CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2009 Arkansas

8–⁠5 (3–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Bobby Petrino.

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 2009, game by game: won vs. Missouri State 48–10; lost vs. No. 23 Georgia 41–52; lost at No. 3 Alabama 7–35; won vs. Texas A&M 47–19; won vs. No. 17 Auburn 44–23; lost at No. 1 Florida 20–23; lost at Ole Miss 17–30; won vs. Eastern Michigan 63–27; won vs. South Carolina 33–16; won vs. Troy 56–20; won vs. Mississippi State 42–21; lost at No. 17 LSU 30–33; won vs. East Carolina 20–17+38−28Won 48–10 vs. Missouri State+38Missouri StateLost 41–52 vs. No. 23 Georgia-11No. 23 GeorgiaLost 7–35 at No. 3 Alabama-28No. 3 AlabamaWon 47–19 vs. Texas A&M+28Texas A&MWon 44–23 vs. No. 17 Auburn+21No. 17 AuburnLost 20–23 at No. 1 Florida-3No. 1 FloridaLost 17–30 at Ole Miss-13Ole MissWon 63–27 vs. Eastern Michigan+36Eastern MichiganWon 33–16 vs. South Carolina+17South CarolinaWon 56–20 vs. Troy+36TroyWon 42–21 vs. Mississippi State+21Mississippi Sta…Lost 30–33 at No. 17 LSU-3No. 17 LSUWon 20–17 vs. East Carolina+3East Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsMissouri StateW 48–⁠1084%
Sep 19vs23GeorgiaL 41–⁠5240%
Sep 26at3AlabamaL 7–⁠3520%
Oct 3vsTexas A&MW 47–⁠1945%
Oct 10vs17AuburnW 44–⁠2343%
Oct 17at1FloridaL 20–⁠2314%
Oct 24atOle MissL 17–⁠3035%
Oct 31vsEastern MichiganW 63–⁠2787%
Nov 7vsSouth CarolinaW 33–⁠1654%
Nov 14vsTroyW 56–⁠2053%
Nov 21vsMississippi StateW 42–⁠2172%
Nov 28at17LSUL 30–⁠3336%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvsEast CarolinaLiberty BowlW 20–⁠1750%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat East Carolina 20–⁠17 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 31st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 7th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
468–⁠326
Coach
Bobby Petrino
Elo
1623 +119 this season
SP+ rating
16.0 No. 25 of 120; offense No. 8, defense No. 38, special teams No. 90
SRS
14.0 No. 9 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 20
Offensive coordinator
Paul Petrino
Defensive coordinator
Willy Robinson
Captains
Adrian Davis, Wendel Davis, DeMarcus Love, Ryan Mallett, Malcolm Sheppard and Michael Smith
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense37th of 120
  • Defense42nd of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted24th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted30th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0739%1.0237th of 120
Defense0.0243%0.9242nd of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.08 off
0.01 def		40% off
41% def		—24th off
30th def
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. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 322% allowed
Defense-0.1own 333% 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsRyan Mallett QB3,624 yds
Passing touchdownsRyan Mallett QB30 TD
Rushing yardsBroderick Green RB442 yds
Rushing touchdownsBroderick Green RB11 TD
Receiving yardsGreg Childs WR894 yds
Receiving touchdownsGreg Childs WR7 TD
InterceptionsJerry Franklin LB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2009 class

Darius Winston CB★★★★★No. 24
Ronnie Wingo Jr. RB★★★★No. 139
Knile Davis RB★★★★No. 204
DeQuinta Jones DT★★★No. 363
Austin Moss ILB★★★No. 363

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

The 2009 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs24.00.926
Receivers13.00.820
Offensive line13.00.853
Defensive line13.00.890
Linebackers13.00.890
Defensive backs33.70.911
Athletes and specialists13.00.800
Whole class103.40.884

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 2010

The 2010 draft
Rd 5Mitch Petrus OGNew York Giants

Roster 101

The 2009 roster

101 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2009 line; 34 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

1 first team, 4 second team

First team

  • Mitch PetrusOGAP-2; Coaches-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2009 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2009 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama8–⁠014–⁠01
Florida8–⁠013–⁠13
LSU5–⁠39–⁠417
Ole Miss4–⁠49–⁠420
Georgia4–⁠48–⁠5
Tennessee4–⁠47–⁠6
Arkansas3–⁠58–⁠5
Auburn3–⁠58–⁠5
Kentucky3–⁠57–⁠6
South Carolina3–⁠57–⁠6
Mississippi State3–⁠55–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠82–⁠10

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