Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

10/30/2010 at 10:59pm

Image by Mark Wagner

Arkansas linebacker Jerry Franklin forces a fumble in the end zone against Vanderbilt. The play resulted in a safety and helped the Razorbacks in their 49-14 victory.

ARKANSAS 49, VANDERBILT 14
Why Arkansas Won Arkansas was simply better. And after giving up two early touchdowns, the Razorbacks settled in and dominated in just about every way imaginable. The defense scored nine points and held Vanderbilt to 23 yards after the first quarter. Offensively, Arkansas was just as dominant, piling up 555 yards.

Gamebreaker
Arkansas didn’t have a full complement of receivers on Saturday against Vanderbilt. And Ryan Mallett still managed to have a record-setting night.

Mallett finished 27 of 44 for 409 yards and three touchdowns. He appeared to be healthy after missing the second half the last two weeks because of a concussion (Auburn) and bruised shoulder (Ole Miss).

Injury Update
Wide receiver Greg Childs left the game for a second consecutive week with an injury. Team medical personnel had to help him walk off the field after a 39-yard catch in the fourth quarter.

Childs appeared to injury his knee on the play. Coach Bobby Petrino had no update on Childs’ condition immediately after the game.

In A Funk
Vanderbilt racked up 130 yards in the first quarter. The Commodores led 14-6. Inexplicably, they chose to switch quarterbacks for a series in the second quarter and it was all down hill from there.

Larry Smith, who engineered the two scoring drives, was pulled in favor of Jared Funk. Arkansas got an interception from Rudell Crim when Funk entered the game.

Vanderbilt managed minus-2 yards in the second quarter. Arkansas outscored the Commodores 26-0 after Funk’s interception.

Funk made another appearance in the fourth quarter. He was intercepted by Jerico Nelson, who went 39 yards for a touchdown and a 49-14 Arkansas lead.

Crip Hall Winner
Media awarded the Crip Hall Award to tight end D.J. Williams. The award is given annually to the top senior performer in the homecoming game.

Williams finished with four catches for 32 yards and a touchdown. It was Williams’ first touchdown catch of the season.

Jump Shot
Did you know Jarius Wright was a multi-sport standout at Warren? In addition to football he also played basketball and he showed off his shooting touch against Vanderbilt.

Wright shot a fall away jumper in celebration of his second touchdown of the first half.

It wasn’t quite Matt Jones dunking over the cross bar in 2004, but it was an entertaining basketball-themed celebration nonetheless. Jones “dunked” to celebrate a 72-yard run against LSU Ole Miss.

Wright, by the way, had reason to celebrate. He enjoyed the first multi-touchdown game of his career, finishing with six catches for 87 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Take Two
A bad snap left Arkansas without an extra point on its first score of the game. Instead of going for two, the Razorbacks were content to take the extra points.

It worked out just fine. Arkansas got its two points later in the game thanks to a safety. Jerry Franklin forced a fumble in the end zone that was recovered by Vanderbilt. That helped the Razorbacks to a 22-14 lead.

Flag Day?
Entering the weekend no team in the SEC had been penalized more than Arkansas. Bet the Razorbacks keep that distinction.

Officials flagged Arkansas 13 times for 130 yards.

That Was Ugly
There are moments the Arkansas offense looks unstoppable. And then other times…

It’s hard to imagine a worse offensive series than one the Razorbacks had in the first half. Arkansas was called for a chop block and a false start, then had a dropped pass and allowed a sack.

Not surprisingly, the drive ended in a punt.

Up Next
Arkansas travels to face South Carolina. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.

Quotable
“It was a good win for us. I thought coming off of last week’s game, we put a lot into that. It challenges your maturity. It challenges your ability to focus and not have letdowns. I thought we practiced well this week.”—Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino

Tagged: Arkansas Razorbacks, Vanderbilt Commodores