Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

11/12/2011 at 9:54pm

Image by Mark Wagner

Joe Adams' 60-yard return was one of numerous big plays by the Razorbacks in a 49-7 victory against Tennessee. Arkansas improved to 9-1, 5-1 with the victory.

FAYETTEVILLE — A college head football coach probably dreams that every one of his graduating seniors will step up big on Senior Day. Rarely does it actually transpire.

But it's hard to find one Razorback senior among the 17 on the roster, who were all honored prior to kickoff Saturday, who didn't have a hand in the Hogs' 49-7 rout of Tennessee at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

Senior Razorback receiver Jarius Wright broke Anthony Eubanks' 14-year-old school record for career receptions and senior teammate Joe Adams tied it. Wright tied the record with a catch sure to make the highlight reel for the entire college season — a three-tip effort that he finally held on to by his fingertips on the fourth touch with the ball an inch from the ground.

Adams outran the Vols' secondary for the game's dagger, a 40-yard pass from Tyler Wilson delivered perfectly in front of the goal post five yards into the end zone to run the Hogs' lead to 35-7. But certain to be the most talked about play for years to come was the whirling dervish's wild, 60-yard punt return for a score late in the first quarter.

"It was a good win for us," Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said. "It's a great way to send out our seniors and it's a great group of young men who have done a lot for the program. To win the game the way we did tonight is a great way to send them out for their last game in Fayetteville ... We played well in all three phases. It was a good team win for us."

Ahead for 9-1 Arkansas, which could move to as high as No. 6 in the next BCS poll, is Mississippi State in Little Rock next Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and against No. 1 LSU in Baton Rouge on Nov. 25 at 1:30 p.m. Both games are CBS national television games.

A 21-7 lead at halftime still seemed precarious because the Volunteers had threatened three times but twice failed to come away with points. Tennessee tried to catch Arkansas napping early with a fake field goal attempt from the Hogs' 25, but placekicker Michael Palardy didn't have anyone open, and his pass attempt fell harmlessly incomplete.

Threatening from the Hogs' 5 in the final minute of the first half, Vols quarterback Justin Worley was hurried in the pocket by senior defensive end Jake Bequette, and his try toward the goal line was slightly off line and picked off by senior safety Tramain Thomas. Thomas led Arkansas with 10 tackles, had one of the Hogs' five tackles for loss and broke up another pass.

"That was a great momentum saver for us," Petrino said of the interception.

Tennessee's lone touchdown, an 11-yard end around carry by Rajion Neal, was set up three plays earlier on a 50-yard catch by Neal behind freshman cornerback Tevin Mitchel, after the Hogs had pulled out to a 21-0 lead.

The Vols had plays of 18 and 15 yards — the latter an odd overrule of the call on the field from the replay booth when the Hogs' Alonzo Highsmith appeared to separate Da'Rick Rogers from the ball at the UA 22 — on their first possession, only to get nothing. In the second half, they couldn't make a 48-yard catch and run by Rogers turn into points when the score was still 21-7, and they also made nothing more out of Marlin Lane's 45-yard run from the shotgun formation to the Hogs' 35 when the margin had reached 28.

Tennessee, when it wasn't shanking punts, failed on three fourth-down gambles, and the Vols defense seemed to let go of the rope after the last one.

That allowed senior running backs Broderick Green and little-used De'Anthony Curtis to post highlight plays of their own — Green single-handedly moved the Hogs 53 yards in three plays to run the score to 42-7, including a 40-yard ramble and a 10-yard catch and ballet dance by the big man down the left sideline. The slight Curtis bulled his way through the middle for 26 yards and the final Razorback touchdown.

Leading up to that, it was the Jarius and Joe show, with Wright's record-tying volley-catch and a had-to-see-it-to-believe-it punt return by Adams electrifying the crowd of 72,103 fans.

And junior Dennis Johnson let the fans know that more big plays could be coming next year when he reeled off a 71-yard blast through the left side, roaring past a couple of diving Vols in the secondary to give the Hogs a 21-0 lead. He broke two tackles through a Tennessee run blitz on the same left side for a 15-yard run in the third quarter that made it 28-7.

In the late going, the public address announcer was reeling off names of seniors who don't see a lot of action, such as backup linebacker Bret Harris nearly getting an interception, or Curtis grinding for yardage as the Hogs hurried the fourth quarter to its end. Others who have surprisingly stepped up in their last year, such as starting corner Greg Gatson, made nice plays in pass coverage.

If there was any hope for Tennessee, it was knowing that only seven seniors were on the Volunteers two-deep roster Saturday. Most of the players making, or missing, plays all night for Tennessee — light years away from the 1990s version built by Johnny Majors and Phil Fulmer — were sophomores and freshmen.

Unlike the Volunteers, when the Razorbacks made a big play, it usually led to points. Only once did the Hogs have a play of 40 or more yards that didn't eventually produce a score — Wright's amazing record-tying catch was followed by the Warren product being unable to handle maybe the easiest short pass he's had all year, and the Hogs had to settle for a field goal try that Zach Hocker hooked left.

Arkansas had 15 plays of 14 or more yards and nine plays of 20 or more yards. Including Adams' punt return, five plays went for 40 or more yards for the Hogs.

Wright put the Razorbacks on the board first, working open across the middle in front of the goal line while Wilson bought time, then zipped a bullet his way. Wright carried his defender into the end zone on the 7-yard score.

Adams, the senior out of Central Arkansas Christian, then made the highlight play in a season of incredible returns and across-the-field scampers.

In the final seconds of the first quarter, he fielded a Tennessee punt at his 40, tried to go to his right, where the Vols had Adams hemmed in. He made a 180-degree turn and headed left, where it looked like he was destined for a big loss as defenders closed in. Adams then turned back to the right again, worked his way out of at least five arm tackles and some grabs at his feet, found himself open in front of the Hogs' bench, avoided stepping out of bounds, and then raced untouched. Officially it was a 60-yard play.

Old-timers might recall Nebraska sensation Johnny Rodgers of the early 1970s. As great as he was, nothing Rodgers did was any better than this Adams return Saturday against the Vols. As determined and as amazing as Wright's record-tying catch was, Adams' punt return has to be one for the all-time Hog "Great Plays" film.

"It ranks way up there" with the best he'd seen, Bobby Petrino said later. "It's one of those where you're saying, 'Don't run backward, ooh, OK, oh my gosh, touchdown.' It's an amazing play and you saw his athleticism. He's been making plays like that all year long for us."

But on Saturday night, even some Razorback seniors who had barely seen action were making big plays as they left Tennessee's defenders gasping and frustrated. The only statistic Tennessee won was the time of possession, by 15 minutes.

"We had a lot of big plays," Petrino said. "You don't have the ball much when you have big plays."

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: Southeastern Conference, Tyler Wilson, Tennessee Volunteers, Jarius Wright, Joe Adams, Broderick Green, De'Anthony Curtis, Bret Harris, Tramain Thomas, Jake Bequette, Derek Dooley, Bobby Petrino