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2006 Arkansas

10–⁠4 (7–⁠1 Southeastern Conference), coached by Houston Nutt, finished No. 15 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 2006, game by game: lost vs. No. 6 USC 14–50; won vs. Utah State 20–0; won at Vanderbilt 21–19; won vs. Alabama 24–23; won at No. 2 Auburn 27–10; won vs. Southeast Missouri State 63–7; won vs. Ole Miss 38–3; won at UL Monroe 44–10; won at South Carolina 26–20; won vs. No. 13 Tennessee 31–14; won at Mississippi State 28–14; lost vs. No. 9 LSU 26–31; lost vs. No. 4 Florida 28–38; lost vs. No. 7 Wisconsin 14–17+56−36Lost 14–50 vs. No. 6 USC-36No. 6 USCWon 20–0 vs. Utah State+20Utah StateWon 21–19 at Vanderbilt+2VanderbiltWon 24–23 vs. Alabama+1AlabamaWon 27–10 at No. 2 Auburn+17No. 2 AuburnWon 63–7 vs. Southeast Missouri State+56Southeast Misso…Won 38–3 vs. Ole Miss+35Ole MissWon 44–10 at UL Monroe+34UL MonroeWon 26–20 at South Carolina+6South CarolinaWon 31–14 vs. No. 13 Tennessee+17No. 13 TennesseeWon 28–14 at Mississippi State+14Mississippi Sta…Lost 26–31 vs. No. 9 LSU-5No. 9 LSULost 28–38 vs. No. 4 Florida-10No. 4 FloridaLost 14–17 vs. No. 7 Wisconsin-3No. 7 Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vs6USCL 14–⁠5026%
Sep 9vsUtah StateW 20–⁠075%
Sep 16atVanderbiltW 21–⁠1954%
Sep 23vsAlabamaW 24–⁠2341%
Oct 7at2AuburnW 27–⁠1021%
Oct 14vsSoutheast Missouri StateW 63–⁠790%
Oct 21vsOle MissW 38–⁠381%
Oct 28atUL MonroeW 44–⁠1076%
Nov 4atSouth CarolinaW 26–⁠2051%
Nov 11vs13TennesseeW 31–⁠1452%
Nov 18atMississippi StateW 28–⁠1474%
Nov 24vs9LSUL 26–⁠3150%
Dec 2vs4FloridaSEC Championship GameL 28–⁠3839%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs7WisconsinCapital One BowlL 14–⁠1736%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Wisconsin 17–⁠14 in the Capital One Bowl; No. 15 in the final AP poll; tied for first in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 30th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 17
  2. Wk 8: 15
  3. Wk 9: 13
  4. Wk 10: 12
  5. Wk 11: 11
  6. Wk 12: 5
  7. Wk 13: 5
  8. Wk 14: 8
  9. Final: 15

SEC West champions7–⁠1 in the conference

Heisman voteDarren McFadden, second

Doak Walker AwardDarren McFadden, RB

Consensus All-AmericanDarren McFadden, RB

Record
10–⁠4
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 15 peak No. 5
Points
404–⁠256
Coach
Houston Nutt
Elo
1625 +115 this season
SP+ rating
20.6 No. 12 of 119; offense No. 16, defense No. 15, special teams No. 82
SRS
13.4 No. 14 of 119 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 22
Offensive coordinator
Gus Malzahn
Defensive coordinator
Reggie Herring
Captains
Keith Jackson, Sam Olajubutu, Desmond Sims, Zac Tubbs, Tony Ugoh and Darius Vinnett
Offense
Spread option
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense89th of 119
  • Defense11th of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0038%0.9689th of 119
Defense-0.0334%1.0511th of 119
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 343% allowed
Defense-0.1own 274% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2006 class

Mitch Mustain PRO★★★★★No. 9
Damian Williams WR★★★★No. 82
London Crawford WR★★★★No. 238
Van Stumon ILB★★★★No. 274
Jim Hart OT★★★No. 328

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2006 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks15.00.996
Receivers33.70.901
Offensive line32.70.833
Linebackers14.00.895
Defensive backs22.00.767
Athletes and specialists32.30.792
Whole class133.00.846

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2007

The 2007 draft
Rd 1Jamaal Anderson DEAtlanta Falcons
Rd 2Chris Houston DBAtlanta Falcons
Rd 2Tony Ugoh OTIndianapolis Colts
Rd 7Keith Jackson DTSt. Louis Rams

All-SEC

6 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2006 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2006 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Florida7–⁠113–⁠11
Arkansas7–⁠110–⁠415
LSU6–⁠211–⁠23
Auburn6–⁠211–⁠29
Tennessee5–⁠39–⁠425
Georgia4–⁠49–⁠423
Kentucky4–⁠48–⁠5
South Carolina3–⁠58–⁠5
Alabama2–⁠66–⁠7
Ole Miss2–⁠64–⁠8
Vanderbilt1–⁠74–⁠8
Mississippi State1–⁠73–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.