(Photo by Jonathan Gibson)

By Danny Meyer

As a team, a lot of things went right for the Razorbacks Saturday afternoon against Auburn.

The defense slowed the fast-paced Auburn offense to a halt. They forced three Auburn fumbles and kept Auburn quarterback Chris Todd without a touchdown pass for only the second time this year.

The Razorback offense was just as impressive.

Individually, the Razorbacks had some big moments. Quarterback Ryan Mallet had two scores through the air and one on the ground. Both tight end D.J. Williams and wide receiver Greg Childs caught touchdown passes. Accompanying Michael Smith’s 145 yard rushing effort was his 26-yard touchdown run.

And in the second quarter, strong safety Jerico Nelson hit Auburn’s Mario Fannin so hard both of their facemasks became tangled. Nelson stood up, taking Fannin’s helmet with him.

That’s the kind of hit that will earn a player a helmet sticker, a reward used by Petrino new to the 2009 season.

These stickers are rewards for big plays made by individuals during a game. These plays might include, but are not limited to, a crushing block by an offensive lineman, a big sack by a defensive end or a game-changing interception by a free safety.

“You don’t just get a sticker for anything,” said senior defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard. “You have to do something special out there to get one.”

Helmet stickers started in the college football world in 1968, when legendary Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes started giving his players small reward stickers on their helmets for big plays.

The Buckeyes still wear their buckeye leaves, and Florida State sports tomahawks for its reward. But other longstanding football traditions such as USC, Texas and Penn State have no headgear decals.

Arkansas has had helmet stickers, also known as pride stickers, in the past. In the mid-70s, the team gave out small Razorback stickers awarding big plays. The stickers stopped with the arrival of new head coach Lou Holtz. But they have now made a reappearance under head coach Bobby Petrino this year.

The stickers are sledgehammers, following along Petrino’s philosophy of “chipping” away at a conference championship. This off-season, a 3-ton stone was introduced into practice, and players used a sledgehammer to pound away.

This action has now manifested itself into the white stickers worn by the players.

One might think that these stickers, these individual recognitions for achievement, might cause players to play out of their ability level, to take more chances to make big plays on the field.

After all, the casual fan flipping through the channels on a Saturday afternoon might see an Ohio State helmet filled with stickers and believe that man to be the most important on the team. But for the Razorbacks, the stickers are more than an individual achievement. They’re a team achievement.

“I want to get one every week,” freshman defensive lineman DeQuinta Jones said. “I just try to work hard every game to help the team be successful. It’s a team effort.”

But just because it’s a team effort doesn’t mean the stickers don’t spark a little friendly competition between players.

“At the end of the year, everyone wants to have the most,” Sheppard said. “There are definitely bragging rights with these. They’re hard to come by.”

Junior cornerback Ramon Broadway said people notice who has the most stickers and who doesn’t have any.

“We tease the people who don’t have any at all, but all that does is make them want to go out and do something big for the team,” Broadway. “It kind of goes back to grade school. You don’t like to be teased about anything.”