Darren McFadden
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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Darren McFadden, born August 27, 1987 in North Little Rock, Arkansas, starts at tailback for the Arkansas Razorbacks in the NCAA college football tournament. Darren is currently a junior in the University of Arkansas, enrolled in the College of Education and Health Professions with a major in kinesiology and an emphasis on teaching. In terms of his academics, McFadden was named to the Lon Farrell Academic Honor Roll for Fall 2006 and was also recognized as a Hard Working Hog for the 2005-06 academic year. In the field, McFadden has been hyped as a future NFL franchise running back and a durable workhorse. McFadden has shown his explosiveness as early as his first two years in Arkansas, shattering several rushing records during his rookie year and becoming the first freshman since Herschel Walker in SEC history to gain over 1000 yards after rushing for 1,113 yards and 11 scores. He even topped his maiden year performance after rushing for 1,620 yards (5.9 yards per carry average) and 14 touchdowns during his sophomore year to claim the Doak Walker Award and finish second in the Heisman Trophy voting.
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[edit] High School
Darren was a versatile athlete during his high school days as aside from football, he was also a standout in baseball and track and field and owned a vertical jump of 32 inches. His versatility was also evident in the playing field, when he suited up for his high school team, the Pulaski Oak Grove High School. McFadden showed that he was a complete package as he passed, ran, received, and punt/kickoff returned for his team. He compiled prep career numbers of 4,871 yards in 497 carries for an average of 9.8 yards per carry under Coach John Mayes. McFadden was the lone player from the state of Arkansas to be named to the Parade All-America team in 2004 and was also selected to the second team All-South squad by Countdown to Signing Day. On top of that, McFadden earned all-state and all-area honors as both a junior and a senior.
[edit] Sophomore HS
As a sophomore, McFadden rushed for 859 yards and 13 touchdowns on 109 carries. He hauled in 12 receptions for 333 yards and five touchdowns. He also returned 10 punts for 82 yards and 14 kickoffs for 372 yards.
[edit] Junior HS
McFadden normed an average of almost 10 yards per carry (9.9) during his junior year. He ran a total of 2,027 yards in 204 carries with 19 touchdowns to lead his team to an 8-4 record and a second-place finish in the 5-AAA Conference. As a receiver, he caught nine passes for 252 yards with two touchdowns. He also returned 12 punts for a total of 103 yards.
[edit] Senior HS
McFadden compiled a total of 1,965 yards and 27 touchdowns on 184 carries on his senior year, averaging 10.7 yards per carry and scoring three or more rushing TDs in six of his team's games. He also caught three passes for 67 yards and a touchdown. As a passer, he completed six of his 15 pass attempts for 75 yards and two scores. He also returned nine punts for 370 yards and three touchdowns. He claimed several recognitions on his final high school year, including the 4A-Southeast Conference’s Outstanding Back, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Offensive Player of the Year award, and a spot at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s All-Arkansas squad.
[edit] College
McFadden was one of the most sought after players out of high school as he was rated as a five-star prospect, placed as the #3 athlete in the country, and was ranked as the #23 prospect in the nation and the No. 1 prospect in Arkansas by Rivals.com. It was therefore no surprise that several schools recruited the Little Rock native, including Tennessee, Alabama, Nebraska, Auburn, and Iowa.
[edit] 2005
McFadden eventually ended up with Arkansas and introduced himself to the nation by turning out arguably one of the most, if not the most, impressive debut by an Arkansas running back. McFadden broke several school records and won a collection of awards on his true freshman year, including the one set by Cedric Cobbs in 1999 (668 rushing yards) after he rushed for 1,113 yards on 176 carries with 11 touchdown runs.
McFadden started out as a back-up for the Razorbacks and scored his first touchdown on his debut against Missouri State. But he only topped the 100 rush yard mark five games later against Louisiana-Monroe where he ran for 125 yards. His breakout game during his maiden year happened on a 3-point loss by Arkansas against Georgia where he collected 190 yards on 31 carries. He ended the year with a Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year award in tow, and also became one of only two SEC players to rush over a thousand yards as a freshman year, with the other being former Heisman Trophy winner and University of Georgia running back Herschel Walker. Arkansas finished with only four wins in eleven outings but nevertheless, "D-Mac" has already established himself as Arkansas' #1 back in the Razorback depth chart.
[edit] 2006
McFadden started out his sophomore season hobbled by a dislocated toe from an off the field incident at a night club in Little Rock. He nevertheless played in the season opener against USC and managed to rush for only 42 yards in 9 carries. He finished the season with a school record 1,647 yards, scored 14 touchdowns and threw 3 more in just 9 passing attempts to become a first-team All-American. He also led Arkansas to ten straight wins enroute to a SEC Western Division Championship and a spot at the 2007 Capital One Bowl. McFadden's performance also earned a slot at the Heisman race where he eventually placed second behind Ohio State's Troy Smith. He also became the first sophomore to take home the prestigious Doak Walker Award which annually recognizes the nation's best running back.
[edit] 2007
McFadden leads the list of Heisman hopefuls which include West Virginia's Steve Slaton and Pat White, Boise State's Ian Johnson, and Michigan's Mike Hart.
[edit] Highlights
| The Darren McFadden Offense. Arkansas Offensive Coordinator David Lee illustrates the three offensive patterns anchored on Darren McFadden. |
[edit] Awards
[edit] 2006
- Doak Walker Awardee
- Heisman Trophy runner-up
- Consensus first-team All-America selection - the Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), CBS Sportsline.com, SI.com, Walter Camp Foundation, Rivals.com and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA)
- SEC Offensive Player of the Year (The Associated Press, SEC Coaches, the Little Rock Touchdown Club and the Mobile Register)
- Jim Brown National Running Back of the Year - The Touchdown Club of Columbus (Ohio)
- SEC Back of the Year - Birmingham Monday Morning Quarterback Club
[edit] 2005
- Honorable mention All-American by Pro Football Weekly
- First-team freshman All-America honors (Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), CollegeFootballNews.com, ESPN.com, Rivals.com, Scout.com and The Sporting News)
- SEC Freshman of the Year (the Associated Press, the league’s coaches and CollegeFootballNews.com)
- First-team All-SEC (the Associated Press, the league’s coaches and CollegeFootballNews.com, ESPN.com, and Scout.com)
- All-SEC Freshman team (league’s coaches and The Sporting News)
- ESPN.com's SEC Newcomer of the Year
- UA’s MVP - Little Rock Touchdown Club
- Two-time SEC Freshman of the Week
- One-time Rivals.com National Freshman of the Week
- Six-time Hogwired.com Offensive Player of the Week
[edit] Records
[edit] 2006
- Rushed for a school-record 1,647 yards on 284 carries, fifth-best rushing season in SEC history
- Third Arkansas running back to produce back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons
- Second player in SEC history to earn 1,000 yards as both a freshman and sophomore
- Became only the third duo in SEC history and the 38th tandem in NCAA history to rush for 1,000 yards in the same year on the same team (with teammate Felix Jones
- First in SEC and ranked 10th in the nation averaging 117.6 yards per game rushing
- Ranked second in the SEC and tied for 38th in the nation with an average of 7.00 points per game
- Ranked first in the SEC and sixth in the nation with 147.0 all-purpose yards per game
- Broke the UA record for all-purpose yards in a season by 454 yards with his total of 2,058
[edit] 2005
- Broke the UA freshman rushing record with 1,113 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on 176 carries
- Third in the league with 103.8 yards per game
- Third-best rushing average in the country
- First freshman to rush for 1,000 yards in school history
- Seventh Razorback to rush for 1,000 yards in a season
- Seventh freshman running back in SEC history to rush for 1,000 yards
- First Razorback freshman to post multiple 100-yard rushing games when he tallied five such efforts including three of the top four freshman single-game rushing marks in school history
- Second in the SEC and 28th nationally with 137.5 all-purpose yards per game
