Alex Collins: How He Changed Arkansas Football

Some players are hard to give up. Alex Collins may have been one of the hardest. His uncommon journey as a Razorback is something we will never forget.

A great play call and a hole is all it would take to see Alex Collins work his magic, and sometimes not even that much was needed. But calling the dreaded beast “magical” could almost be an understatement. Collins came to this university as a young boy looking to make his college dreams come true. Three years have passed now and his dreams have turned into something he could have never imagined. These are dreams that can only be described as Hog Wild.

Alex Collins will forever be remembered as one of the greatest running backs to ever play in an Arkansas uniform. Not only because of his talent, but because he was able to almost single handedly bring fans from the gutters back to the bleachers. So that by the time he reached the end of the road people could say…

Alex Collins is just trying to be great.

Four wins, eight losses. That was the reasonable turning point. In only a matter of months the 2012 Arkansas Razorback football program went from a team on the verge of championship caliber to a pile of garbage. A pile of garbage that we found the hard way with a stunning overtime loss to Louisiana Monroe (a team we don’t speak of to this day along with that team from Ohio). The season went by painfully slow. I remember wondering to myself, what the hell happened?

In the end, a 20-13 loss to LSU was the kick in the face, an eighth loss. But soon after, four more losses were realized: Tyler Wilson, Chris Gragg, Knile Davis, and Cobi Hamilton. No matter how dim, the bright spots in our offense were gone and there was nothing we could do.

Or was there?

Just two weeks after the loss to LSU, a change was announced. Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema was hired as the new head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. The outspoken coach had put together multiple Rose Bowl seasons as the head Badger. That fact alone turned my hopelessness into a little bit of optimism. But I mean honestly there wasn’t much that wouldn’t get me excited about change, as change was a good thing. And when I heard that he was on the verge of signing the top running back in the country all I could think was, why would he want to come here?

Fort Lauderdale, Florida was where our future presided. Alex Collins was a junior in high school when he first put on a helmet, but it didn’t take long for the attention to start coming his way. Collins posted over 1,700 yards and 28 touchdowns as a junior in high school, then another 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior (missing three games due to injury).

Teams from all over the country wanted him, but his peers and family wanted him to stay close. The University of Miami was where Collins was first committed. But after serious thought and analysis, Bret Bielema was who he chose to be his coach. With the highly traditional run scheme that Bert runs and Collins loves, Arkansas was the perfect choice. If only the rest of his family were able to see that.

We all remember that dreaded day where we had to hear about Alex Collins’ mother taking off with the letter of intent. It was a very scary day, as we couldn’t afford to lose this guy. The truth is Collins never really spoke to his family on where he wanted to go. In an act of fear, his mother was scared for him to leave. But after speaking to her about the reasoning behind it, Collins put on his camouflage suit and was finally off to Fayetteville.

The impact that Collins made was immediate. His first outing for the Razorbacks was in the backup slot to sophomore running back Jonathan Williams, a role that would play for 2 years. The Hogs’ opener in 2013 was against Louisiana Lafayette. Collins had his first big game, recording 131 yards on 21 carries in the 34-14 win over Lafayette. That kind of streak continued, as Collins put up 172 more yards to his name the very next week against Samford. Alex also got first career touchdown in that game (he got penalized for excessive celebration, but who cares).

By the time the third week of the season was over, Collins had three 100+ yard games as a Hog and we were 3-0. However, the winning came to a stop right there. The Razorbacks finished the season 3-9, but that doesn’t mean Collins didn’t do great things. He was able to get over 1,000 yards in as a

true freshman backup

. He proved to the Razorback nation that he was something incredibly special.

It was time for 2014. The Alex Collins/Jonathan Williams duo was back. The season opener was a bust, as the Hogs lost a rainy away opener to the Auburn Tigers. But that was okay, because everybody made it up in the Nicholls State matchup. Poor Nicholls State, they had no idea what was coming to them. Alex Collins had quite a Saturday against the Colonels, as he recorded 13 carries for 131 yards and a career high three touchdowns to put the 10 game losing streak to an end.

This year was different. The Hogs were a more powerful team. The team as a whole was more experienced. No more true freshman in the starting positions. That was clear through the next week, when Collins kicked Kliff Kingsbury’s ass. In the win over Texas Tech, Alex scored two touchdowns on a career high 212 yards and the Razorbacks looked to be slowly coming back to reality.

As 2014 went on, Collins was establishing himself as a more dominant SEC back along with Jonathan Williams. It seemed like the duo was one of the most powerful in the conference. Although the wins weren’t piling up,

Arkansas was coming back

. By the end of the 2014 season, the Razorbacks broke their conference losing streak, became bowl eligible, and Alex Collins recorded his second straight 1000+ yard year as the backup. This made people wonder if he really was indeed the Budda we’ve been looking for.

The hype could not have been higher coming into 2015. The Arkansas Razorbacks were one of the most talked about teams during the offseason. The Hogs finished the year red hot shutting out Ole Miss and LSU along with the big bowl win over Texas. Everything was ours for the taking. That was until injuries plagued us.

Arkansas was overrun with injuries, the first being to Jonathan Williams who went down with a season ending foot injury, which meant that now junior Alex Collins was no longer a part of a duo. He was taking the featured running back role on himself. The question on everyone’s mind was if Collins was up to the task of getting more carries.

Spoiler alert, he was. Collins’ skill level was through the roof in 2015. Alex was just a year older, but he was already looking like a pro. The work he was putting in was tremendous. Through the first five games of the 2015 season, four of them Alex went into triple digits. The Hogs were getting back on their feet after the losses to Alabama, Texas Tech and that team from Ohio. When the BYE week came and went, Collins returned even stronger. After the 4 OT win over Auburn, Alex had yet another career day against UT Martin. Budda scored five touchdowns on the ill named Skyhawks, the most he’d ever get as a Razorback.

And by the very next week, Collins pushed himself over the 1,000 yard mark yet again. He was only the third SEC running back to ever go three straight seasons with 1000+ yards, joining a group comprised of Herschel Walker and Darren McFadden.

By the end of the year, Collins had 1,577 yards and an Arkansas record 20 rushing touchdowns. He saved his best performance of the season for the Liberty Bowl, as he recorded 185 yards and three touchdowns.

After his performance in the Liberty Bowl, fans started seriously wondering whether number three would be back. Some said yes, some said no, some said maybe. In the end the decision came out, and Collins is no longer a Hog. But we’ll never forget him.

Alex Collins changed Arkansas football. He came to Fayetteville in a time of downfall and misery. Alex wasn’t blessed to come into a stable collegiate program where his success was just handed to him. He earned it.

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We were desperate for a player to look at with happiness, and immediately we were given that with Collins. As much as Jonathan Williams did for this squad, Alex was able to finish it by himself. He was consistently the trophy back that we needed at the end of the 2012 season. He broke records, broke tackles, annoyed you with his quickness. He was there to catch the bounce off of the Henry Heave and take it 25 yards down the field to an ultimate Arkansas victory.

Alex Collins has been our compass for three seasons. He will go down as one of the greatest running backs to ever wear an Arkansas uniform. I don’t blame him for wanting to go off and continue his career.

I just know he’s trying to be great.