he became the first sophomore to win the Doak Walker Award, and joined Ricky Williams (Texas) as only the second two-time winner after taking home the award again in 2007. McFadden also won the 2007 Walter Camp Award as the nation's best player and was also the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy two years in a row, in 2006 and 2007. McFadden is widely known as having the ability to not only outrun opposing players, but to also power through them.

High school

McFadden attended Oak Grove High School in North Little Rock. McFadden played a variety of positions at Oak Grove, but usually lined up as a running back on offense, and a safety on defense. During his senior season at Oak Grove, he was a Parade Magazine All-American in 2004, as well as being named the Arkansas High School player of the year by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Following his senior season at Oak Grove, McFadden was awarded the prestigious Landers Award, given every year to the top player in the state of Arkansas. During his time at Oak Grove, McFadden would occasionally line up at the quarterback position, a skill which he is using now at Arkansas in the "Wildhog" formation. McFadden was a highly recruited prospect, but eventually chose to attend Arkansas.

College

Throughout his 3 collegiate years (2005 - 2007), McFadden has eclipsed many records in University of Arkansas Razorback football, the most notable being the most rushing yards in a single game, the most rushing yards in a single season, and the most career rushing yards. He is also only the second running back in school history to rush for 1,000 yards or more in three consecutive years. He has since become the all-time leading rusher in school history with 4,485 yards in 37 career game, and also owns the school record for most career games with at least 100 yards rushing, with 22. He was named 1st Team All-SEC all three years he was at Arkansas and was also a two-time consensus 1st team All-American after his sophomore and junior seasons, also being named a freshman All-American in his freshman year. Darren was also named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year by the Coaches and AP in 2006, and again by the Coaches in 2007, as well as being named The Sporting News magazine National Player of the Year in 2007.

2005 season

In 2005, his true freshman season, McFadden rushed for 1,113 yards and 11 touchdowns on 176 attempts, earning Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year honors, as well as Freshman All-American nods. McFadden was an integral part of an Arkansas offense, that, although going 4-7, lost to top ranked teams such as Georgia and LSU only in the closing seconds of those games. Although being a backup for the first 2 games of the season, and even gathering interest from defensive coordinator Reggie Herring to become a safety, a position he also played in high school, McFadden stuck with his position at running back.

Throughout the season, McFadden transformed into the breakout star he would soon become, rushing for long touchdowns in several games. McFadden ended the season with the most yards a freshman running back had ever gained in an Arkansas uniform, and became only the seventh Southeastern Conference player to rush over 1,000 yards as a freshman, joining the likes of Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker. McFadden continued through spring practice early the next year as the number one running back on the Razorback depth chart, a spot he never relinquished while on campus.

2006 season

In 2006, despite a slow start due to a dislocated toe from an off the field incident at a night club in Little Rock, McFadden rushed for a school-record 1,647 yards (which was also good enough for fifth best all-time in the SEC for single season yards), scored 14 touchdowns, and threw for 3 more touchdowns on just 9 passing attempts, becoming a first-team All-American. Thanks to his efforts, Arkansas streaked to 10 wins, the SEC Western Division Championship, but lost to Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl on January 1, 2007 and finished with a record of (10-4).

On December 6, 2006, McFadden was named 1 of 3 finalists for the Heisman Trophy, along with Troy Smith (Ohio State University) and Brady Quinn (University of Notre Dame.) In the final 2006 Heisman vote, McFadden placed second behind Smith and several points in front of Quinn. On December 7, 2006, McFadden became the first sophomore to win the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the nation's top running back.

McFadden surpassed Madre Hill as the record holder for most rushing yards in a season at the University of Arkansas in 2006. He is also the centerpiece of the "Wildcat," an offensive formation wherein he usually lines up at quarterback. Since McFadden often played quarterback in high school, he has been a threat to throw the ball, to run the ball, or hand off to another player, (usually fellow running back Felix Jones or fullback Peyton Hillis), thus making the formation a triple threat. The "Wildcat" formation, as practiced at Arkansas, is also known nationally by some as the "501," McFadden's hometown telephone area code which is tattooed on the inside of both of his biceps. The formation has since been officially renamed as the "WildHog" for the 2007 season.

2007 season

Before the 2007 season, McFadden was believed to be one of the top NFL draft picks after the 2007 season if he declared for the 2008 NFL Draft. In Sports Illustrated's website, a photo gallery chronicling the best possible candidates in the 2008 draft was tipped as the number 1 pick. McFadden was also predicted to be a front-runner for many awards, including the Doak Walker, the Maxwell, the Walter Camp Player of the Year, and the Heisman.

McFadden began the 2007 season with five consecutive games in which he gained at least 120 yards. Highlighting these were a 195 yard effort against Alabama, a 151 yard game against Troy, and a 173 yard effort against Kentucky. After this stretch of games, McFadden looked to be a lock for the Heisman trophy, at the top of generally every watch list. But in the next three weeks, McFadden tallied only 43, 110, and 61 yards against Auburn, Ole Miss, and Florida International, respectively. After these three games, McFadden had gone from being at the top of the lists, to near the bottom, or in some cases, off.

On November 3, 2007, McFadden tied the Southeastern Conference single-game rushing record (Frank Mordica, Vanderbilt, 1978 vs. Air Force) with 321 yards rushing against the South Carolina.. An 80 yard run highlighted McFadden's day, as well as preserved the Arkansas win.

The next two weeks, McFadden rushed for 117 yards in a loss to Tennessee and 88 yards in a win against Mississippi State.

On November 23, 2007, McFadden led Arkansas to a 50-48 triple overtime victory over the #1 ranked LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, winning the Battle for the Golden Boot for Arkansas. McFadden rushed 32 times for 206 yards and 3 TD's, and completed 3 of 6 pass attempts for 34 yards, also throwing a touchdown to Peyton Hillis. The Wildhog formation was key for McFadden and the Hogs, as the majority of McFadden's yards came when he received the snap.

By any measure, McFadden's 2007 season was a success: McFadden was selected as the Sporting News magazine National Player of the Year, was a consensus 1st Team All-American for the second straight season, won the Doak Walker Award (given to the nation's best running back) for the second year in a row, was selected as the SEC Offensive Player of the Year by SEC coaches, and he was also awarded the Walter Camp Award (given to the nation's best overall player).

McFadden is third all-time in career rushing yards in the SEC (Southeastern Conference) with 4,485 yards, behind only Kevin Faulk of LSU (4,557), and Herschel Walker of Georgia (5,259) and is also currently tied for seventh place in the SEC with Charles Alexander of LSU for career TD's with 40. McFadden has 1,725 yards rushing on 304 carries and 15 TD's, plus he has thrown for 4 TD's, and has 1 TD reception. He leads the SEC and is third in the nation in rushing yards.

On December 6, 2007, McFadden was announced as the winner of the Walter Camp Award and as the winner of the Doak Walker Award. He became only the second person (along with Ricky Williams) in history to win the Doak Walker Award twice. McFadden finished as the runner-up for the 2007 Heisman Trophy for the second year in a row. He was runner-up to Tim Tebow of the Florida Gators, making him the first person since 1949 to finish second in Heisman voting in consecutive years.

McFadden is the most decorated player in school history, and holds many of the university rushing records, and is in a number of the SEC's all-time top 10 rushing spots. After Arkansas plays Missouri (and fellow 2007 Heisman finalist QB Chase Daniel) in the January 1, 2008 Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, McFadden is expected by many forego his senior season and declare for the 2008 NFL Draft. Many early projections have him being taken in the first five picks, with some placing him as high as to be the first pick.

Notes and references

1. "Rise of Troy: Buckeyes QB wins Heisman Trophy". ESPN. Associated Press. 2006-12-12. Retrieved 2007-12-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. "College Football Awards". ESPN. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
3. "NCAA Football - South Carolina Gamecocks/Arkansas Razorbacks Recap". Retrieved 2007-11-03.
4. "Arkansas' McFadden named Walter Camp Player of the Year". CBS Sports. 2007-12-06. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
5. "Darren McFadden Wins Second-Straight Doak Walker Award". Hogwired. 2007-12-06. Retrieved 2007-12-06.

External links

• The Official Darren McFadden Website
• McFadden for Heisman
• Hogwired Official Profile
• NCAA Statistics
• Hogville.net - The Premiere Razorback Message Board
• Feature on Darren McFadden by CSTV on YouTube
• CSTV: How Does Darren McFadden Do It? on YouTube

• 1987 births
• Living people
• People from Arkansas
• American football running backs
• Arkansas Razorbacks football players