Derrick Henry is the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy Saturday night.
The Alabama running back put together one of the best seasons in SEC history, breaking Herschel Walker’s single-season rushing record by running for 1,986 yards.
His worst game, however, came against Arkansas on Oct. 10. He had only 95 yards and one touchdown on 27 carries. In eight other SEC games, including the SEC Championship game, Henry averaged 191 yards.
If he wins the Heisman, he’ll be the 12th player to do so in a season in which he faced the Razorbacks.
How did his performance against Arkansas stack up to the previous 11 Heisman winners?
Finding an answer required a deep dive into the archives, as the first time it happened was before World War II and during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s second term as the president of the United State.
In fact, some of the recent Heisman Trophy winners Arkansas has faced also won trophies named after the first two that the Razorbacks played.
NOTE: This list does not include games against defending Heisman Trophy winners, such as USC’s Matt Leinart in 2005, Florida’s Tim Tebow in 2008 and 2009 and Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel in 2013.
Oct. 1, 1938 – Davey O’Brien – Arkansas at TCU
Davey O’Brien was the first quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy in its four-year existence in 1938 and later had an award for college football’s top quarterback named after him.
He led TCU to a national championship while throwing for a then-SWC record 1,457 yards. However, O’Brien and the Horned Frogs got a tough test in their second game of the season.
O’Brien helped TCU jump out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to a 13-yard touchdown pass and a 78-yard pass that set up a 2-yard touchdown run.
Arkansas responded with a touchdown in the third quarter, but that was as close as the Razorbacks would get.
“The Texas Christian offense went back into action,” the Arkansas Gazette reported the following day. “O’Brien bounded through the Arkansas defense for 31 yards, then lateralled to Sparks who dashed over the goal line, and O’Brien place-kicked the point.”
O’Brien also kicked all three extra points in the Horned Frogs’ 21-14 win.
Nov. 13, 1948 – Doak Walker – SMU at Arkansas
Ten years later, Arkansas had much more success slowing down SMU’s Doak Walker.
The Razorbacks limited the man who would later have a trophy for college football’s top running back named after him to minus-10 yards on seven carries, as well as 3 of 5 passing.
Hall of fame sportswriter Orville Henry used verbs like “smeared” and “flattened” to describe the way Arkansas’ defense stopped Walker in the Arkansas Gazette the following day.
Walker impacted the game in other ways, though. Arkansas led 12-0 until a third-quarter touchdown by the seventh-ranked Mustangs. Walker missed a pair of extra-point attempts, but the Razorbacks were offside both times and he made a third to make it 12-7.
He also averaged 49.5 yards per punt during the game.
Another offside penalty on Arkansas erased a would-be game-clinching interception with 20 seconds left. Instead, SMU scored the game-winning touchdown as time expired.
“To add the final ironical touch, Walker kicked his second placement of the day,” Henry wrote. “He couldn’t complete his passes, didn’t catch any worth mentioning and lost 19 yards rushing – but his two conversions were the difference. Walker did prove a valuable decoy, blocker and punter.”
The Mustangs won 14-12.
Nov. 2, 1957 – John David Crow – Texas A&M at Arkansas
Texas A&M claimed the No. 1 spot in the AP poll before traveling to Fayetteville and appeared to be on its way to a national championship under Fordyce, Arkansas, native Bear Bryant.
In fact, the Aggies had been so dominant in their first six games that they had never trailed.
That changed against Arkansas, as the Razorbacks struck first to go up 6-0.
Playing in front of a record homecoming crowd of 31,000, Arkansas couldn’t stop John David Crow on a 74-yard drive capped by a 12-yard touchdown run by the future Heisman winner.
(In a recurring theme, the score was made possible because an Arkansas player jumped offside when the Aggies shifted into punt formation on fourth down earlier in the drive.)
Crow finished the game with 121 yards on 21 carries.
“Most of the time he was heading from his left halfback or fullback spot on swerves up the middle behind two and three blockers,” Orville Henry wrote in the Arkansas Gazette. “He hurt most, though, when he feinted off tackle and then swung outside to suddenly confront a lonesome halfback.
“Three times he ran over or around that halfback, once on the scoring smack and twice the pursuit overhauled him before too much damage had been done.”
Still, the Razorbacks trailed by only one point with an entire half of football to play.
In the final minutes, Arkansas was driving to take the lead, but Crow intercepted a pass at the goal line and the Aggies were able to run the clock out to win 7-6.
“At the end,” Henry wrote, “the Razorbacks had to concede to John Crow, the 210-pound All-American from Springhill, La., who is good at anything it is possible to do on a football field.”
Sept. 12, 1970 – Jim Plunkett – Stanford at Arkansas (Little Rock)
Stanford wasted no time giving Arkansas a taste of the west coast, as Jim Plunkett completed 11 of his first 17 passes to help the Indians (they became the Cardinals in 1972 and the Cardinal in 1981) take a 27-0 lead.
The Razorbacks struggled to put pressure on Plunkett, who picked apart their defense with short patterns and quick throws.
However, Arkansas fought back and nearly pulled off the comeback. The Indians needed a stop on fourth-and-2 at the 5-yard line with 22 seconds left to preserve a 34-28.
Earlier in the game, Plunkett struggled to grip the ball because his palms were sweaty from the humidity. With the Razorbacks making a comeback, though, Orville Henry wrote in the Arkansas Gazette, “Here Plunkett emerged at his best, sure and unflinching.”
Plunkett led Stanford on an 84-yard touchdown drive that proved to be the difference. He finished the game 22 of 38 for 245 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.
It was Arkansas’ third straight heartbreaking loss to “gee-whiz quarterbacks on national television,” Henry wrote. The Razorbacks ended the 1969 season with losses to Texas in the “Game of the Century” and Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl by a combined six points.
“Three tremendous games,” Henry wrote, “but Arkansas is 0-3 against James Street, Archie Manning, and Jim Plunkett, which is a bitter pill to swallow for (Arkansas quarterback) Bill Montgomery, who can’t escape the inevitable comparisons.”
(Side note: Jon Richardson made his debut in this game, becoming the first African American to play in a game for Arkansas. He had a big 55-yard kickoff return.)
Oct. 15, 1977 – Earl Campbell – Texas at Arkansas
It’s hard to imagine a Heisman Trophy-winning running back being overshadowed by kickers, but that’s what happened when No. 2 Texas came to Fayetteville in 1977.
Texas’ Russell Erxleben made 58- and 52-yard field goals to give the Longhorns a 6-0 lead, but Arkansas’ Steve Little answered with three field goals of his own, including a 67-yarder that tied Erxleben’s NCAA record set earlier in the year.
Earl Campbell made his presence felt, though.
“Earl made 188 yards on his 34 carries, never getting into the end zone, but requiring many men to redirect him and bring him down,” Orville Henry wrote in the Arkansas Gazette. “Nobody who saw the game needs to be told why. If you don’t gang-tackle Campbell, he can run for 80 on one play.”
He also caught a 28-yard screen pass that set up a 1-yard touchdown, giving Texas a 13-9 lead, which proved to be the final score.
While the Razorbacks kept him out of the end zone, they couldn’t keep Campbell out of the record book. During the game, he passed Arkansas’ Dickey Morton as the SWC’s all-time leading rusher, with 3,386 career yards.
He got 512 of those yards in four games against the Razorbacks.
“I have played a lot of football in my life and hope to play a lot longer, but I want to say I have really enjoyed these games against Arkansas,” Campbell said after the game. “They hit hard, but they are a good, clean football team.”
Oct. 28, 1989 – Andre Ware – Houston at Arkansas (Little Rock)
The week before Andre Ware and the Houston Cougars came to War Memorial Stadium, they beat SMU 95-21 in the Mustangs’ sixth game back in football after the NCAA’s “death penalty.”
To prepare for Houston’s “Run & Shoot” offense, Arkansas instituted a dime defense, using six defensive backs and only one linebacker.
Even that couldn’t really slow down Ware, who completed 34 of 46 passes for 352 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
“Andre Ware’s commanding presence at quarterback forced the Hog defense to remain on alert at all time,” Arkansas Gazette assistant sports editor Wadie Moore Jr. wrote.
However, Arkansas’ Kirk Collins stripped Ware on a first-and-goal play at the 7-yard line and recovered the ball. The Razorbacks capitalized on the turnover, going on a 78-yard touchdown drive to take a 24-21 lead.
That sparked a string of four consecutive possessions with a score for Arkansas, which held on for a 45-39 win.
Oct. 5, 1996 – Danny Wuerffel – Florida at Arkansas
Arkansas managed to delay the inevitable for a half against No. 1 Florida.
The Razorbacks trailed only 14-7 at halftime, but led by Danny Wuerffel’s record-breaking performance, the Gators cruised to a 42-7 win.
In the first half, Arkansas defensive linemen Ryan Hale, D.J. Cooper and Ken Anderson harassed Wuerffel enough to keep him in check.
With the Razorbacks’ offense stalling out in the second half, though, “Arkansas could not apply any muscle to Wuerffel, who then could arch his beautiful passes to the exact spots for his wonderful receivers sprinting behind the Hogs’ young defensive backs,” Orville Henry wrote in The Springdale Morning News.
The Florida quarterback finished with 462 yards (then a Gators single-season record) and four touchdowns on 23 of 39 passing.
He also moved to No. 3 on the NCAA Division I career passing touchdowns list, with 89.
Even with a 35-7 lead in the fourth quarter, the Gators continued to pass the ball, prompting boos from Arkansas fans.
“I guess Arkansas people don’t like it when you throw the ball over their heads,” Florida head coach Steve Spurrier said after the game. “Throwing the ball must be illegal in Arkansas.”
Sept. 17, 2005 – Reggie Bush* – Arkansas at USC
USC was in the midst of a dynasty when Arkansas traveled to Los Angeles for a game against the No. 1 Trojans.
Star receivers Steve Smith and Dwayne Jarrett, 2004 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Matt Leinart and bruising running back LenDale White would have been enough for USC to beat Arkansas, but Reggie Bush didn’t hurt, either.
It didn’t take Bush long to get going. One play, in fact.
“Bush’s first touch, on USC’s third play from scrimmage, turned into a highlight when he took a handoff, twisted up would-be tacklers and scampered untouched for a 76-yard touchdown to give the Trojans a 7-0 lead,” Robbie Neiswanger wrote for Hawgs Illustrated.
He also caught a 29-yard touchdown pass on USC’s next possession and finished the game with eight carries for 125 yards and three receptions for 70 yards.
*Bush voluntarily forfeited the 2005 Heisman Trophy after an NCAA investigation found that he received improper benefits while at USC.
Sept 26, 2009 – Mark Ingram Jr. – Arkansas at Alabama
While USC was in the middle of a dynasty when Arkansas faced the Trojans, Alabama was just getting things started in 2009.
The Crimson Tide were No. 3 in the country and the Razorbacks were still figuring things out under second-year head coach Bobby Petrino.
Trent Richardson and Julio Jones made the big plays for Alabama, but Mark Ingram managed to score the Crimson Tide’s final two touchdowns: a 14-yard catch and a 2-yard run.
Those touchdowns gave Alabama a 35-7 win and Ingram finished with 17 carries for 50 yards and three receptions for 21 yards.
Alabama went on to win the national championship, Nick Saban’s first with the Crimson Tide.
Oct. 16, 2010 – Cam Newton – Arkansas at Auburn
For the second straight year, Arkansas faced the future Heisman Trophy winner in the state of Alabama. This time, Auburn quarterback Cam Newton torched the Razorbacks’ defense.
Newton’s dual-threat attack out-dueled Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett and Tyler Wilson, who was forced into action because of an injury to Mallett.
The Razorbacks briefly led 43-37 early in the fourth quarter, but a 15-yard touchdown pass by Newton gave the Tigers the lead for good. Auburn won 65-43 and went on to win the national championship.
He finished the game 10 of 14 for 140 yards and one touchdown and also had 188 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries.
Sept 29, 2012 – Johnny Manziel – Arkansas at Texas A&M
Johnny Manziel burst onto the national scene with a monster game against Arkansas in 2012.
Playing in just his fourth career game, the redshirt freshman completed 29 of 38 passes for a school-record 453 yards and three touchdowns. He added 104 yards and another touchdown on 14 carries.
The Razorbacks actually led 10-7 at the end of the first quarter, but Manziel and the Aggies were too much for Arkansas and eventually won 58-10.
Manziel’s 557 total yards of offense was also a school and SEC record.
While Arkansas and Texas A&M had met many times as SWC foes and a handful of times as nonconference opponents, this was the first time they had met as members of the SEC. In fact, it was the Aggies’ first SEC win.