Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

This football season marks the 21st for the Razorbacks as members of the SEC. Having completed two decades in the league it seemed worth reflecting on how far the program has come. Which victories over the last 20 years were the sweetest? Were there losses that hurt more than others? What coaching decisions still have folks scratching their heads? ArkansasSports360.com assembled a panel aimed at answering these questions. We have our list and we'd love to hear yours.

No. 3 on our moments we'd love to forget ...

Alabama 24, Arkansas 20
When It Happened: Sept. 24, 2010
Who We Remember: Ryan Mallett, Bobby Petrino, Nick Saban, Dre Kirkpatrick, Knile Davis
Why We’d Love to Forget: Folks will immediately remember the pass that came up short from the strongest arm in college football.

Quarterback Ryan Mallett was trying to throw the ball away, but didn’t get enough behind it and the ball wound up in the hands of Alabama cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick. It was the second interception in the fourth quarter for Mallett, who was attempting to lead a comeback against the top-ranked, defending national champion Crimson Tide.

Arkansas fell out of the Top 10 with the loss and was all but eliminated from the title conversation a couple weeks later with a loss at Auburn.

There were plenty of issues beyond Mallett's late throws.

Mallett, who finished 25 of 38 for 357 yards with a touchdown, would love to have that throw back. Bobby Petrino would have liked to have a few wasted run plays back and the defense no doubt would like a couple of big plays by Alabama's Trent Richardson and Mark Ingram to do over again.

Arkansas — as was too often the case in big-game losses under former coach Petrino — failed to establish any sort of running game and the defense surrendered too many big plays.

Knile Davis, who would go on to run for more than 1,000 yards that season, was limited to 42 yards on only six carries as Petrino tried unsuccessfully to work other backs into the game plan. Alabama racked up 421 yards for the game and scored 17 points in the final half after trailing 17-7.

Mallett’s miscues, when combined with the limited use of Davis and touchdowns of 20 and 54 yards surrendered to Alabama, were too much to overcome.

While the Razorbacks would finish the season with 10 victories and a Sugar Bowl appearance, thanks to Alabama 24, Arkansas 20, the program also got what stands as the SEC-era equivalent of the 1969 and 1979 losses to Texas.

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