Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

11/27/2010 at 7:56pm

Image by Mark Wagner

Ryan Mallett set the school record for career touchdowns with 60. He needed only two seasons (25 games) to break Clint Stoerner's record.

WHY ARKANSAS WON
A mix of opportunistic play-calling and crucial defensive stops helped the No. 12 Razorbacks overcome a rough special teams day and No. 5 LSU. Quarterback Ryan Mallett thrw for three touchdowns, while running back Knile Davis continued his late-season surge and picked up 152 yards on 30 carries and a touchdown. Davis and Broderick Green combined for nine consecutive runs late to milk the clock and protect the Razorbacks’ lead with 55,808 watching at War Memorial Stadium. Cobi Hamilton had three cathes for 164 yards and two touchdowns. Arkansas (10-2, 6-2) clinched just its fifth 10-win regular season since 1979 and only its second since 1989.

GAMEBREAKER
Bobby Petrino’s play-calling — and the team’s execution — was the difference ultimately. Petrino went for a score with six seconds left in the first half, and an 80-yard catch and run by Cobi Hamilton through the LSU defense gave the Razorbacks a 21-14 lead entering the locker room. Petrino later had the Razorbacks go for it on fourth down and 3 with 14:10 remaining in the game, and a surprise 39-yard pass to Joe Adams behind an LSU defender allowed the Razorbacks to extend their lead to 28-20.

RECORD BREAKER
If Ryan Mallett leaves after two years at Arkansas, he had more than enough time to leave his mark. Mallett ends the regular season with 60 career touchdowns, taking over the top spot in the Razorback record books from Clint Stoerner.

Mallett, who has said he idolized Stoerner growing up, became only the fourth quarterback in SEC history to throw for 3,000 yards and 30 touchdowns in consecutive seasons. He now has 36 school or stadium records.

GOING BOWLING
Possibilities remain for Arkansas when it comes to bowl destinations. It could hinge on how the Auburn-South Carolina matchup turns out in the SEC championship game.

Auburn wins and Arkansas is going to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl.

Clearly, though, Saturday’s game was of interest for scouts. Representatives were on hand from the Sugar, Capital One, Cotton and Chick-Fil-A bowls.

When Arkansas clinched the victory, the stadium PA blared the song “Pour Some Sugar on Me.” Sugar Bowl reps were outside the Arkansas locker room after the game mingling with UA administrators, players and coaches.

STAR POWER
Rogers native Joe Nichols sang the national anthem. Nichols, who had a No. 1 country hit in the spring, wore a Ryan Mallett jersey.

Free agent pitching ace Cliff Lee, a Benton native and former Razorback, led a Hog Call in between the first and second quarters. Lee, who recently pitched for the Texas Rangers in the World Series, was joined on the field by his family.

TIME MANAGEMENT
LSU used three timeouts late in the first half in hopes of having time to make a late push for a score. It didn’t work out quite like Tigers coach Les Miles hoped.

It was Arkansas that wound up with time for a late score. The Razorbacks took over with six seconds left in the first half, and Ryan Mallett found Cobi Hamilton for an 80-yard touchdown with no time on the clock.

Hamilton’s score allowed Arkansas to take a 21-14 lead into halftime. Hamilton earlier had scored on an 85-yard catch and run down the left sideline when an LSU safety gambled on the play and left clear sailing for the sophomore receiver.

UNSPECIAL TEAMS
Bobby Petrino said Arkansas “survived” on special teams. That was a kind way to put it.

Special teams blunders happened throughout the day. Arkansas had a muffed punt that nearly gave LSU possession deep in the Hogs' end, gave up huge kickoff returns to LSU's speedy Patrick Peterson, missed a field goal and fumbled a punt snap.

SPEAKING OUT
"I worked for Coach Smith a long time and we always had a saying, ‘We didn’t come to paint, we came to win the game.' We went for it."
— Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino on going all-out for a victory. Petrino was referring to special teams coach John L. Smith.

SPEAKING OUT II
"It swung the momentum completely around. [LSU] went into halftime knowing we weren’t [messing around] and were for real. It gave us a boost in the locker room."
— Cobi Hamilton on his 80-yard touchdown just before halftime. Arkansas took a 21-14 lead on the play and did not relinquish the lead from there.

UP NEXT
Arkansas is going bowling. Where that is remains to be determined and could depend on the outcome of next week’s Auburn-South Carolina matchup in the SEC Championship game.

Tagged: Arkansas Razorbacks, Jim Harris, Bobby Petrino, Ryan Mallett, Garrick McGee, Knile Davis, Capital One Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, sugar bowl