LITTLE ROCK — Bumping into Kevin Scanlon on this particular afternoon was weird, sort of a confluence of Razorback days gone by and those that might be ahead.
Scanlon and some of his 1979 Arkansas teammates - Robert Farrell and Jim Howard among others - were kibitzing on a parking lot a couple of long pass completions from Razorback Stadium.
In that stadium barely two hours earlier, Ryan Mallett set the school record for one-game completion percentage with 23-of-27.
At the bottom of page 104 of the current UA media guide, the onegame records begin with Ronny South going 18-of-22 against Texas A&M in 1967. At the top of the next page, Scanlon is No. 1 in oneseason completion percentage with 92-of-139 for .662.
Before the season began, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino referenced Scanlon’s record while talking about goals for Mallett. Until Saturday, that seemed unlikely. Mallett and highpercentage passer didn’t jibe.
Sure, he was good against Missouri State and Eastern Michigan, but those were gimmes. Throwing against Alabama, Florida and Ole Miss, he was below 45 percent. Anxiety about the rush, greed for the deep ball, and dropped passes were factors.
Cognizant of Mallett’s penchant for the bomb, South Carolina dared him to try. He responded with discipline, going from one receiver to the next until he came upon the one that was open. On the final touchdown drive, it appeared that he checked three or four possibilities before locating D.J. Williams on a crossing pattern.
That decision was just as impressive as the 50-yard strike that Jarius Wright dropped against Ole Miss.
Williams caught seven, and eight others divvied up 16 catches.
Nobody dropped one and Mallett’s completion to London Crawford on the hard-to-throw deep out was as much receiver as it was passer.
HARRY KING IS SPORTS COLUMNIST FOR STEPHENS MEDIA’S ARKANSAS NEWS BUREAU.
Sports, Pages 9 on 11/10/2009