Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

10/16/2010 at 8:13pm

Image by Will Flowers

Quarterback Tyler Wilson and offensive lineman Ray Dominguez walk off the field at Auburn following a late turnover. Auburn won 65-43.

AUBURN, Ala. - Long after Jordan-Hare Stadium had emptied, and with the scoreboard lights still showing Auburn having scored 65 points, it would be easy to think the Arkansas defense was a no-show Saturday. However, try the Razorback kicking game as maybe as much if not more of a culprit. Only in extra-point kicks did the Hogs not botch something in the kicking game all day.

The Hogs allowed a punt to be blocked for the first time all season. That set up a 3-play, 25-yard scoring drive for the Tigers.

They allowed an average of 44 yards per kickoff return on five kicks, with one being brought 99 yards by Onterio McCalebb (and he still didn't score, but the Tigers did three plays later).

Arkansas, meanwhile, had 10 kick returns and averaged 17.9 per return, and that included a long of 32 by Cobi Hamilton. Hamilton had replaced the ineffective Joe Adams as the returner early on in the second quarter, but  several of Hamilton's runbacks didn't reach the Hog 15. Hamilton is a track burner; it's not like he was waltzing up field with the ball. Auburn's kickoff team appeared small to the eye, but the Hogs didn't seem to block many of the Tigers.

"We got beat in the kicking game," Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said. "No question, they got a huge advantage in, special teams, with the great return, held us to no returns. It was a big difference in the field position and really made a big difference in the outcome of the game."

When Arkansas had jumped ahead 7-0 halfway through the first quarter, Auburn had just 53 yards to answer following Demond Washington's 47-yard run back. After Arkansas climbed back to within two, 30-28, with 5:40 left in the third quarter, the coverage completely broke down on the right side and McCalebb had clear sailing until the Hogs' Ramon Broadway tripped him up at the 1.

Consider that both Arkansas' kickoff man, Alex Tejada, and Auburn's Wes Byrum, who also had three field goals on the day, averaged nearly the same on kicks: 68.1 yards for Tejada on seven, Byrum 67.8 on his 11. Auburn kicked Arkansas all around on returns, both running them back and defending them.

Did returner Dennis Johnson, now out with a season-ending injury to his bowel on a kickoff return in week 2, mean that much to the return game? Did the season-ending absence of blocker Seth Armburst, a walk-on, mean that Arkansas had no one left to give the returner some space? Considering the damage Alabama did on kick returns three weeks ago in Fayetteville, are the Hogs' reserves not up to par?

Does Arkansas' kicking game need a serious look before Ole Miss comes to Fayetteville next week?

Auburn sent eight men through the wide gaps of Arkansas punt line in the second quarter, but it was a man off the edge, Antonio Goodwin, who got his hand on Dylan Breeding's punt, and the ball caromed out of bounds at the 25. Before the kick, Breeding appeared a couple of yards closer to the line than normal. One yard closer, or a slow delivery from the deep snapper, was all Auburn needed with its outside speed.

Still, Arkansas didn't buckle on a gaffe and ensuing score that could have put the Hogs out then and there.

Down 27-21 at halftime, the Hogs rode the temporarily magic arm of little used sophomore Tyler Wilson to take a 43-37 lead early in the fourth quarter. Then, an Auburn scoring drive followed by back-to-back turnovers - one a Broderick Green fumble directly returned 47 yards for a touchdown, the second an interception of Wilson that gave the Tigers possession on the UA 7 -- just as suddenly turn this game completely the Tigers way.

Little Rock native Mike Dyer, a freshman running back who had barely played Saturday, reportedly because of an injured knee, added the final insult with a 38-yard run right up the tired defense's gut for the final Auburn touchdown.

Up until then, the Hogs defense had a devil of a time dealing with Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, who rushed for 189 yards on 25 carries. In the third quarter, it finally appeared the Hogs defense had figured out Newton and some of his misdirection handoffs. He drove the Tigers to the go-ahead score, 44-43, but then the Arkansas defense wouldn't see the field again until down by 8 and with Newton and the Tigers knocking on the door at the Arkansas 7.

Arkansas' statistically strong defense coming in gave up 330 yards rushing, a 6.7 yards per snap. Newton also completed 10 of 14 passes for 140 yards.

Wilson was marvelous for more than a quarter, at one time completing 14 passes in a row and 15 of 17 as Arkansas stormed into the lead.  However, Wilson also showed that maybe he's better equipped to run the "Shot" formation than is Mallett, and his elusiveness kept many plays alive. He converted more clutch third-down plays than Arkansas has managed in the previous five games.

"He had a lot of poise. He really executed well, he was concentrating, focusing, making plays," Petrino said. His receivers, particularly Joe Adams and Greg Childs, seemed to step up big for Wilson over a 22-minute period.

"The way our players rallied around him and the way they went out there to compete and try to help Tyler, it was good to see."

The sophomore from Greenwood would cool off, particularly when Auburn's defense adjusted by dropping is middle linebacker deeper, and he'd finish 25 of 34 for 332 yards, but with two fourth-quarter interceptions.

When Arkansas's players and staff review the 2010 season, they'll surely lament fourth-quarter turnovers against Alabama and now Auburn.

And still with all the kicking game problems and first-half offensive breakdowns, then learning that their one-time Heisman hopeful quarterback, Ryan Mallett, wouldn't be back because of a concussion and hurt ribs, the Hogs still showed some heart and made it a game all the way until 9 minutes remained. As any coach in the SEC hopes to accomplish each Saturday, Petrino's Razorbacks reached the fourth quarter with a chance to win.

"Obviously, we didn't get it done," Petrino said.

They piled up a season high of 566 yards total offense, and yet lost by 22 points - and not just because the defense could not consistently stop Cam Newton. Surely that didn't help, but Arkansas was beaten by Auburn in many phases of the game.

Tagged: Dylan Breeding, Cobi Hamilton, Joe Adams, Ryan Mallett, Tyler Wilson, Bobby Petrino