FAYETTEVILLE — Nearly a decade has passed since Arkansas football last played UAB.
It was a non-conference matchup against a middle-of-the-pack Conference USA program that wasn’t even as close as the 45-17 final score indicates and improved the Razorbacks to 4-4, snapping a three-game skid.
At first blush, nothing about the Oct. 25, 2014, game screams “memorable,” much less anything worth recounting 10 years after the fact.
However, the 61,800 fans inside Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium — and those watching live on SEC Network — will probably never forget where they were when Arkansas scored its fourth touchdown of the day.
After all, it’s not every day a team pulls off a fake field goal that involves a 350-pound offensive lineman throwing a touchdown pass to a long snapper.
Sebastian Tretola is still believed to be the heaviest player in FBS history to accomplish the feat, so the play naturally got plenty of air time on SportsCenter and social media. Arkansas even started a faux Heisman campaign for the big man the following week.
For a program that has experienced quite a few lows since the infamous motorcycle wreck in 2012, it was a bright spot most fans look back at fondly and, at the time, seemed like a potential spring board in Year 2 of the Bret Bielema era.
With UAB once again coming to Fayetteville for a non-conference game at 3:15 p.m. CT Saturday, Best of Arkansas Sports caught up with several people involved to help you relive the legendary moment…
Birth of the Play
Where exactly Bret Bielema was when the crazy idea popped into his head, and the material on which he drew the play, are up for debate. However, those involved in its installation will never forget when they first learned of it.
Sebastian Tretola, Arkansas left guard: I would go out there with the quarterbacks in pre-practice every day. Me and Frank (Ragnow) would go out there and we’d throw balls, we’d catch balls, we’d run routes with the guys.
It was known we’d be out there hanging out with them and pre-practice one day, (Bielema) came out, saw me throw the ball, and he said, “Hold on, do that again.” I said, “Coach, I got this for you every time.” So I went out there, threw another ball, and he said, “Okay.” Kind of nodded his head, not really thinking anything of it.
A few days later, the play was born.
Sam Pittman, then Arkansas’ offensive line coach: Coach Bielema drew it up on a napkin. He came into the offensive staff and said, “I think this will work.” Of course when he left, everybody’s going, “Oh hell no, that ain’t gonna work.”
Tretola: (Bielema) actually wrote it up on the back of a menu. I forget what restaurant it was from. … He called me in his office and he said, “Hey, I got an idea,” and he shows me the play. And I’m like, “Coach, let me know. Let me know because I am ready to go.”
Brey Cook, Arkansas right tackle and team captain: One of the things I really appreciated about Coach Bielema was we were always going to have some kind of wrinkle on special teams that was well thought out, and usually pretty fun. So we’re at practice and you look over at the kickers, who just kick for 15 minutes a day and then go work out, but that week they had been practicing some different kind of stuff, and it’s always fun to see them just messing around. Sure enough, they pull Sebastian over there and he gets involved and next thing you know, this thing’s out of control.
Alan D’Appollonio, Arkansas’ long snapper: (Bielema) came up with this crazy plan of having an offensive lineman throw a pass to a long snapper, which is just stranger than fiction almost when you hear it for the first time.
The play was drawn up as a fake field goal or PAT. It involved the Razorbacks lining up in the swinging gate formation and was designed to look like a dump off to kicker Adam McFain, who had four linemen in front of him. Instead, it was a true pass play.
After motioning into the backfield, Tretola would take the snap and roll to his right. Rather than dumping it off the McFain, he had tight end Hunter Henry running across the back of the end zone, tight end Alex Voelzke on a drag route and — the No. 1 option — long snapper Alan D’Appollonio sneaking out into the left flats after fake blocking for 2-3 seconds.
Being tight ends, Henry and Voelzke obviously made sense as potential targets, but D’Appollonio wasn’t a crazy option, either. A former tight end (and linebacker) in high school, he changed his jersey number from 53 to 82 in order to become an eligible receiver for a trick play the year before against Rutgers, which resulted in a 24-yard reception from punter Sam Irwin-Hill.
D’Appollonio kept his new number in 2014, making “Tretola left” a possibility.
Tretola: I think we practiced it twice and those defensive guys, ’til this day, will tell you that we didn’t score. We definitely scored. I think I hit Adam McFain on a checkdown once, and I want to say I hit Hunter (Henry) over the middle on the second one. They called sack, it was a lie.
Bringing it to a Game
Those two reps in practice were enough for Bret Bielema. The second-year Arkansas football coach apparently had his mind set on running it in an actual game.
That week, the Razorbacks hosted UAB for homecoming. Coming off some close losses to top-10 teams, they were favored by 24.5 points and not expected to have much trouble with the Blazers.
It wasn’t exactly the kind of game you’d expect to deploy a trick play, especially one so bizarre. Even the players seemed to be split on whether or not it’d happen.
Tretola: Of course in the back of my head I’m like, “There’s no way he’s actually (going to call the play), right? An O-lineman throwing the ball?” I’ve never heard of that. In all (levels), high school, college, pro football, I’ve never heard of that. So yeah, it sounded wacky and wonky in the back of my head.
Cook: When you’re in that type situation, it’s a college football game and you got potential to make something as ridiculous as this happen, and you’ve been practicing it all week, we weren’t going to let him not call it. I mean, this is one of those things that it was going to happen… If (Bielema) wouldn’t have called it, I guarantee you we would’ve walked up there and Sebastian would’ve called it himself.
D’Appollonio: I don’t think when they originally came up with it, (they) necessarily intended to use it right away against UAB. I think the week after we played Mississippi State – that was (with Dak Prescott) when they were real good. I was kind of hoping we’d save it to get it on even a bigger stage if possible.
Nothing seemed amiss before the game, either.
Dave Neal, play-by-play for SEC Network: Usually before the game, you go down to the field for 20 minutes and coaches, everything’s put to bed in terms of game planning and all that good stuff, so they’re a little bit easier to deal with in terms of telling you some stuff. Nothing stands out to me and I guarantee I asked Coach (Bielema). He was always great before games, but Jim Chaney’s the one who was calling plays at the time, and he’s never been one to give you any of that stuff. He’ll tell you stuff during our meetings on Friday, but as far as trick plays and stuff…no, there was no indication (anything) was coming.
Arkansas Football Runs “Tretola Left”
The Razorbacks had very little trouble with the Blazers from the jump, scoring touchdowns on their first three drives to take a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.
A 49-yard punt by UAB, though, meant Arkansas was backed up to its own 8-yard line to start its fourth possession. Alex Collins ripped off runs of 9 and 23 yards, Brandon Allen hit AJ Derby for 20 yards and Jonathan Williams got the Razorbacks into the red zone with a 31-yard run.
That’s where the drive stalled. On third-and-goal from the 6, Allen’s pass to Kendrick Edwards fell incomplete. The field goal unit was ready to roll for a short kick, but Bret Bielema had another idea.
D’Appollonio: There wasn’t really much time to think. We were huddled up there on the sideline with Coach (Bielema) and Coach Tanner (Burns). … When we go out, Coach B was like, “Alright, Tretola left, Tretola left.” And it’s like, “Okay, here we go.”
As planned, the Razorbacks lined up in the swinging gate formation and Tretola motioned from his left guard position into the backfield to take the snap.
Neal: When you see a big guy, you better figure out who the big guy is in a hurry, because it’s not very often that the offensive linemen move into the backfield into a shotgun formation. So get that guy right and then you’re thinking, “Okay, is this just going to be a run play?”
It was not a run play. Tretola took the snap, rolled to his right and almost immediately had defenders in his face, with UAB defensive tackle Jontavius Morris right in his face. Luckily he had enough pocket presence to get the ball out and it was right on the money, landing in D’Appollonio’s hands in the left flats for the 6-yard touchdown.
Pittman: We were as shocked as Tretola was that we called the fake. I remember I (coached) the field goal team and we missed a block on it. Tretola got crushed, but he made the throw.
Tretola: It went as we drew it up. The problem was, as you saw, and — Lord knows I love Denver (Kirkland), Brey (Cook) — thank God (running back) Kody Walker was there because for whatever reason, the fellas didn’t block anybody. The fellas didn’t block anybody. They let ’em all through. They opened the flood gates.
Cook: If you watch that clip, the rest of the offensive linemen — myself included, and myself especially — we do not block a single defender. We don’t give Sebastian any time at all. It’s not like it’s some crazy defense that they all line up across from us. We snap the ball and every single one of us just turns around and looks at Sebastian. It’s pretty bad. I don’t think we touch anybody. He’s actually getting, he’s about to get tackled when he throws it, but if you watch the front line, we’re so excited about the idea of him throwing the pass that we just completely forget to block for him.
D’Appollonio: He really just lobbed it up there. It felt like the ball was in the air for about an hour. It’s one of those things where it’s almost too easy. It’s almost like you wish there was a little bit more zip on it or maybe a defender nearby. It’s almost too easy of a catch. You put a little bit of pressure on yourself, but I was just thinking I got to come down with the ball and squeeze it and turn up field and get into the end zone. I didn’t know if I was going to get hit as soon as I caught it or what was going to happen, but it was a walk in and it was easy.
The SEC Network crew was incredulous. Neal sounds like he can’t believe he’s witnessing what’s unfolding in front of his eyes, “Oh my goodness. Is that Tretola? Gonna throw back. Are you kidding me?!” Color analyst and former Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware can be heard laughing on the broadcast as Neal credits the reception to Luke Rossi, a walk-on wide receiver.
D’Appollonio: When you have my last name, there’s not going to be any plays named after you. “D’Appollonio” does not really roll off the tongue, so I don’t have any blame there. I blame ESPN a little bit. I don’t blame ’em too much, but when the guys looked down at their call sheet, they called out Luke Rossi to score the touchdown because we both wore 82 and I’m sure they look down at their sheet and they see an 82 long snapper and then an 82 wide receiver.
They’re like, “Surely it was the receiver that caught it.” I think on the radio call, Chuck Barrett had it right. Obviously he’s our local guy, but I think on ESPN, they called out my teammate for the touchdown, unfortunately.
Neal: I damn near fired my spotter that day because I got burned by a double number. I cut him some slack because you would think it would be a tight end in that situation or a wide receiver. … I think we circled back around and got it right, but my first thought, the first thing out of my mouth was Luke Rossi, and then I saw him run away and it wasn’t Luke Rossi, and I was like, “Oh my God.”
I looked right at my spotter and I said, “This is a play that’s going to be replayed over and over and over.” So my heart sank initially, but then we got it right. Getting the wrong double numbers in college football will get you at some point during the year, but when it happens on a play like that, you just want to just crawl under the table.
The Celebration and “Heisman Campaign”
As incredible of a play as it was, Sebastian Tretola and Alan D’Appollonio couldn’t celebrate too much. They had to get refocused for the PAT, which Adam McFain booted through the uprights to make it 28-0. Before the kick, though, Tretola made the moment even more legendary.
Tretola: I couldn’t see that we scored. I was on the ground. I got hit, I rolled over. It looked bad, okay? I was on the ground, but I heard the crowd, the roar, and I got up and said, “Oh yeah, Heisman pose.”
D’Appollonio: It’s just so much excitement and you’re trying to hold yourself together. The problem is you catch the touchdown, me and Tretola, and then you immediately have to turn around and kick the extra point. Again, I’m not used to playing two plays in a row. That’s a lot of work for me. So the main thing was I caught the ball, scored the touchdown, and it’s like, “Okay, wait, I got to settle down for a second so I can make sure I can snap this and we can kick this and make sure I don’t want to put a damper on the moment, roll a bad snap back there or something.”
The first thing I did was run up and I grabbed the ball from the official, so I do have the football from that play. And then, when we got to the sideline, it was just a celebration and I think 28-0 may have been the score at that point. So everyone was pretty excited.
Before the Razorbacks’ next game at No.1 Mississippi State, the UA launched a faux Heisman Trophy campaign for Tretola, complete with a 3-minute, 46-second video and #VoteTretola hashtag.
Tretola: My phone broke almost the day of the game because of text messages, emails, phone calls. I mean, it was insane. So I think Monday, media relations had come to me in the locker room and they’re like, “We kind of have this idea. What do you think of it?” And I said, “Absolutely. That would be awesome.” I was like 100%, I’m all in. So we did that. And it’s funny because I ended up getting drafted in Tennessee with Marcus (Mariota) who actually won the Heisman, and we laughed about that all the time. He had brought that up. He said he had seen it come across his page. It was hilarious. We had a great time making that.
Brett Brecheisen, a member of the Arkansas football communications staff: Bielema loved promoting offensive linemen because they typically get so little love. Our offensive line was really strong that season and Tretola had the perfect personality to do something fun like that.
Pittman: They did the video of Tretola for Heisman and that was really well done. Sebastian is known for that along with, you know he won the Jacobs Award, so he was a pretty good offensive lineman, too.
Tretola: That’s our job, right? The less we’re heard about, the better we are. As we know, that’s the position of the O-lineman, and I wear that with pride. So going out there and being able to be one of the pretty boys for once was awesome, and I’m extremely appreciative of it.
Now in his 26th season of calling college football games, Dave Neal will once again be on the call for Arkansas vs UAB this weekend.
Neal: (That play) stands out just because we see big guys line up in “Wildcat” who were maybe fullbacks in high school that handled the ball a little bit, maybe tight ends that got big and moved to offensive line. But to actually see a guy the size of Sebastian line up at quarterback and then throw it has got to be one of my top three unique plays that I’ve witnessed in person. I mean, it just doesn’t happen.
Impact for Arkansas Football and Beyond
It was just one of many examples of Arkansas shining a spotlight on a position that traditionally doesn’t get much attention. The following year, Tretola and his fellow offensive linemen were featured on the cover of the Arkansas football media guide. Bielema also famously flew his offensive and defensive linemen in first class and the Razorbacks having the biggest offensive line in the country, including the NFL, was a stat frequently repeated on television broadcasts.
On top of that, Arkansas’ offensive line was productive on the field, paving the way for one of only two pairs of teammates in the FBS to rush for 1,000 yards in 2014. The unit rose to so much fame that Sam Pittman became one of Arkansas’ most beloved assistants in recent history. That fact, coupled with the support of many of those players, helped Pittman return to Fayetteville as head coach following the 2019 season.
He’s not the only one involved in the play who lives in Northwest Arkansas.
Alan D’Appollonio recently moved back from Scottsdale, Ariz., to be closer to his wife’s family in Ozark for the birth of their second child and to raise their kids in Fayetteville while he works remotely.
Brey Cook got into coaching after his playing days and is now the head coach at Pea Ridge High School.
Cook: There’s definitely a little bit of bias towards the O-linemen here (at Pea Ridge). We definitely do some things to make it fun for them. We’ve thrown some O-line passes in games and we make sure to do something very similar each year, for sure. … It’s one of the things that Coach (Bielema) did, and Coach Pittman was there, as well, with him. They made the O-linemen feel special is really the right word. They go out of their way to give some extra love for the big guys.
As for Tretola, the San Bernardino, Calif., native is back in his home state and still involved with the game. He’s joined forces with several guys he knows from his brief stint in the NFL to run One Man Ready, a series of football camp tours that has taken him from coast to coast with high school players during the summer.
However, he still makes time to come back to Arkansas and is clearly proud of his time with the Razorbacks — a career that was already worth remembering even without that memorable pass
Cook: He’s fun to be around and that’s one of the reasons I enjoy his friendship after all these years. We’ll still meet up once or twice a year just to hang out and kick it and just go. He usually comes out to the lake with me around July 4th each year, him and (tight end Jeremy) Sprinkle, just to get the boys back together. But he’s a guy that you want to hang around with and drink a beer with, and he’s a quality friend. He’s an easy guy you can call and talk about really anything.
Tretola: The reason why I chose this school is because of these fans. Whether I threw the pass, whether I played a game, whether I was a walk-on, I mean, you come to this state, they have a pretty good inkling of who you are and they appreciate you for what you’ve done for the football team. And that has rang true.
I don’t have social media. I got a Facebook that I’m rarely on, but that’s it. But the family will follow all the SEC Networks and Arkansas Razorback football pages and they’ll get alerts. So they’ll send those through and it’s awesome, man. I’m just so happy that I got the chance to do that, and it’s been great ever since.
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