.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
Tyler Wilson was a relative unknown a year ago when he came off the bench in the second quarter at Auburn.
The Arkansas quarterback quickly made a name for himself after replacing an injured Ryan Mallett, throwing for 332 yards and four touchdowns as the Razorbacks took a fourth-quarter lead.
Auburn eventually rallied in the final quarter for a convincing 65-43 win, but it was Wilson who stole the show for Arkansas. And now, fresh off a school record 510-yard passing performance in a comeback win over Texas A&M last week, the junior is firmly entrenched as the Razorbacks' starter now that Mallett has left for the NFL.
Wilson is firmly set on making amends for last year when No. 10 Arkansas (4-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) hosts the No. 15 Tigers (4-1, 2-0) on Saturday.
''I think it was good we had the lead, and we just didn't finish last year,'' Wilson said. ''I think we're a year better, though. I am, and I know the guys around me are, so I expect us to close in the final minutes like we did last week (against the Aggies).''
Wilson won the starting job in August after a quarterback competition with sophomore Brandon Mitchell. However, even before Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino named Wilson the starter, he had already been selected by his teammates as one of the team captains.
Petrino has said all along that last year's Auburn performance, along with an offseason full of organizing team workouts and activities, played a role in the confidence his players have in Wilson.
It's confidence that Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick McGee said dates to high school, when many of the current Razorbacks were seniors at the same time Wilson was leading Greenwood, Ark., to a state championship.
''Those guys were seniors the same year Tyler was a senior, and Tyler was taking that little Greenwood team around and beating all those guys,'' McGee said. ''They still talk about that. ... They all have confidence in Tyler; they know he's a really good player.''
Auburn probably didn't, and had little reason to as the Tigers prepared for Mallett. Sophomore defensive tackle Jeff Whitaker admitted the Tigers underestimated Wilson when he replaced Mallett, but that didn't last long: Wilson threw touchdown passes of 34, 37, 24 and 23 yards to rally Arkansas from a 24-14 deficit to a 43-37 lead to start the fourth quarter.
''We were all excited,'' Whitaker said. ''We got the backup, we got the great Mallett out. Let's rush him. And we rushed him and he threw it for a 60-yard bomb. Oh, no. He's good, too.
''So now, the deal is he's earned our respect. And that's how we're going to come at him; with a lot of respect. We've just got to get him knocked down, got to get him on the ground. Got to. Got to.''
What made Wilson's performance last year even more impressive was that it came on the road, in front of more than 87,000 fans in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn coach Gene Chizik was among those who came away from the game impressed by Wilson.
''I thought he did an unbelievable job, on the road, in a very critical game at the time coming in and playing very, very sound and solid football,'' Chizik said. ''For a guy coming off the bench and not really expecting to play, I thought he showed an unbelievable amount of poise and I thought he played really well.''
Wilson showed that poise again last week in rallying the Razorbacks from an 18-point deficit to Texas A&M for a 42-38 win. He did so one week after the toughest game of his career, a 38-14 loss to Alabama in which the Crimson Tide hit and harassed him all day, allowing just 185 yards passing.
Wilson threw primarily short or intermediate routes against Alabama, but he looked more like a gunslinger last week against the Aggies. He let the ball fly early and often, and senior receiver Jarius Wright wound up with 13 catches for a school-record 281 yards.
The performance didn't surprise Wright in the least.
''I've been saying throughout camp until now, Tyler's confidence level is high and he's going to go out and perform,'' Wright said.
