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Razorbacks streak past Auburn in 38-14 win
John Thomas
FAYETTEVILLE - The
10th-ranked University of Arkansas football team earned its fifth win
of the year on Saturday night with a 38-14 win over No. 15 Auburn at
Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
The team rode the
coattails of a strong defense that tallied three interceptions and kept
the Tigers scoreless after the first quarter. The win was Arkansas’
second straight over a top-15 team and marked the second time in
program history UA has recorded two straight wins over top-15 foes. The
only other time came in 1999 when the Razorbacks defeated No. 3
Tennessee and No. 12 Mississippi State.
Tyler Wilson paced the
offense for the Arkansas, throwing for 262 yards on 24 completions and
connecting with four different receivers. Of those four Razorback
receivers, all caught at least three passes and totaled at least 40
yards. Wilson also completed 19 consecutive passes between the first
quarter and third quarter. That streak is the longest of his career and
third longest in SEC history.
74,191 in attendance, which was
the seventh-largest in stadium history, witnessed an Arkansas team
improve to 5-1 on the season, its best start under head coach Bobby
Petrino and only the third 5-1 start since joining the SEC.
“That’s
a good win for us,” Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino said. “I’m happy
for our football team and it took the whole team to win it. We got off
to a little rocky start, but defensively we played real well in the
second half, shut them out and created turnovers. We’ve been waiting on
those turnovers to come. It’s a good win for us and now we’ll get a
week off and get ready for the next one.”
The Razorbacks scored
their first touchdown of the game on the back of a six-yard touchdown
run by Broderick Green, which tied the game at 7-7 after Auburn took
the early lead. The series went 71 yards in eight plays and was capped
with a 6-yard run by Broderick Green to tie the game at seven with 6:53
to play in the first quarter.
The Tigers scored again before the
end of the first quarter, but Arkansas continued to keep pace as the
team, again, scored on its very next possession. With a good mixture of
Wilson passes and runs by Green and Dennis Johnson, the Razorbacks
tallied six more after a one-yard plunge into the end zone by Wilson.
The drive lasted 13 plays for 80 yards and saw the Arkansas quarterback
connect with three different receivers for 49 yards in the drive to tie
the game at 14-14 with 9:36 to go in the half.
Late in the
first half, the Arkansas defense was able to make a strong stand,
giving the offense the opportunity to take its first lead of the night.
On the next possession, Wilson methodically drove the Razorbacks down
the field and gave them the advantage after a leaping touchdown catch
by Jarius Wright from five yards out. With 4:23 still to go in the
first half, Arkansas was up 21-14. The touchdown also moved Wright into
third place alone on Arkansas’ all-time career touchdown receptions
list. The scoring catch was the 18th of his career.
The second
half started out with a few traded possessions before Arkansas struck
again. This time, Joe Adams got in on the mix with an exhilarating
92-yard touchdown run, his first rush of the night. The run was the
longest in school history by a wide receiver and the second longest in
school history by any player. Green holds the record with his 99-yard
touchdown run against Eastern Michigan in 2009.
The scoring
drive was also the fastest drive of the season for Arkansas, taking
only 15 seconds off the clock. With the points, UA held a 28-14 lead
with less than eight minutes to play in the third quarter.
The
Razorback defense came up big in the second half, tallying three
interceptions to kill Auburn drives. The second was picked by Tramain
Thomas off a Barrett Trotter pass and returned to the Auburn 26-yard
line. Arkansas turned the good field position into three points
courtesy of a 36-yard field goal by Zach Hocker. With the added three
points, UA held a 31-14 lead with 12:10 to play in the game.
Thomas
came up with the good hands again with back-to-back interceptions, this
time coming with just over seven minutes to play. He ended up returning
it to the Auburn 16-yard line, giving the Razorbacks, once agin, good
field position. The two interceptions by the senior safety are a career
high and gives him a total of three for the season. Thomas’ two picks
marked the first time for a Razorback since Rashaad Johnson had two
against Florida International in 2007.
Arkansas needed only
three plays to get in the end zone from there as Wilson did a nice job
scrambling in the pocket and evading the blitz to find Johnson, who
ended up taking the ball 18 yards for the touchdown. The score would be
the Razorbacks’ final one of the game giving it the final score of
38-14.
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