Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

9/4/2011 at 8:54am

Image by Mark Wagner

FAYETTEVILLE — Without getting too giddy about a 44-point win over a weak Football Championship Subdivision program, Arkansas' fans still will have a hard time pointing out too many glaring problems with the Razorbacks' performance at Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Saturday night. Coaches, on the other hand, will have a film study that will be more revealing. But the 51-7 final score, a 44-point margin over Missouri State, is probably where UA players, fans and coaches alike saw this one going.

Bobby Petrino wasn't going to put some ridiculous, attention-grabbing score up on the undermanned neighbors from Springfield, Mo., so the Hogs hit that first marker.

Senior Joe Adams provided the electrifying excitement with a Southeastern Conference record-tying two punt returns for touchdowns (61, 69 yards) and four more that had 70,607 fans up and screaming. Senior Jarius Wright made the difficult look routine twice for touchdown catches of 33 and 29 yards. The latter had an unbelieving official ruling the play incomplete before replay showed otherwise, that Wright had indeed held on while his left foot landed inbounds.

Junior quarterback Tyler Wilson surely eased some fans concerns about whether he could step in for Ryan Mallett, the Hogs' starter the past two years.

The group under the gun was the Razorback defense, where their demanding head coach, Bobby Petrino, expected domination. The defense apparently has made "three-and-out" its motto, donning T-shirts with those words on them.

"Three-and-out every time is our goal," senior defensive end Jake Bequette said. "Anytime you're doing that and getting our offense back there or getting Joe Adams back there on return team, that's pretty dangerous."

So, it was "mission accomplished" on the defensive side, and then some, with total control of the line of scrimmage in the first half. The intensity may have fallen off a little in the second half after the Hogs had taken a 30-0 lead into halftime.

"I'm proud of our defense," Petrino said in his postgame press conference. "I think we had six three-and-outs and gave up one first down in the first half." The first four series for the Bears went: 3 plays, 2 yards; 3 plays, minus-4 yards; 3 plays, 4 yards; 3 plays, minus-18 yards.

Missouri State moved the chain once late in the first half thanks to a facemask penalty on Hog senior safety Tramain Thomas, but then the Hogs got the Bears off the field in three plays. Missouri State didn't have a drive longer than 6 plays, or 33 yards, until the final 13-play, 66-yard march against Hog reserves.

"We came out of the locker room playing the way we should," Petrino said.

He wasn't as complimentary of his offense's start, which included some sideline confusion and two timeouts called during the first series. But Arkansas still scored on four of its five first-half drives, and scored again on the first possession of the second half: Wilson's well-managed 90-yard march in 10 plays.

If Arkansas' defensive goal was a shutout, which would have been the program's first since 2006, it ended with 45 seconds left in the third quarter following the one Razorback lost fumble of the game at the Arkansas 33. Texarkana product Kierra Harris found Jermain Saffold behind little backup corner Greg Gatson in the end zone on the first snap after the miscue.

"We gave up a touchdown late and that's very disappointing," Bequette said. "I think tomorrow when I wake up, overall, I'll feel pretty good about the performance."

Even surrendering that one big play, Arkansas' defense allowed 96 yards through three quarters. The Missouri State touchdown doubled its yardage through the air by that point.

Missouri State converted one of 11 third downs. All that was missing in positive defense statistics was a plus turnover margin: Jerico Nelson's interception offset the Razorbacks' one lost fumble.

Arkansas harassed the speedy but raw freshman, Harris, who was pushed into the starting role with the one-game suspension of sophomore starter Trevor Wooden for a violation of Missouri State team rules last spring. The Hogs had tackles rotating en masse to take away the inside running, and the ends got free for pressure.

"We looked fast on the edges," Petrino said, singling out Bequette, Tenarius Wright and Chris Smith's work.

Another defensive standout was newcomer Alonzo Highsmith at outside linebacker. The Hogs added the junior college transfer in the off-season. "He showed up in his ability to run and tackle," Petrino said.

Even the running game that managed just 84 yards — shades of the first third of last season before Knile Davis came on — wasn't enough to bother Petrino. "Everything they did was to blitz and stop the run and when they do that you throw the football."

So Arkansas did just that, to the tune of 364 yards, the kind of day a guy like Mallett often would have had the past two years. Saturday night, Wilson combined with sophomore Brandon Mitchell to move it through the air. Wilson was the more efficient of the two, hitting 18 of 24 passes for 260 yards. The four incompletions in an otherwise solid first half: a hurried throw under a rare moment of duress, a missed interference call on the Bears, and two smart throwaways in the red zone where no one, especially an opponent, could catch them.

And, with Davis lost for the season, there still was enough promise in the run game to indicate that Arkansas isn't going backward in that phase. Freshman Kody Walker had a bullish 33 yards on 9 carries and two touchdowns, and the reestablished senior DeAnthony Curtis, who hasn't been trusted to run since a critical fumble during his freshman season at Kentucky, showed the good instincts are still there with 37 yards on 5 carries.

The bar is set awfully high in a opener where the opponent is so undermanned, but Arkansas did nothing to fall short of any expectations.

Award-winning columnist Jim Harris wasn’t around when Hugo Bezdek named the Razorbacks, it only seems that way. His acumen for UA football history is renowned and he has covered the Hogs and the state sports scene since 1976. He knows his way around music and food, too. Email: jharris@abpg.com, and follow Jim on Twitter @jimharris360

Tagged: DeAnthony Curtis, Kody Walker, Ronnie Wingo, Jarius Wright, Joe Adams, Tyler Wilson, Tenarius Wright, Bobby Petrino, Jake Bequette, Chris Smith, Alonzo Highsmith