UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS SEPT. 3, 2011 • FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. DONALD W. REYNOLDS RAZORBACK STADIUM ATTENDANCE: 70,607 TV: PPV
GAME 1
2012
AT&T COTTON BOWL |
2011 IN REVIEW
#15 ARKANSAS 51
66
The 15th-ranked University of Arkansas football team scored a 51-7 season-opening victory over Missouri State inside Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. The Razorbacks saw strong performances by UA wide receivers Joe Adams and Jarius Wright. Adams returned two Bear punts for touchdowns, while Wright totaled 108 receiving yards and two touchdown grabs from quarterback Tyler Wilson. Adams tied an SEC record with two punt returns for a touchdown. He became the seventh player in conference history and first since 2002 to return two punts for a touchdown in the same game. The Litte Rock, Ark., native’s six-return, 174-yard effort, along with two returns by freshman Marquel Wade for 14 yards, broke the school record for team punt return yards in a game with 188. The Razorbacks totaled 466 offensive yards to Missouri State’s 163. UA hounded the Bears’ offense throughout the night, recording 6.0 tackles for loss (23 yards lost), 2.0 sacks (17 yards lost) and one interception. Head coach Bobby Petrino improved to 4-0 in season openers at Arkansas and 8-0 for his coaching career. Individual performances by sophomore defensive end Chris Smith and junior linebacker Alonzo Highsmith helped the Razorbacks’ defensive effort. Smith recorded four tackles, including 2.0 tackles for loss (11 yards lost), 1.0 sack (10 yards lost) and one forced fumble. Highsmith, a junior college transfer, notched four tackles in his first appearance for the Razorbacks, including 2.0 tackles for loss (3 yards lost). Offensively, the Razorbacks were pushed to victory by Wilson’s 260 passing yards and two touchdowns. Wilson started the Razorbacks with a 33-yard touchdown strike to Wright at the 10:32 mark in the first quarter for the first UA score of the season. With the score at 7-0 in the Razorbacks’ favor, Adams went to work, returning a Bears’ punt 61 yards to score with 7:32 remaining in the first quarter. The Razorbacks found the end zone for the third time in the first quarter with less than one minute remaining
MISSOURI STATE 7 on the ground. Freshman running back Kody Walker plunged across the goal line from one yard out to push the Razorbacks’ lead to 20-0 over Missouri State. At the end of the first quarter, UA’s defense had allowed one yard to the Bears. Arkansas was in the end zone again in the second quarter off a throw and catch connection from quarterback Brandon Mitchell and tight end Chris Gragg. Mitchell found the Razorback tight end ahead of the goal line and Gragg stretched across for the three-yard score to advance UA’s lead to 27-0 with 5:01 remaining in the half. Mitchell finished the game going 10-for-11 with 104 passing yards and the score. Sophomore kicker Zach Hocker added three more Razorback points with 14 seconds left in the second quarter with a 32-yard field goal. Wilson connected with Wright for their second touchdown-scoring combination of the evening with 6:17 remaining in the third quarter. Wright hauled in a lofted 29-yard throw from Wilson as he planted one foot at the edge of the end zone to make the score 37-0 in favor of Arkansas. Adams followed the Wright-Wilson score with a dazzling punt return for the second time, taking the Bears’ punt back 69 yards to the end zone. Missouri State found the end zone for the only time in the game with 45 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Bear quarterback Kierra Harris connected with Jermaine Saffold from 33 yards out for the scoring throw to cut UA’s advantage to 44-7. Prior to the score, Razorback linebacker Jerico Nelson snuffed out an earlier Missouri State drive with an interception. UA defensive tackle Byran Jones and safety Elton Ford led the team in tackles with six stops each. UA went to the ground one final time to close out the game, with Walker notching another one-yard rushing touchdown with 12:20 remaining in the fourth quarter. The rushing score pushed Arkansas’ advantage to the final outcome of 51-7.
GAME STATISTICS TEAM STATS FIRST DOWNS RUSHES-YARDS (NET) PASSING YDS (NET) Passes Att-Comp-Int TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS Fumble Returns-Yards-TD Punt Returns-Yards-TD Kickoff Returns-Yards-TD Interception Returns-Yards-TD Punts (Number-Avg) Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Possession Time Third-Down Conversions Fourth-Down Conversions Red-Zone Scores-Chances Sacks By: Number-Yards
AR MS 24 9 33-102 31-84 364 79 35-28-0 18-9-1 68-466 49-163 0-0-0 0-0-0 8-188-2 1-15-0 1-18-0 4-95-0 1-12-0 0-0-0 2-41.0 8-45.9 3-1 1-0 8-76 4-25 31:29 28:31 6 of 12 1 of 11 2 of 2 1 of 1 4-4 0-1 2-17 3-15
RUSHING: Missouri State - Chris Douglas 18-72; Stephe Johnston 7-15; Mitchel Jenkins 1-6; Kierra Harris 5-(-9) Arkansas - Ronnie Wingo Jr. 11-43; De’Anthony Curtis 5-37; Kody Walker 9-33; Brandon Mitchell 3-5; Tyler Wilson 4-(-5); Team 1-(-11) PASSING: Missouri State - Kierra Harris 8-14-1-70; Mitchel Jenkins 1-4-0-9 Arkansas - Tyler Wilson 18-24-0-260; Brandon Mitchell 10-11-0-104 RECEIVING: Missouri State - Dorian Buford 2-19; Julian Burton 2-7; Jermain Saffold 1-33; Robert Fields 1-17; Chris Douglas 1-4; Matt Thayer 1-1; Stephe Johnston 1-(-2) Arkansas - Jarius Wright 6-108; Chris Cragg 4-18; Ronnie Wingo Jr. 3-51; Cobi Hamilton 3-38; Marquel Wade 3-28; Julian Horton 3-23; Greg Childs 2-29; Javontee Hernden 1-41; Joe Adams 1-11; Austin Tate 1-10; Kiero Small 1-7
SCORING SUMMARY Missouri State Arkansas
1 2 3 4 F 0 0 7 0 7 20 10 14 7 51
1st Quarter 10:32 AR - Jarius Wright 33 yd pass from Tyler Wilson (Zach Hocker kick), 10-80 4:28 7:52 AR - Joe Adams 61 yd punt return (Zach Hocker kick failed) 0:51 AR - Kody Walker 1 yd run (Zach Hocker kick), 12-70 5:21 2nd Quarter 5:01 AR - Chris Gragg 3 yd pass from Brandon Mitchell (Zach Hocker kick), 7-46 3:08 0:14 AR - Zach Hocker 32 yd field goal, 10-63 2:42 3rd Quarter 6:17 AR - Jarius Wright 29 yd pass from Tyler Wilson (Zach Hocker kick), 10-90 5:09 4:15 AR - Joe Adams 69 yd punt return (Zach Hocker kick) 0:45 MOST - Jermain Saffold 33 yd pass from Kierra Harris (Austin Witmer kick), 1-33 0:09 4th Quarter 12:20 AR - Kody Walker 1 yd run (Zach Hocker kick), 8-73 3:25