In the words of Razorback head coach Houston Nutt, it's good to be 1-0. That's what the Hogs can say after Saturday's 46-26 win over the Troy Trojans at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

And there's some merit to that. It seems every year there's a big upset, and that one major conference power has its national title hopes obliterated in Week 1 (We'd be remiss not to give a shout out to Appalachian State, whose win over Michigan in the Big House will finally replace the memory of The Citadel's triumph over Arkansas in 1992 in the minds of 1-AA fans).

Fortunately, Nutt has never lost to one of his rent-a-win teams, and though there were some anxious moments on Saturday, defensive coordinator Reggie Herring got his unit to respond when the Hogs' needed it, and a bruising running game carried the day offensively again. 

What more can be said about Darren McFadden? Troy's head coach, Larry Blakeney, summed it up nicely: "That guy [McFadden] is hands-down the best football player I've ever seen."

Note that he said best football player. Not best tailback, or best runner, or best offensive threat. He said best football player, and it is that truth that makes McFadden so extraordinary. 

Against Troy, McFadden ran for 151 yards and a touchdown, threw for 42 yards and a touchdown, caught two passes for 30 yards, and made the key block to spring fellow running back Felix Jones for a 90-yard, momentum-changing touchdown on a kickoff return. 

While it's probably too early to call McFadden the Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods of college football, he plays the game with such obvious competitive drive, passion and unique skill that comparison to those two greats isn't far off. He's very simply the best player on the field every time he takes the field, and it's been that way from the moment he set foot on the Hill. 

Razorback fans, you're watching history every Saturday in a Razorback uniform. McFadden may not have the star power of Bo Jackson, or play for a national title contender like Herschel Walker, but he has more game than either. 

And running beside him is Felix Jones, perhaps the most prolific return man in Arkansas football history. His electrifying style registered 129 yards on 12 carries and a kickoff return for a touchdown. Not bad for a day's work.

Imagine if these guys had a passing game to help them? Despite promises of a pro-style attack this year, Hog fans saw the same no risk, no reward passing attack on Saturday that they've seen for the last seven or eight years. And save us the "we didn't see the whole package" line. We saw it, we've seen it, and we'll see it again all year. 

What's disappointing is that the coaching staff raised expectations this season when they erupted into song over the hiring of David Lee, the Quality Control coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Somehow somebody got the idea that Lee was the man behind the curtain silently turning Tony Romo into a legitimate professional starter.  That's a heck of a spin to put on the guy whose primary duty was to break down film. 

In his time at UTEP, Lee was 11-46-1 and it should be noted that his teams weren't known for their elaborate passing attack. He's in his third stint as a Razorback assistant, which is odd in and of itself. Nonetheless, the coaching staff intimated that Lee had been inspired by the pro-style passing attack, and he intended to implement it at Arkansas. 

Ha! We could have been so lucky. Instead, we saw the same old lethargic offense that has come to be associated with Houston Nutt-coached teams. It's made only exciting by the sheer greatness of McFadden and Jones. Imagine, for instance, this attack with some of the plodders of the past.

What's truly sad is that Casey Dick struggled with the conservative game plan. Lee blamed Dick's poor performance on first game jitters. While that may fly as an excuse for a series or two, or for a true freshman, Dick is a junior who's started in the SEC Championship game and on the road against great conference opponents. If he can't be comfortable at home, with the best backfield in the country behind him, while playing a Sun Belt team, when can he be? Without Marcus Monk, Dick looked as lost as Houston Nutt at a Scrabble tournament. 

On the defensive side, all through the first half Troy quarterback Omar Haugabook found Arkansas' zone defense to his liking, and the Troy Trojans looked like the USC version while rolling up 17 points in the second quarter. An interception by Matt Hewitt deep in Arkansas territory probably was all that kept the Hogs from being behind at halftime.

But in the second half, Herring switched back to his signature man-on-man defense, dialed up the pressure, and Haugabook couldn't respond. Still, the secondary's performance exposed serious holes in the defense, particularly at the backup cornerback spots. Expect more teams across the SEC to begin using more three and four wide receiver sets when playing the Hogs, beginning with Alabama in two weeks.       

All in all, the game went about as expected: another demonstration of both McFadden and Jones's greatness and the coaching staff's continued inability to develop a passing game to help them. 

J.R. and Henry are a couple of sports fanatics who blog their column regularly at ArkansasSports360.com.