McFadden & Jones: College Football's Best One-two Punch

For those envious of Darren McFadden, the sculpted Adonis of the University of Arkansas, think about this: For 12 out of 13 weeks this coming fall, the junior running back regularly will be rushing headlong into a wall composed of several hundred pounds of human flesh, most of it on the move headed directly at him.

(Click here to see a photo slideshow by Mike Pirnique of McFadden and Felix Jones.)

While Razorback fans may think he wears an S on his chest with some of the feats he's pulled off the past two seasons, opponents now mostly see a bull's-eye.

It's the price any back would pay as a significant cog in a smashmouth-style attack that emphasizes the ground game and ball control, as UA Coach Houston Nutt's offenses have operated the past decade.

Can that be any fun, running into a human wall, play after play?

"I can't say anybody in their right mind would look forward to it, but you have to look forward to it," McFadden said. "Going through the [Southeastern Conference] you play 12, 13, 14 ballgames, and it's always going to be hard. You're always going to be hit hard as a running back, taking a hit every down."

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound McFadden can take comfort in knowing that fellow junior running back Felix Jones (6-foot, 200) is both behind him and sometimes beside him. McFadden rushed for 1,647 yards last season (117.6 yards per game, 5.8 yards per carry), while Jones gained 1,168 yards (83.4 yards per game, 7.6 yards per carry), the best tandem in the SEC last season and one of the best in modern SEC history.

Arkansas combated some of the stacked defenses designed to slow its running game last season by introducing the "wildcat" formation, which debuted seemingly as a gimmick in an easy win over Ole Miss. But the "wildcat" proved devastating three weeks later in a nationally televised night game at home against Tennessee, which also served as McFadden's coming-out party.

The week before, on the road in an ESPN-televised game against South Carolina, McFadden had powered his way to 219 yards. ESPN's "Game Day" crew took in Fayetteville all day the following Saturday, still unsure if McFadden was the real deal on a best-player-in-the-nation scale and whether Arkansas was equally for real as a team.