Peyton Hillis

It was Arkansas' first victory over a #1 team since defeating Texas in 1981.

Peyton Derek Hillis (born January 21, 1986) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL).

Hillis attended Conway High School in Conway, Arkansas, and was a highly touted recruit.

Hillis attended the University of Arkansas where he was primarily used as a fullback.

After a high school career that saw him ranked as the #119 player in the country for the 2004 recruiting class, Peyton chose to attend college at the University of Arkansas from 2004 to 2007, majoring in Sociology.

He chose Arkansas over a number of other offers from schools such as Oklahoma, Nebraska, Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, and LSU.

As a true freshman, Hillis gained 240 yards rushing, 97 yards receiving, and scored eight touchdowns, ranking fourth in the SEC in total touchdowns and tying Georgia's Thomas Brown for most touchdowns scored by a SEC freshman that year.

During his sophomore year, Hillis accounted for 947 all-purpose yards (including more than 200 in kick-off and punt returns) and seven touchdowns while also serving as a blocker for up-and-coming star running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.

Over his four seasons as a fullback at Arkansas, Hillis helped paved the way for Darren McFadden to become the Razorbacks all-time rushing leader with three straight 1,000 yard seasons from 2005 to 2007, as well as two straight for fellow running back Felix Jones in 2006 and 2007.

Arkansas was one of the most prolific running teams in the nation over those three seasons, owed in no small part to Hillis' blocking and receiving prowess.

In his junior season, Hillis only appeared in ten games due to a nagging injury, although he did return late in the season to help Arkansas win the 2006 SEC Western Division Championship.

That team finished 10-4 after losing to Wisconsin in the 2007 Capital One Bowl.

The biggest victory of the season came on November 11 with ESPN College GameDay in attendance, Arkansas defeated #13 Tennessee in Fayetteville, 31–14.

His senior season in 2007 saw Hillis finish with over 800 yards of total offense and score 7 total touchdowns.

After being drafted in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft, Hillis rose to the top of the depth chart as the starting fullback for the Denver Broncos.

Due to injuries to the running back corps, he became the starting running back.

Although this team did not meet pre-season expectations, finishing 8–5 after losing to Missouri in the 2008 Cotton Bowl, Hillis did help Arkansas upset #1 LSU in Baton Rouge in triple overtime, 50–48.

Hillis had 11 carries for 89 yards rushing and 2 TDs, as well as 5 receptions for 62 receiving yards and 2 more TDs.

The Denver Broncos selected Hillis with the 20th pick in the seventh round (227th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft.

He was also assigned his college number, 22.

At the start of the 2008 season, Hillis was listed as the Broncos' starting fullback.

He played in his first NFL regular season game on September 8, 2008, gaining 14 yards on three rushing attempts and four yards on one reception as part of a 41–14 Broncos road victory over the Oakland Raiders.

Later in the season, he recorded his first career 100-yard receiving game with seven catches for 116 yards and a touchdown in a 26–17 Broncos home loss to the Miami Dolphins on November 2, 2008.

Following an injury to Ryan Torain in the Broncos 34–30 comeback road victory over the Cleveland Browns, Hillis was named Denver's starting running back.

His first start at the position netted him 44 yards and two touchdowns on only 10 carries as part of a 24–20 road victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Two weeks later, he recorded his first 100-yard rushing game with 129 yards and a touchdown on 22 attempts in a 34–17 road victory over the New York Jets.

The performance earned Hillis multiple honors including being named Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week as well as FedEx Ground Player of the Week alongside Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, who was named NFL Air Player of the Week.

The string of victories and accolades built up anticipation among Broncos faithful for Hillis to continue as running back for the rest of the season.

However, the season already plagued with running back injuries continued, with Hillis suffering a season-ending injury in a 24–17 home win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Coming down from an acrobatic catch of a Cutler pass with his right foot planted, Hillis was hit from both sides by Chiefs' free safety Jarrad Page and cornerback Brandon Carr.

The hit doubled Hillis over, causing a 2–3 inch tear in his right hamstring behind the knee, which forced him to miss the rest of the season.

Despite his limited playing time, Hillis ended the 2008 season as the Broncos' leading rusher with 343 yards and five touchdowns and was expected to return as a significant offensive presence for the 2009 season.

With the loss of Hillis, depth at the running back position was practically nil and the Broncos fell to 8–8 on the season and failed to make the playoffs.

Due to a lack of postseason berths in recent years, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan was fired during the offseason and replaced with Josh McDaniels.

McDaniels' first order of business was to recruit new talent to fit his playing scheme, which involved adding depth to the running back position with first round draft pick Knowshon Moreno and free agent Correll Buckhalter.

Despite rising to the starting fullback position and becoming the leading rusher the previous year, Hillis had only 54 yards on 13 carries in the 2009 season.

As the Broncos offense collapsed late-season and Hillis still saw no significant playtime, fans began speculating about a disagreement between Hillis and McDaniels as had been the case with other Shanahan carry-overs.

In a postseason interview, Hillis expressed disappointment over his playing time on the season, but remained tight-lipped about the controversy, maintaining that conversations between him and McDaniels were "friendly".

After spending two years in Denver, Hillis was traded to the Cleveland Browns in 2010.

In 2011, Hillis won a nationwide vote which put him on the cover of EA Sports' Madden NFL 12 video game.