On a Saturday ripe with upsets across college football, Arkansas redshirt freshman backup quarterback Malachi Singleton was the hero who sent Hog fans into a frenzy following the 19-14 victory over No. 4 Tennessee at Razorback Stadium.
After starting quarterback Taylen Green exited the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter following a lower-body hit by Tennessee defender Omarr Norman-Lott, head coach Sam Pittman decided to thrust Singleton in to close out the field-goal-scoring drive.
Green — who finished the game 19-of-27 from the pocket with 266 passing yards — returned on Arkansas' following drive before he was replaced by Singleton once again. The former four-star signal caller didn't relinquish control of the offense for the remainder of the fourth quarter, a credit to the confidence Pittman said he has in the Georgia native.
With national spotlights beaming down on Singleton, he helped lead Arkansas on a 59-yard go-ahead scoring drive that was capped off by the dual-threat quarterback's rushing touchdown. Though Singleton's two-point conversion pass attempt failed, the 19-14 lead was enough for Arkansas in the final result.
RELATED: Pittman: 'Our atmosphere was like any of the elite programs'
"The last two drives, he was phenomenal," Pittman said. "He ran it very, very well. He scored a touchdown there to go ahead. He's been here a long time and hadn't got to play. To go in there and score the winning touchdown with the help of ten other guys has to be really fulfilling for him. I'm really happy for him."
Singleton finished the game 2-of-3 on throws for 31 yards and rushed four times for 16 yards with the game-winning score. Despite his inexperience at the position — Singleton had only played 21 snaps before the Tennessee game — Pittman said the underclassman was ready for the moment.
"(Malachi) gets the same amount of reps, he just doesn’t have the experience," Pittman said. "Bobby (Petrino) and I had great confidence when he went into the game. I didn’t pull him aside. I’m sure Bobby just coached him up like he does every day at practice and said, ‘Hey, let’s go.’ I don’t think it was one of those ‘We believe in you’ things. It’s just, ‘Alright bro, it’s your time. Let’s go get it.’ And he did."
Following the conclusion of the roller-coaster contest, Singleton described what it was like entering the game for the Razorbacks and how he got settled into the action.
"My emotions are definitely running high," Singleton said. "Just to get a quick screen to get me settled in, something quick just to get everybody calm, get a first down and move the sticks, I think it settled down everybody. The whole offense and kept us rolling throughout the whole drive."
RELATED: Social media reacts to Arkansas' 19-14 win over No. 4 Tennessee
Even with Green out and the offensive struggles Arkansas had already faced for the first three quarters against Tennessee, Singleton said his teammates believed in him to get the job done on the final drive.
"(The goal is) just to go win the game," Singleton said. "Score. We were down one point. I believe in the offense. Our motto is to score every time we get the ball, so every time we get the ball the whole offense is thinking we're going to score. All the coaches are thinking we're going to score, so that was just our mindset. Go score."
The backbone of Arkansas' pass-attack, redshirt senior wide receiver Andrew Armstrong said he didn't lose confidence in the Razorbacks' scoring ability once Singleton replaced Green.
RELATED: Highlights from Arkansas' upset win No. 4 Tennessee
"When Mali [Malachi] came in, I had all the confidence in the world in him," Armstrong said. "I feel like he was going to go out there – like he said our motto is to win, to go score every drive. I feel like when he got in, he was going to continue to go try and score every time."
Arkansas will now enter a bye week following the big win. Next up, the Hogs will host the LSU Tigers on Oct. 19 for a game that has a 5:00-7:00 p.m CT kickoff window as of now.
