September 25, 2010 Week 4 · Regular Season Belt defended

Alabama defends the belt, 24–20, on the road at Arkansas.

Home · Challenger

ArkansasAP No. 10 20

Away · Defending Holder

AlabamaAP No. 1 24

AP poll, week 4: Alabama No. 1 at Arkansas No. 10 · No. 1 that week: Michigan State. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Alabama came in 294 days into reign #271, which began with a win over Florida, with 4 defenses already behind it; this was its 5th defense. Alabama went on to defend it 1 more time before South Carolina took it on October 9, 2010, 308 days after the reign began.

For Arkansas this was its 12th shot at the belt; it had held the belt twice before.

It was the first of 2 meetings between the two with the belt on the line; all-time Alabama leads 2–0.

AI-Written

Recap

Arkansas struck first with Ryan Mallett finding Ronnie Wingo Jr. for a 43-yard touchdown, then added a field goal to lead 10-0, but Alabama answered quickly with Mark Ingram's 54-yard touchdown run. The Razorbacks extended their lead to 17-7 by halftime, with Mallett scoring on a 1-yard rushing touchdown with just 15 seconds left in the half, but Alabama refused to fold and trimmed the deficit with a Greg McElroy touchdown pass to Trent Richardson early in the third quarter. Despite three turnovers plaguing the Crimson Tide, they methodically worked their way back into contention, with Jeremy Shelley's 36-yard field goal in the fourth quarter providing the final margin in Alabama's 20-24 comeback victory that preserved their belt.

Ronnie Wingo Jr. 43-yard TD reception -- Arkansas's explosive start that set the early tone
Mark Ingram 54-yard TD run -- Alabama's immediate response showing their offensive capability
Ryan Mallett 1-yard rushing TD with 15 seconds in half -- Arkansas taking a commanding 17-7 lead into halftime
Jeremy Shelley 36-yard FG in Q4 -- the winning field goal that secured Alabama's belt-defending victory

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

ArkansasAlabama

Total yards421421

Rushing yards64227

Passing yards365217

First downs2023

3rd down conv.2/108/14

Turnovers32

Penalties–yards6–458–47

Time of possession16:0820:32

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 14:10	Arkansas	+43 yd	Ryan Mallett pass complete to Ronnie Wingo Jr. for 43 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 14:10	Arkansas	+0 yd	Zach Hocker extra point GOOD.
Q1 14:20	Arkansas	+31 yd	Ryan Mallett pass complete to Jarius Wright for 31 yards to the Alab 43 for a 1ST down.
Q1 14:10	Arkansas	+22 yd	Alex Tejada kickoff for 60 yards returned by Trent Richardson for 22 yards to the Alab 32.
Q1 6:21	Alabama	+54 yd	Mark Ingram rush for 54 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 6:21	Alabama	+24 yd	Cade Foster kickoff for 60 yards returned by Ross Rasner for 24 yards to the Ark 34.
Q1 6:21	Alabama	+0 yd	Jeremy Shelley extra point GOOD.
Q1 1:42	Arkansas	+31 yd	Zach Hocker 31 yard field goal GOOD.
Q1 1:42	Arkansas	+39 yd	Alex Tejada kickoff for 70 yards returned by Trent Richardson for 39 yards to the Alab 39.
Q2 12:43	Arkansas	+31 yd	Ryan Mallett pass complete to Greg Childs for 31 yards to the Alab 6 for a 1ST down.
Q2 13:00	Arkansas	+43 yd	Ryan Mallett pass complete to Jarius Wright for 43 yards to the Alab 37 for a 1ST down.
Q2 11:32	Arkansas	+0 yd	Ryan Mallett pass intercepted by Robert Lester at the Alab 0, returned for no gain for a touchback.
Q2 5:50	Alabama	+13 yd	Greg McElroy pass intercepted by Andru Stewart at the Ark 0, returned for 13 yards to the Ark 13.
Q2 1:55	Alabama	+0 yd	Greg McElroy pass intercepted by Rudell Crim at the Ark 34, returned for no gain to the Ark 34.
Q2 0:25	Arkansas	+20 yd	Ryan Mallett pass complete to Jarius Wright for 20 yards to the Alab 15 for a 1ST down.
Q2 0:15	Arkansas	+1 yd	Ryan Mallett rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 0:15	Arkansas	+0 yd	Zach Hocker extra point GOOD.
Q2 0:00	Alabama	+53 yd	Trent Richardson rush for 53 yards to the Ark 13 for a 1ST down.
Q3 15:00	Arkansas	+30 yd	Alex Tejada kickoff for 65 yards returned by Trent Richardson for 30 yards to the Alab 35.
Q3 5:04	Arkansas	+48 yd	Zach Hocker 48 yard field goal GOOD.
Q3 5:04	Arkansas	+26 yd	Alex Tejada kickoff for 70 yards returned by Trent Richardson for 26 yards to the Alab 26.
Q3 0:44	Alabama	+20 yd	Greg McElroy pass complete to Trent Richardson for 20 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 0:44	Alabama	+0 yd	Jeremy Shelley extra point GOOD.
Q4 9:01	Alabama	+20 yd	Greg McElroy pass complete to Mark Ingram for 20 yards to the Ark 25 for a 1ST down.
Q4 6:01	Alabama	+36 yd	Jeremy Shelley 36 yard field goal GOOD.
Q4 4:40	Arkansas	+33 yd	Ryan Mallett pass intercepted by Robert Lester at the Ark 45, returned for 33 yards to the Ark 12.
Q4 3:18	Alabama	+1 yd	Mark Ingram rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 3:18	Alabama	+0 yd	Jeremy Shelley extra point GOOD.
Q4 3:18	Alabama	+20 yd	Cade Foster kickoff for 69 yards returned by Maudrecus Humphrey for 20 yards to the Ark 21.
Q4 1:48	Arkansas	+0 yd	Ryan Mallett pass intercepted by Dre Kirkpatrick at the Alab 35, returned for no gain to the Alab 35.

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Arkansas

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Ryan Mallett	25/38	357	9.4	1	3	47.8

Alabama

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Greg McElroy	18/26	194	7.5	1	2	42.9

Rushing

Arkansas

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Knile Davis	6	42	7.0	0	14
Broderick Green	10	25	2.5	0	6
Joe Adams	1	4	4.0	0	4
Ryan Mallett	3	-7	-2.3	1	1

Alabama

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Mark Ingram	24	157	6.5	2	54
Trent Richardson	8	85	10.6	0	53
Darius Hanks	1	1	1.0	0	1
Julio Jones	1	1	1.0	0	1
Greg McElroy	5	-15	-3.0	0	6

Receiving

Arkansas

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jarius Wright	6	131	21.8	0	43
D.J. Williams	5	63	12.6	0	18
Joe Adams	4	45	11.3	0	19
Ronnie Wingo Jr.	3	44	14.7	1	43
Greg Childs	3	44	14.7	0	31
Broderick Green	2	16	8.0	0	13
Knile Davis	2	14	7.0	0	9

Alabama

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Julio Jones	5	55	11.0	0	19
Marquis Maze	3	33	11.0	0	18
Darius Hanks	2	27	13.5	0	14
Mark Ingram	2	27	13.5	0	20
Trent Richardson	2	25	12.5	1	20
Preston Dial	2	18	9.0	0	12
Michael Williams	2	9	4.5	0	7

Show more stats (5 more categories)

Interceptions

Arkansas

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Andru Stewart	1	13	0
Rudell Crim	1	0	0

Alabama

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Robert Lester	2	33	0
Dre Kirkpatrick	1	0	0

Kick Returns

Arkansas

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Maudrecus Humphrey	3	62	20.7	25	0
Ross Rasner	1	24	24.0	24	0

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Trent Richardson	4	117	29.3	39	0
Michael Williams	1	6	6.0	6	0

Kicking

Arkansas

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Zach Hocker	2/2	100.0	48	2/2	8

Alabama

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Jeremy Shelley	1/1	100.0	36	3/3	6

Punt Returns

Arkansas

No recorded stats in this category.

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Julio Jones	2	0	0.0	0	0

Punting

Arkansas

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Dylan Breeding	3	116	38.7	0	0	46

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Cody Mandell	3	137	45.7	0	0	59

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 302680008) · This game in the downloadable dataset

← Alabama at Duke Florida at Alabama →