FAYETTEVILLE — It was as simple as one, two, three.

Darren McFadden.

Felix Jones.

Peyton Hillis.

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If Saturday night was any indication, the success of this season rides exactly where everyone expected it to — on the abilities of the three Hogateers.

It is a very real possibility they may need to spend almost as much time in the end zone this season as the orange pylons.

Yes, there were a couple of other bright spots against Troy, but there was no doubt those three veterans earned game balls.

The general belief was that Troy would hang around for a half and then the Razorbacks would pull away for a reassuring victory.

More or less, that was what happened, but it was because of the unstoppable three as they attacked on the ground and through the air.

Leading only 23-17 in the third quarter, Jones busted one for 44 yards and a touchdown and then McFadden showed his ability to read the coverage and tossed a 42-yard WildHog pass to talented freshman Crosby Tuck for a score.

Throw freshman place-kicker Alex Tejada in the mix — and he is the answer to all questions about points from the kicking game — and that was about the sum total of Arkansas’ offense.

Of course, if the old adage holds true and the Hogs make the biggest progress between the first and second games, that will add some sunshine to the offensive attack.

With two weeks to prepare for Alabama, there is reason to believe that could and should happen.

The revised passing game — and it might be Arkansas didn’t want to show too much — definitely has to improve.

Of Casey Dick’s first 15 passes, only two were to wide receivers and just one of those was caught, a 9-yard reception by Reggie Fish with 7: 30 to play in the third quarter.

With the exception of one to tight end D. J. Williams, who made a somewhat difficult catch look easy and has a chance to be a factor before this season is finished, the rest of the passes were to the good-hands guys, Hillis and McFadden.

The good news, though, is there is not a college team in America with as much talent in the backfield as the Razorbacks, and they are good enough to win a bunch of games.

McFadden did not disappoint in his Heisman debut for this season.

He was a triple threat against Troy, rushing for 151 yards and 1 touchdown, making 2 catches for 30 yards and throwing the touchdown pass to Tuck that made it 37-17 and pretty much sealed the fate of the Troy Trojans.

He also had a 19-yard return on a kickoff and, just for an exclamation point, he had a pancake block on Jones’ 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Jones was equally impressive, rushing for 130 yards on just 13 carries, and Hillis was a catching and bone-crushing blocking machine.

The Razorbacks’ defense started slow, but there were some changes made at halftime. The Razorbacks got a little more pressure on quarterback Omar Haugabook in the second half, but more importantly, they quit interfering on pass plays.

They played with passion the entire game.

On a night when four Sun Belt teams were beaten 249-52 by Top 25 teams, and this was written before Oklahoma’s track meet with North Texas ended, the Hogs had a tough first half but settled in with the one-two-three in the second half.

Troy was the preseason favorite to win the Sun Belt, although after Arkansas State played Texas off its feet in a 21-13 loss, that opinion might change some.

Of course, the chant for the Hogs right now should be a win is a win.

It wasn’t especially pretty, except for the three Hogateers, but it was still a 46-26 seasonopening victory, which was close to what most expected.