Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

9/4/2010 at 11:36pm

Image by Will Flowers

Arkansas tailback Dennis Johnson averaged 20.0 yards per carry against Tennessee Tech. The Razorbacks as a team averaged 7.0 yards per carry in a 44-3 victory.

ARKANSAS 44, TENNESSEE TECH 3
WHY THE RAZORBACKS WON
Talent took over. Despite a slow start, a pair of interceptions, a handful of missed tackles and assorted other mistakes — including a dropped touchdown pass in the end zone — No. 17 Arkansas was much better than its Football Championship Subdivision opponent. Ryan Mallett completed 87.5 percent of his passes; the running backs averaged 7.0 yards per carry and the defense held Tennessee Tech scoreless for the final three quarters. It wasn’t dominating from the start, but it ended that way.

GAMEBREAKER
Not that the game was ever in doubt, but Arkansas started slow and needed some sort of spark, clinging to a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter. Linebacker Jerry Franklin and cornerback Ramon Broadway provided it when they chased down Tennessee Tech’s Jocqu Crawford for a safety. The play gave the Razorbacks a 9-3 lead with 13:46 remaining in the first half and they then cashed in on a free possession with a touchdown that pushed the lead to 16-3. Arkansas could rest easy from there.

SLOW START
Dennis Johnson took one look at the halftime rushing statistics and felt compelled to say something to the rest of the team’s running backs. Seeing 13 carries for 51 yards wasn’t at all what the group envisioned and Johnson wasn’t going to be quiet about it.

“We shouldn’t have 13 rushes for 50-something yards,” he said he told them. “We’ve got to run this ball, so further on this season and down the line we can keep getting the ball.”

Johnson’s pep talk must have worked. Arkansas ran for 145 yards after halftime and Johnson nearly matched the total first-half output with a  49-yard run in the third quarter.

By the end of the night the team finished with 28 attempts for 196 yards, an average of 7.0 yards per carry. Johnson, Ronnie Wingo Jr. and Broderick Green each finished with one rushing touchdown.

NEW HOME
What took so long to get Anthony Leon to weak side linebacker?

Leon, who spent last year and part of fall camp at safety, looked like a natural fit for linebacker on Saturday. He had a team-high eight tackles, including four for a loss and two sacks.

“He took to it right away,” Petrino said. “And he’s playing with confidence right now.”

Leon continues to enjoy the position. He said he’s feeling comfortable with switch despite never playing linebacker before.

KICKING IT
Consistently finding the end zone was problematic for Arkansas kickers the last two seasons. Alex Tejada had no such troubles to open 2010.

Tejada put every one of his kickoffs into the end zone and four ended in touchbacks.

“He’s been doing that all fall,” Petrino said.

Tejada handled kickoffs, while freshman Zach Hocker was given placekicking duties. Hocker did not attempt a field goal, but was 4-for-4 on extra points.

NO ORDINARY JOE
Every Joe Adams touchdown elicits a similar response from Bobby Petrino:

“I say it every time: ‘We’ve got to get Joe the ball more,’” Petrino said, following another impressive performance form Adams. Arkansas got 138 yards and two touchdowns on six catches from the junior receiver.

Adams recorded the longest touchdown catch of his career. He and Ryan Mallett hooked up on an 85-yard scoring play in the first half.

“I was happy for the first game,” Adams said. “This game is behind me. I’m ready to move on.”

MALLETT WATCH
Ryan Mallett seemed to pick up where he left off last season. The Heisman hopeful completed 21 of 24 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns in a little less than three quarters of work.

Mallett had touchdown passes of 85, 3 and 15 yards.

At one point Mallett was 15 of 17 for 251 yards and one touchdown. His incomplete passes over his first 17 attempts were a ball tipped by Tennessee Tech for an interception and a dropped touchdown pass in the end zone by De’Anthony Curtis.

Records set: UA credited Mallett with tying a “record” for most TD passes in a season opener.

“He did some really good things,” Petrino said “ He completed balls and made some good decisions. Our completion percentage is what we wanted.”

MISSING IN ACTION
Defensive tackle Zach Stadther not only didn’t play, he appeared not to have dressed out for the game. Stadther has been working with the scout team in practice despite starting 16 games over the previous two seasons.

Petrino would not elaborate on why Stadther was not around.

“Our policy this year is to talk about the guys that play and the guys that practice,” Petrino said.

QUOTABLE
“We have to come out of the gates faster next week. We didn’t come out fast enough.”
—Razorbacks quarterback Ryan Mallett on falling behind 3-0 to Tennessee Tech.

UP NEXT
No. 17 Arkansas faces Louisiana-Monroe in Little Rock. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Tagged: Arkansas Razorbacks, Bobby Petrino, Ryan Mallett, Heisman Trophy, Dennis Johnson, Broderick Green, Knile Davis, Anthony Leon, Ronnie Wingo Jr.