Mallett Is Arkansas' Big Gun

Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett spent last Saturday in front of a television watching football. Sure, he was probably interested in the Michigan-Notre Dame outcome in The Big House, but his focus was farther South.

He had Georgia on his mind.

"They're fast," Mallett said of the Bulldogs' defense. "They have a lot of athletes that can make plays on the ball. We have to go out there and execute, use our technique, and put points on the board."

The college football season is well underway now, but Mallett and Arkansas were off last weekend. The timing may have been unusual, but Mallett said it was time well spent. Mallett watched Georgia's dramatic 41-37 win over South Carolina with teammates and coaches. The Razorbacks also say they are sharp both mentally and physically for their SEC opener against the visiting Bulldogs on Saturday.

"We had a good bye week," Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said.

"We really liked the way our players worked. We got a lot accomplished in the weight room. We did some conditioning. So I feel like physically, we are in as good as shape as we've been in, and mentally, we'll be ready for the game.

"We watched the Georgia game. It was a very exciting football game. They made a tremendous amount of improvement from their first game to the second game. They executed on offense and really showed off the power of their running game. South Carolina had a lot of success throwing the ball against Georgia, but no one has been able to run on them yet."

Arkansas, of course, wants to build on its 41-10 romp over Missouri State in its season-opener Sept. 5. The Razorbacks passed for a school-record 447 yards. Mallett, a transfer from Michigan, connected on 17 of 22 passes for 309 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Tyler Wilson also got in the act, hitting 13 of 19 passes for 138 yards.

Arkansas finished the lopsided affair with 591 total yards, 144 rushing. Dennis Johnson took the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown, and the Razorbacks never looked back. Mix in an off week, and that gave the Razorbacks an opportunity to look ahead. Despite the down time, don't expect Mallett to work himself into a lather over his SEC opener.

"I approach every game the same way," said Mallett, who was born in Batesville, Ark., and grew up an Arkansas fan -- he used to help park cars at Razorback games.

"You don't want to change your approach based on your opponent. If you do, that's how you get out of sync. Since my freshman year, I've grown up a lot. I don't get as wired-up as I used to as easily. I am just going to approach it the same way as I did against Missouri State."

Naturally, Mallett's development -- and poise -- is key to Arkansas' success.

While Petrino's offense is a perfect fit for a pocket passer the caliber of Mallett, the big fella's feel for the offense also has set him apart. The 6-foot-7, 238-pound Mallett started his Arkansas career by completing his first nine passes and he was also a perfect 5-of-5 in the first quarter against Missouri State.

Call it coincidence or a weak opponent, but the Razorbacks scored 21 points in the first quarter against the Bears. Arkansas didn't score in the first quarter last season until game six (Auburn, field goal), and that wasn't even a touchdown. There's more good news. Mallett has never lost a game as a starting quarterback in college (4-0). During the 2007 season at Michigan, he was 3-0 with victories against Notre Dame, Penn State and Minnesota.

He is 1-0 at Arkansas.

"He just has to relax, remain clam, and just run the offense like he did against Missouri State," Petrino said when asked about Mallett's progress. "Ryan is certainly capable to play in this conference."

Mallett's passing prowess aside, the Razorbacks realize they will also need to create offensive balance against Georgia and mix in the run. Six different running backs combined to carry the ball 29 times for 142 yards and two touchdowns against Missouri State. The Razorbacks rushed for two touchdowns in only three games in 2008.



An important piece to that puzzle will be tailback Michael Smith, who opened the season with four carries for 43 yards and a score. In 2008, Smith finished second in the SEC with 107.2 rushing yards per game and he became the ninth Razorback to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season (1,072). In addition, Smith led the league in all-purpose yards last season (141.4).

"The way the offensive line is playing right now, I have a lot of confidence that we will be able to go out there and run the football," Mallett said. "If we execute, we can do everything well."

As he watched the Georgia-South Carolina game on television, the excitement began to build in Mallett. He saw his counterpart - Georgia quarterback Joe Cox -- come into his own after sitting in the shadow of Matthew Stafford. Cox, who battled the flu in Week 1 and a shoulder injury in Week 2, completed 17 of 24 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns against the Gamecocks.

"You get anxious during the week -- you want to get out there and play," Mallett said.

"Getting out there Saturday and releasing all of our pent-up energy is exactly what we need right now. We've prepared well for Georgia. Now we just need to go out there and play our style of ball."