Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

11/13/2011 at 8:03am

Image by Mark Wagner

Dennis Johnson and the Arkansas running game were impressive in a 49-7 victory against Tennessee. Johnson had 97 yards on the ground and a couple of touchdowns.

Joe Adams being Joe Adams on a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown was barely an hour old when video of it began popping up online. Professional grade or taped off the TV with a cell phone it didn’t matter, people wanted to watch it.

Same went for Jarius Wright’s juggling, diving catch with a defender draped over him. People couldn’t watch it enough and it was posted on national sites and local blogs alike well before No. 8 Arkansas had ended its 49-7 victory against Tennessee. 

Both figure to be YouTube sensations. Either were strong candidates not just for play of the week, but year.

Not likely to go viral, but vitally important to closing out the game — and potentially the season — strong was the way Arkansas ran the football. For the first time in 2011, the Razorbacks had more rushing yards (254) than passing (245). You have to go back to a 38-31 victory against Mississippi State in 2010 for last time the run game actually outgained the passing attack.

That won’t get you on the Internet, but it will win you ball games. And it could — with Stanford and Boise State losing — gain the team ground with voters, who will be hard pressed to ignore the yards and points posted by the Razorbacks (9-1, 5-1).

Arkansas now has a chance at consecutive 10-win seasons for the first time since joining the SEC. Bobby Petrino’s fourth team now joins 10 others in program history to reach the nine-win plateau.

Success has come much of the year in spite of the running game. On Saturday it was because of the running game and the Razorbacks have to hope that continues.

They'll need another night like they got from Dennis Johnson, who ended the night with 97 yards and two touchdowns. His 71-yard touchdown made it 21-0 and was a career-best effort. Tennessee (4-6, 0-6) was still hanging around when Johnson ran for 15 yards. Both were impressive because of the way Johnson picked up yards after contact.

Johnson averaged 8.8 yards per carry, which believe it or not, wasn’t even the best on the team against a vulnerable Volunteers defense. That honor went to — get this — Broderick Green, whose long of 40 allowed him to average 14.7 yards per carry, or about 14.0 yards per carry more than usual.

All four running backs to get touches — Johnson, Green, De’Anthony Curtis and Ronnie Wingo Jr. — had a long of at least 19 yards.

Quarterback Tyler Wilson described the night on the ground as “awesome.”

Degree of difficult does decrease a bit when taking into consideration how bad the Volunteers are. Tennessee is no doubt in rebuilding mode under Derek Dooley and tackled as poorly as any team the Razorbacks have or will face in 2011.

Why all the excitement about a big performance against a bad team? Because running the ball well — even against a struggling team — is improvement. It's a sign the Razorbacks just might be saving their best for the last of the regular season one more time.

Arkansas was able to open up the play-action components of its playbook. In turn we saw a healthy number of crossing routes from the Razorbacks, which are as crucial to success in the Bobby Petrino offense as anything else the offense does to move the football.

“When the run game is rolling, those deep play-action passes show up,” offensive coordinator Garrick McGee said.

Wilson wasn’t as crisp as usual, completing just over 50 percent of his passes with an interception in the first half. By the end of the night, though, Wilson was back near 62 percent in completions and tossed two of his three touchdowns in the second half.

Seeing the efficiency and balance from Arkansas should excite fans as much as those highlight-reel plays from Wright and Adams. In fact, considering how often Wright and Adams turn in those types of performances, the running game production is really what should be drawing the oohs and ahs.

Running well and really opening things up against Tennessee doesn’t guarantee those things will happen next week against Mississippi State in Little Rock or in two weeks at LSU. What it does promise is both teams have additional threats to worry about stopping.

Threaten balance and Arkansas is difficult to slow down. Achieve balance and the Razorbacks are near impossible to stop.

“I really like it when we start cranking up the running game,” Petrino said. “That helps us be a complete football team."

Plays like Wright and Adams made will get your team featured on the highlight polls. Run the football like the Razorbacks did on Saturday, win big and it'll get your team a prime spot in the rankings that genuinely matter.

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ArkansasSports360.com editor Chris Bahn has won several awards you’ve probably never heard of, but are kinda cool. Not, however, as cool as his two beagles, Hoops and Sugar, who you might occasionally hear join Bahn during his multiple weekly radio appearances in Fayetteville, Little Rock, Jonesboro and Fort Smith. For more details on those appearances follow CBahn on Twitter and check our Facebook page for ArkansasSports360.com.

Tagged: De'Anthony Curtis, Tyler Wilson, Ronnie Wingo Jr., Arkansas Razorbacks, Bobby Petrino, Dennis Johnson, Garrick McGee, Broderick Green