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2007 Arkansas

8–⁠5 (4–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Houston Nutt, then Reggie Herring (interim, bowl game).

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 2007, game by game: won vs. Troy 46–26; lost at Alabama 38–41; lost vs. No. 21 Kentucky 29–42; won vs. North Texas 66–7; won vs. Chattanooga 34–15; lost vs. No. 22 Auburn 7–9; won at Ole Miss 44–8; won vs. Florida International 58–10; won vs. No. 23 South Carolina 48–36; lost at No. 22 Tennessee 13–34; won vs. Mississippi State 45–31; won at No. 1 LSU 50–48; lost vs. No. 1 Missouri 7–38+59−31Won 46–26 vs. Troy+20TroyLost 38–41 at Alabama-3AlabamaLost 29–42 vs. No. 21 Kentucky-13No. 21 KentuckyWon 66–7 vs. North Texas+59North TexasWon 34–15 vs. Chattanooga+19ChattanoogaLost 7–9 vs. No. 22 Auburn-2No. 22 AuburnWon 44–8 at Ole Miss+36Ole MissWon 58–10 vs. Florida International+48Florida Interna…Won 48–36 vs. No. 23 South Carolina+12No. 23 South CarolinaLost 13–34 at No. 22 Tennessee-21No. 22 TennesseeWon 45–31 vs. Mississippi State+14Mississippi Sta…Won 50–48 at No. 1 LSU+2No. 1 LSULost 7–38 vs. No. 1 Missouri-31No. 1 Missouri
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsTroyW 46–⁠2671%
Sep 15atAlabamaL 38–⁠4149%
Sep 22vs21KentuckyL 29–⁠4260%
Sep 29vsNorth TexasW 66–⁠784%
Oct 6vsChattanoogaW 34–⁠1589%
Oct 13vs22AuburnL 7–⁠949%
Oct 20atOle MissW 44–⁠865%
Oct 27vsFlorida InternationalW 58–⁠1091%
Nov 3vs23South CarolinaW 48–⁠3657%
Nov 10at22TennesseeL 13–⁠3440%
Nov 17vsMississippi StateW 45–⁠3166%
Nov 23at1LSUW 50–⁠4822%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs1MissouriCotton BowlL 7–⁠3838%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Missouri 38–⁠7 in the Cotton Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 39th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 21
  2. Wk 2: 18
  3. Wk 3: 16

Heisman voteDarren McFadden, second

Walter Camp AwardDarren McFadden, RB; also the Doak Walker

Rimington TrophyJonathan Luigs, C

3 consensus All-AmericansDarren McFadden, RB; Jonathan Luigs, C; Felix Jones, APB

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 6th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 16
Points
485–⁠345
Coach
Houston Nutt, then Reggie Herring (interim, bowl game)
Elo
1599 +16 this season
SP+ rating
18.0 No. 17 of 120; offense No. 24, defense No. 29, special teams No. 56
SRS
7.7 No. 31 of 119 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 36
Offensive coordinator
David Lee
Defensive coordinators
Reggie Herring and Louis Campbell
Captains
Weston Dacus, Marcus Harrison, Robert Johnson, Marcus Monk, Matterral Richardson and Kevin Wood
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense67th of 119
  • Defense29th of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0241%0.8467th of 119
Defense0.0040%0.8829th 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 351% allowed
Defense-0.1own 324% 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 2007 class

Juwan Franklin APB★★★No. 348
Seth Oxner OG★★★No. 453
Jerry Franklin ILB★★★No. 608
Michael Harris RB★★★No. 608
Damario Ambrose SDE★★★No. 810

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

The 2007 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.807
Running backs23.00.867
Receivers23.00.839
Offensive line22.50.795
Defensive line33.00.829
Linebackers43.00.829
Defensive backs22.50.778
Whole class162.90.823

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 2008

The 2008 draft
Rd 1Darren McFadden RBOakland Raiders
Rd 1Felix Jones RBDallas Cowboys
Rd 3Marcus Harrison DTChicago Bears
Rd 7Nate Garner OTNew York Jets
Rd 7Peyton Hillis FBDenver Broncos
Rd 7Marcus Monk WRChicago Bears

All-SEC

4 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2007 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2007 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
LSU6–⁠212–⁠21
Georgia6–⁠211–⁠22
Tennessee6–⁠210–⁠412
Florida5–⁠39–⁠413
Auburn5–⁠39–⁠415
Arkansas4–⁠48–⁠5
Mississippi State4–⁠48–⁠5
Alabama4–⁠47–⁠6
Kentucky3–⁠58–⁠5
South Carolina3–⁠56–⁠6
Vanderbilt2–⁠65–⁠7
Ole Miss0–⁠83–⁠9

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