NEW YORK - An Arkansas-Notre Dame matchup in the Sugar Bowl failed to materialize when the Razorbacks lost to Florida in the SEC Championship Game a week ago.

But chalk one up for the Razorbacks over Notre Dame's storied football tradition on Saturday night.

Arkansas still hasn't gotten to meet the Fighting Irish on the football field, but Razorbacks sophomore tailback Darren McFadden now can boast he beat Notre Dame senior quarterback Brady Quinn in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy, which since 1935 has been awarded to the nation's top college football play.

Ohio State senior quarterback Troy Smith was a runway winner of the 72 nd Heisman Trophy, as expected, when the voting was announced on Saturday night.

But McFadden, a Little Rock native, pulled an upset, edging Quinn for second place.

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Smith won by receiving 801 first-place votes, 62 for second and 13 for third for a total of 2, 540 points.

McFadden took the runner-up spot with 878 points, including 45 first-place votes, 298 for second and 147 for third.

Quinn had 782 points with 13 first-place votes, 276 for second and 191 for third.

"This is great for the state of Arkansas, great for the university, great for our program and great for Darren," said Razorbacks Coach Houston Nutt, who attended Saturday night's ceremony before flying back to Fayetteville to continue a big recruiting weekend. "I just think it's awesome what Darren has done."

McFadden is only the ninth freshman or sophomore to finish second in the Heisman Trophy balloting along with Notre Dame's Angelo Bertelli, Army's Glenn Davis, Georgia's Hershel Walker, San Diego State's Marshall Faulk, Virginia Tech's Michael Vick, Florida's Rex Grossman, Pittsburgh's Larry Fitzgerald and Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson.

Of that group, Bertelli, Davis and Walker went on to win the Heisman.

"I pretty much knew Troy Smith was going to win, but I didn't know I was going to finish second," McFadden said of his second-place finish. "It makes me feel great."

Smith, who got to know Mc-Fadden this weekend, called him an "electrifying" player.

"A 6-2 running back with his kind of speed is pretty scary," Smith said. "I'd hate to have to try and tackle him.

" He's a first-class guy and I've really enjoyed being around him."

Brady will lead Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl against LSU, while McFadden will lead Arkansas against Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl.

Smith is leading the No. 1 and 12-0 Buckeyes in the BCS title game against Florida, which goes a long way toward explaining how he got a record number of first-place votes.

Saturday's edition of the New York Post had the odds of Mc-Fadden winning the Heisman Trophy at 100-1 and Quinn at 10-1 with Smith at 1-3.

McFadden became Arkansas' first Heisman Trophy finalist and his second-place finish is by far the best finish in school history.

The previous best was ninth place, by quarterback Lamar McHan in 1953 and defensive lineman Loyd Phillips in 1966.

"Darren's done something that's never been done before at Arkansas," Nutt said. "He's made history in a great way."

Before Saturday night's presentation, ESPN's telecast showed McFadden and Quinn playing a video football game in the waiting room.

"I beat him pretty bad," Mc-Fadden said with a laugh.

Quinn said he was "a little bit surprised" that McFadden edged him for second place behind Smith, but also praised the Arkansas star.

"To do what he's done this season as a sophomore is pretty incredible," Quinn said.

Quinn was the leading returning vote-getter from last season, when he finished fourth behind Reggie Bush, Vince Young and Matt Leinart. That made Quinn the favorite going into this season, especially with the Notre Dame mystique on his side.

The Irish have had seven Heisman Trophy winners, more than any other school, but Quinn's chances took a major hit in the third game, when he had four turnovers in Notre Dame's 47-21 loss to Michigan.

Quinn still has big numbers with 274 completions in 432 attempts (63. 4 percent ) for 3, 278 yards and 35 touchdowns with 5 interceptions, but 3 of those interceptions came against Michigan.

McFadden impressed the voters not only with his power running mixed with blazing speed, but because his versatility helped the Razorbacks bounce back from a 4-7 record in 2005 to go 10-3 this season and win the outright SEC West title for the first time since 1995.

Through 13 games, McFadden has rushed for a school-record 1, 558 yards - an SEC-leading average of 119. 8 yards per game - and 15 touchdowns. He also has completed 6 of 8 passes for 72 yards and 3 touchdowns; caught 11 passes for 149 yards and 1 touchdown; and returned 8 kickoffs for 226 yards and 1 touchdown.

McFadden began the season with questions about his health when he underwent surgery for a dislocated joint in his left toe on July 29 after being injured in a fight outside of a Little Rock nightclub the week before preseason practice started.

McFadden has appeared in every game this season, but he missed all of preseason practice and had to play his way back into shape and play through the throbbing pain in his toe.

McFadden's surgery included having a pin put into his toe to stabilize it. When the pin was removed on Aug. 21, three weeks after the surgery, McFadden experienced immense pain and couldn't walk without a limp.

But he played in the Sept. 2 season opener against Southern California and started at flanker, rushing for 42 yards on 9 carries against the Trojans' stout defense.

McFadden gradually began returning to the form of his freshman year, when he rushed for 1, 113 yards. His performance that first caught Heisman Trophy voters' attention came on Oct. 7 at Auburn, Ala., where he rushed 28 times for 145 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown run, in the Razorbacks' 27-10 victory over the then-No. 2-ranked Tigers. The Arkansas-Auburn game was a CBS national telecast, and with an 11 a.m. Central time kickoff, McFadden's touchdown run played over and over on the various college football highlight shows.

McFadden had a season-low 7 carries for 71 yards in the Razorbacks' next game, a 63-7 rout of NCAA Division I-AA member Southeast Missouri State, but made a 52-yard touchdown run on Arkansas' first snap.

The next day, Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt said McFadden should be a Heisman Trophy candidate.

McFadden rewarded his coach's faith by earning his way into the Heisman Trophy race with a series of strong performances on national TV, including rushing for 219 yards at South Carolina, 181 against Tennessee and 182 against LSU.

"After his surgery, the doctors said that maybe he'd be ready for Vanderbilt (in the third game )," Arkansas running backs coach Danny Nutt said. "But he was back a lot quicker because he's such a tough kid.

" His toe almost completely came off, but he was back playing (five ) weeks later."

McFadden didn't have big rushing totals in every game, but he impacted games with his passing, receiving and returning.

McFadden first lined up as a quarterback in the Shotgun formation in Arkansas' "Wildcat" package against Ole Miss on Oct. 21 and also turned a short screen pass into a 70-yard touchdown.

When Arkansas clinched the SEC West title by winning at Mississippi State 28-14, McFadden had a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

In the 59 plays in which Mc-Fadden has lined up the "Wildcat" package the past seven games, Arkansas has averaged 7. 8 yards and scored nine touchdowns with him either running, handing off to Felix Jones or passing.

McFadden's ability to make plays as a quarterback helped separate him from other notable running backs and he won the Doak Walker Award a the nation's top running back Thursday night, beating out West Virginia sophomore Steve Slaton and Michigan junior Michael Hart.

Arkansas sent postcards to about 1, 000 media members after the Razorbacks' 31-14 victory over Tennessee on Nov. 4. It featured a picture of McFadden running and in a pose similar to the Heisman Trophy, which was shown in the lower right-hand corner, and the slogan "D-MAC FITS THE MOLD" with his No. 5 and name listed on the top.

The back of the postcard included McFadden's biographical information and stats. More cards with updated stats were sent in the following weeks.

Arkansas also sent an e-mail to media outlets with a link to a page that showed a McFadden highlight tape and has information about his accomplishments.

The well-conceived campaign no doubt helped McFadden garner more attention and votes that resulted in his invitation to New York.

Audience members for Saturday night's presentation ceremony included 25 past winners of the Heisman Trophy.

McFadden said he met all of the past winners and the butterflies he felt before the ceremony were "10 times worse" than any pregame jitters.

McFadden is one of only two running backs in SEC history, along with Herschel Walker, to rush for 1, 000 or more yards in both his freshman and sophomore seasons.

This season McFadden has more rushing yards than 54 of the NCAA's 119 Division I-A schools, including Alabama, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College.

"I believe Darren will be a Heisman candidate, I really do," Houston Nutt said on Oct. 15, when few others would have made such a bold statement. "That will take care of itself."

McFadden made sure of that.

WIDEST VOTING MARGINS 1968 1750, O. J. Simpson, USC, over Leroy Keyes, Purdue, 2853-1103. 2006 1662, Troy Smith, Ohio State, over Darren McFadden, Arkansas, 2540-878. 1993 1622, Charlie Ward, Florida State, over Heath Shuler, Tennessee, 2310-688. 1991 1574, Desmond Howard, Michigan, over Casey Weldon, Florida State, 2077-503. 1998 1563, Ricky Williams, Texas, over Michael Bishop, Kansas State, 2355-792. 1986 1541, Vinny Testaverde, Miami, over Paul Palmer, Temple, 2213-672. 1955 1477, Hopalong Cassady, Ohio State, over Jim Swink, TCU 2219-742. 1963 1356, Roger Staubach, Navy, over Billy Lothridge, Georgia Tech, 1960-504. 1951 1353, Dick Kazmaier, Princeton, over Hank Lauricella, Tennessee, 1777-424. 1959 1316, Billy Cannon, LSU, over Rich Lucas, Penn State, 1929-613. 1974 1101, Archie Griffin, Ohio State, over Anthony Davis, USC, 1920-819. 1975 1070, Archie Griffin, Ohio State, over Chuck Muncie, California, 1800-730. 1960 1062, Joe Bellino, Navy, over Tom Brown, Minnesota, 1793-731. 1999 1048, Ron Dayne, Wisconsin, over Joe Hamilton, Georgia Tech, 2, 042-994. 1976 1011, Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh, over Ricky Bell, USC, 2357-1346.