Mary's baby boy hard to miss now

FAYETTEVILLE -- Sebastian Tretola's 15 minutes of fame stretched well beyond game day Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

Tretola made college football highlight shows across the country when the 6-5, 340-pound Arkansas lineman took a direct snap from center on a fake field goal, rolled a few steps to his right, then launched the 6-yard touchdown pass to snapper Alan D'Appollonio that enthralled linemen from coast to coast.

Perhaps the largest man to throw a touchdown pass in college football history, the gregarious Tretola has done an array of national interviews since -- including a segment that will air Saturday on SEC Nation -- and taped a tongue-in-cheek "Tretola for Heisman" in-house piece for the Razorbacks Sports Network before Coach Bret Bielema cut off the publicity machine and withheld his most famous offensive lineman from media interviews Tuesday prior to the Razorbacks' visit to No. 1 Mississippi State on Saturday.

Tretola's shining moment wasn't a work of art -- his high-arching spiral thrown off his back foot to D'Appollonio nearly allowed a defender to get in on the play at the goal line -- but the novelty of the gadget play turned it into an instant Internet sensation. At least 12 versions of the play are available on YouTube with more than 65,000 combined views.

Tretola capped off the touchdown play by striking a Heisman pose.

"The big fella did it, yes he did," said SEC Network analyst Andre Ware, a Heisman Trophy winner himself.

Quarterback Brandon Allen said Tretola hinted that he might strike a pose if the play worked, but Allen admitted that he didn't think Tretola would do it.

"When he scored, I stood up and I didn't really know what to do," Tretola said. "Then I thought, 'Oh, Heisman!' and I did the Heisman."

Tretola's mom Mary, watching the game in Alta Loma, Calif., had stepped out of the room as Arkansas lined up for the play, thinking the Razorbacks were kicking a field goal. She was on the phone with a friend who said "Is that Sebastian?" which caused Mary to run back into the living room.

"There they are, hiking the ball for him, and I'm like, 'Oh my God! Oh my God!'" she said. "I just went bananas."

Mary Tretola said she received between 150 and 200 text messages, her phone rang off the hook and she received tons of screen shots and links of the touchdown play, but there is one thing she is missing.

"If anyone snapped a picture of my son doing the Heisman pose, I will personally make them a pan of Sebastian's favorite beef enchiladas when I'm out there," she said, referencing her first visit to Fayetteville for the Nov. 15 LSU game.

Mary Tretola, who said Sebastian was nearly 10 pounds at birth, also has a second message for college football media and fans.

"Stop calling my son 'fat' and stop calling it a 'fat boy touchdown,' because the only thing meaner than a 350-pound O-lineman is a 350-pound O-lineman's mom."

The play, called Tretola Left and personally crafted by Bielema, shattered the stereotype of the unheralded offensive lineman toiling in anonymity -- just as Bielema and offensive line coach Sam Pittman had hoped. Bielema said Pittman's response when he originally presented the play was: "Man, we could recruit any O-lineman in the country here before, [but] if you throw that pass we can get in on anybody."

Then Bielema made a direct recruiting pitch during his halftime interview on the SEC Network, saying: "Come to Arkansas. You're an O-lineman, we'll make you famous."

Apparently Tretola's throw inspired linemen across the land. Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen said his big men lobbied for pass plays, adding that left tackle Blaine Clausell "has a hose" for an arm and can throw a ball 75 yards.

"No wonder they're able to recruit such good linemen," Mullen said. "I'm sure Bret goes into the house, sits down with them and draws up the play and says, 'We're going to get you as a lineman, you're going to be on plays of the week on SportsCenter throwing touchdown passes for us.'

"That's something I've got to look at in recruiting circles to keep up with Bret, how he's getting those good linemen in there."

The kids at Cajon High in San Bernadino, Calif., also were fired up over a Cajon alumnus making national waves.

"The kids are trying to talk me into putting it in for our next game," Cajon High Coach Nick Rogers said. "I don't see that happening, but you know what, every lineman now wants to throw the ball."

Rogers said Tretola's nimble feet and agility for a player his size were remarkable.

"I'm sure if you ask him, he'll tell you he could have been throwing passes over at Cajon High for us," he said. "He was a special player. ... We don't get a lot of those kids."

Tretola, who reported to Arkansas in August at 370 pounds and has shed 30 pounds in less than three months, has an outsized persona to go along with his frame.

"You know, he's got a super personality and he's had a lot of fun with it," Pittman said. "It's been good for the morale of our team."

Pittman said Tretola's rapid rise to a starting job -- he's started every game since Week 3 at Texas Tech on Sept. 13 -- is as big of a recruiting angle as the trick play.

"He came here the day before two-a-days and he's one of the best linemen we have," Pittman said. "I think that would be more of a recruiting tool, that we can get guys on the field, along with what Frank [Ragnow] has done this year, and what Dan [Skipper] and Denver [Kirkland] did last year.

"But we certainly have mentioned [Tretola Left] in recruiting, yeah."

Tretola, a standout at Iowa Western Community College last year, narrowed his college choices to Arkansas, Oklahoma and TCU before deciding on the Hogs.

"What it came down to is competition," he said during camp. "I'm a competitor, and I want the challenge of the SEC. ... The best of the best every week."

Tretola, who played at 320 pounds in 2013, put on excess weight while eating his mother's home-cooked meals for seven months early this year.

"Those home-cooked meals got the best of me," he said in camp. "Beef enchiladas. I can eat almost a whole pan by myself."

Tretola went on a weight-loss program as soon as he arrived at Arkansas, increased his stamina during camp and eventually edged out senior Luke Charpentier for a starting role.

Tretola has been a hit with reporters because of his engaging wit and personality.

"He's a character," Rogers said. "He can command a room when he's talking to people, a real personable kid to be around."

Mary Tretola said her son has always been that way and that when he gets to know somebody "he's very engaging and he's charming and he's lively and fun and silly."

Mary heard about Bielema telling reporters he asked Sebastian not to tell her about the gadget play.

"Bielema thinks I can't hold water, and it's true," she said. "He was right. Southern California would have known and would have been watching him."

Turns out just about all of college football has been watching her son.

Sports on 10/30/2014