OFFENSE Chase Daniel stood on the Heisman finalist stage with Darren McFadden after throwing for 4, 170 yards and 33 TDs and completing a sizzling 69. 7 percent of his passes. His savvy leadership and gritty play are key reasons behind Missouri's surge to national notoriety. He's also an instinctive scrambler with great agility and has scored 4 rushing touchdowns. Daniel is fourth in the NCAA with 342. 6 total yards per game and 10 th in pass efficiency (151. 9 ). Arkansas' Casey Dick is on an upward arc, with a series of strong year-end performances and a year's worth of proper game command. His fourth-down completion to Peyton Hillis in overtime at LSU is the reason Arkansas is in this Cotton Bowl. He's thrown for 1, 498 yards and 18 TDs and ranks 53 rd in the nation with a passing efficiency rating of 129. 7. The ratings here reflect the fact that Darren McFadden (268. 5 efficiency rating ) will take plenty of WildHog snaps. There is no better 1-2 punch at tailback than the Heisman Trophy runner-up, Darren McFadden, and his running buddy, Felix Jones. McFadden (143. 7 yards per game ) and Jones (93. 1 ) lead the country in tandem rushing by more than 40 yards per game. McFadden holds virtually every school rushing record and can break Herschel Walker's SEC single-season mark with 167 yards today. Jones' average of 9. 1 yards per carry is 2. 3 yards better than the second-best figure in the nation. The pair holds the NCAA single-game record with 487 combined rushing yards in a victory over South Carolina. Fullback Peyton Hillis might not be full strength with a tweaked hamstring. He set an Arkansas running back record with 44 receptions this season and scored 4 TDs in the Hogs' tripleovertime victory at No. 1 LSU. Tony Temple runs for 68. 9 yards per game on only 14 carries per game in the Tigers' underpublicized running game. Missouri runs for 165 yards per game, a solid complement to the team's aerial bombardment. All-purpose star Jeremy Maclin gets roughly three carries per game and averages 7. 6 yards per carry with 4 TDs. The Tigers have four players with as many or more catches as Arkansas team leader Peyton Hillis, led by hybrid tight end Martin Rucker, an All-American with 81 catches, 8 TDs and 62. 7 receiving yards per game. Chase Coffman, another versatile tight end, has 51 catches for 523 yards and 7 scores. Redshirt freshman Jeremy Maclin can strike from anywhere and has 9 TD catches among his 77 grabs for 1, 023 yards. Will Franklin leads the Mizzou regulars with 14. 4 yards per catch and has 44 receptions and 4 scores. Arkansas' top three pass-catchers are its top three rushers, and the Hogs appear to have added some routes to the backs into their bowl arsenal. Marcus Monk is ever closer to his All-SEC form and has 12 grabs and 3 TDs in 4 starts since returning from knee surgery. Robert Johnson leads the regulars with 203 receiving yards and 4 TDs. London Crawford averages a team-best 18. 4 yards per catch among the wideouts, while tight end D. J. Williams averages 18. 8 yards per grab. Another TE, Andrew Davie, has 3 TDs among his 11 catches, while Lucas Miller has 3 scores in 10 receptions. Anchored by Rimington Trophy-winning center Jonathan Luigs, Arkansas' front ranks with the best in the land. The unit paved the way for a schoolrecord 3, 561 rushing yards and ranked third in the nation by allowing just 10 sacks. Luigs, co-winner of the SEC's Jacobs Trophy given to the league's best blocker, has a team-high 90. 4 percent blocking grade with 51 knockdowns. Seniors Robert Felton and Nate Garner turned in outstanding seasons. Felton was a first-team All-SEC pick with 45 knockdown blocks who slid to left tackle because of injury after 11 starts at right guard. Garner made all 12 starts at right tackle and had 60 knockdowns. Left guard Mitch Petrus has 47 knockdown blocks on the year, with 14 in one game. Jose Valdez is returning from a bad ankle sprain, and either he'll start at left tackle or DeMarcus Love will get the call at right guard. Every Mizzou OL starter and backup goes at least 300 pounds, and the unit averages 6-5, 310 pounds. Like Arkansas, the most decorated player on this unit is the center, Adam Spieker, a 6-3, 305-pound senior who was a Rimington Trophy finalist and the Big 12 OL of the Year. DEFENSE By season's end, this unit was in full stride for the Hogs, led by senior tackle Marcus Harrison (72 tackles, 9 pass breakups ) and sophomore end Adrian Davis (61 tackles, 9 tackles for loss ). Ernest Mitchell added 65 tackles, including a unit-high 3 1 / 2 sacks, on the inside, and he tied end Malcolm Sheppard for the team lead with 10 1 / 2 tackles for loss. Chris Wade (35 tackles, 3 tackles for loss ) and Antwain Robinson (33 tackles, 2 TDs ) provided strong relief at the end spots, where true freshman Damario Ambrose (13 tackles, 3 hurries ) showed promise. Fred Bledsoe (34 tackles ) is the line's best interior sub. For Missouri, senior nose man Lorenzo Williams is first-team All-Big 12 after a 31-tackle, 6-sack season. End Stryker Sulak (6-5, 250 ) will be a tough matchup for the UA tackles with his 54 tackles and 6 sacks. The other starters in Mizzou's 4-3 base set are tackle Ziggy Hood (43 tackles, 6 1 / 2 tackles for loss ) and end Tommy Chavis (42 tackles, 7 tackles for loss ). Weston Dacus and Freddie Fairchild will be the most active Arkansas linebackers today, as the Razorbacks will use a lot of their Dollar package with 7 defensive backs. Dacus will hit the 100-tackle mark with two stops, and has 3 sacks and 8 hurries. Fairchild holds the team sack lead with 4 1 / 2, and he piled up 86 tackles while coming on strong the last half of the season. Schemes will limit the play of Elston Forte (51 tackles ) on the weak side, Wendel Davis (38 tackles ) in the middle and Ryan Powers (19 tackles ). The Missouri trio of Van Alexander, Brock Christopher and Sean Weatherspoon will have plenty of opportunities to fill the stat sheet against the run-heavy Hogs. Weatherspoon, a 6-1 sophomore who made first-team All-Big 12, leads the team with 124 tackles, while Christopher is not far behind with 96 stops. Alexander's 57 tackles ranked fifth on the team. The Tigers ranked 25 th nationally against the run, allowing 118. 9 yards per game, so the Hogs will have to work for their rushing yardage. The Razorbacks finished the regular season ranked 5 th nationally in pass efficiency defense, thanks to good coverage, led by a low completion percentage (45. 7 ) and 19 interceptions. Matt Hewitt is the team leader with 118 tackles, and the senior safety was also involved in forcing a team-high 9 turnovers. Fellow safety Kevin Woods (71 tackles, 2 ints. ) has recovered from a separated shoulder. Corners Matterral Richardson (57 tackles ) and Michael Grant (71 tackles ) have 3 interceptions each, while nickel back Jerell Norton (32 tackles ) has a team-high 5 interceptions for ® yards, including a 100-yard return vs. North Texas. They'll face their sternest task of the season today against a multitalented Mizzou receiving corps. Tigers sophomore free safety William Moore is a top-shelf playmaker with 104 tackles, 7 interceptions and 9 tackles for loss. Corner Carl Gettis is a second-team freshman All-American after posting 45 tackles and an interception. Gettis and Castine Bridges (49 tackles ) like to stick their noses into run support, and they'll get their chances vs. Arkansas. The other starter is strong safety Justin Garrett (42 tackles, 2 ints. ). The Tigers were ranked No. 103 in pass defense and No. 52 in pass defense efficiency. Two of the nation's best game-breakers will be on display in All-Americans Felix Jones and Jeremy Maclin. Jones had two kick returns for touchdowns in the first three games and got little action after that. He averages 31. 3 yards per kickoff return. Maclin ranks second in the Big 12 with a 13. 1 punt return average and has returned three kicks for scores. Maclin's allpurpose average of 208. 7 yards per game is second in the land. Missouri kicker Jeff Wolfert is third in the Big 12, 13 th in America with 9. 38 points per game, while Arkansas freshman Alex Tejada ranks third in the SEC and 18 th in the country with 9 points per game. Tejada made 17 of 21 field-goal attempts, and went 13 of 13 from 39 yards in. Wolfert is 20 of 24 on the season. UA's Jeremy Davis is sixth in the SEC and 69 th nationally with a 40. 2 punting average, while Mizzou's Adam Crossett, a first-team Academic All-American, averaged 38. 9 yards per punt. Arkansas will have the edge in fan support, but how will that compute ? Both teams have plenty to play for. Missouri can notch its first 12-victory season and would like fodder for its contention that it deserved a BCS bowl berth. Arkansas will bid adieu to a group of coaches, including interim head coach Reggie Herring, so the motivation runs deep there. Darren McFadden should be playing mad after the weeklong Escalade flap that followed him to Big D. There is plenty of meaning to both teams in this game.