The Bret Bielema era began with a bang on a steamy Saturday afternoon at Donald W Reynolds Razorback Stadium, as Arkansas easily defeated Louisiana 34-14 while racking up 522 yards of total offense.
Sophomore Jonathan Williams and true freshman Alex Collins combined for 282 yards on 39 carries, for an average of 7.2 yards per carry. With 131 yards, Collins was the first true freshman to have over 100 yards in his collegiate debut for the Razorbacks since Felix Jones did it in 2005.
“What you guys saw today is what I’ve been seeing all fall camp,” head coach Bret Bielema said. “No one takes it more serious than (Williams). He is very gifted and he’s going to flourish in our system. And Alex is obviously a guy that can change the game in a single cut.”
The Razorbacks got on the board first with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a six-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Allen to Javontee Herndon.
Despite two false start penalties, Arkansas moved the ball with ease. The first seven plays of the drive were run plays, and resulted in 62 yards. Tight ends Jeremy Sprinkle and Hunter Henry each had a reception in the red zone, before Herndon caught the first touchdown of the game.
“I thought the way we started off offensively…was huge,” Bielema said.
Louisiana responded by driving all the way to the Arkansas 10 yard line. Cornerback Will Hines broke up a would-be touchdown pass by quarterback Terrance Broadway on third down and forced a Ragin’ Cajun field goal attempt, which Stephen Brauchle missed.
After a quick three-and-out by Arkansas, Louisiana again drove down the field, this time capping the drive with a two-yard touchdown run by Alonzo Harris to tie the game at seven.
The score didn’t remain tied for long, though, as the Razorbacks took under two and a half minutes to score another touchdown. This time, Herndon used one hand to haul in a 49-yard pass from Allen.
Arkansas pushed the lead to 20-7 with a pair of Zach Hocker field goals, the last of which came as time expired in the second quarter.
“To convert those points at the end of the half, that’s really, really big,” Bielema said.
Those two field goals gave Hocker 295 points for his career, breaking Bill Burnett’s UA record that had stood for 43 years.
Coming out of halftime, it was obvious that Arkansas’ defense made some adjustments.
During the first half, Broadway had plenty of time in the pocket and wasn’t feeling any pressure from the Razorbacks’ highly touted defensive line.
On the Ragin’ Cajuns’ second play of the half, Trey Flowers sacked him and they followed that play with another sack, forcing a three-and-out.
However, Arkansas’ first drive ended after only two plays, when Henry fumbled and it was recovered by Louisiana.
“My guess is that those won’t happen too much. (Henry) is going to grow and it’s hard as a freshman to play as many reps as he did,” Bielema said. “He was dragging; we wore him out.”
Two plays later, Flowers got to Broadway again, forcing a fumble that Arkansas recovered.
Unlike Louisiana, the Razorbacks capitalized on the turnover and scored on a 10-yard pass from Allen to fullback Kiero Small, who ran over several defenders before getting into the end zone.
“Going into today, I thought Kiero would be our most productive player,” Bielema said. “In a certain way, he was. He made that touchdown all on will-power.”
The Ragin’ Cajuns scored on their next drive to cut the deficit to 13, but any attempt at a comeback ended when Williams ran 75 yards for a touchdown on Arkansas’ ensuing drive.
The only time they got into Arkansas territory after that was early in the fourth quarter and a tipped pass that led to an interception by JaMichael Winston ended the drive.
“That’s the definition of how I like to play games,” Bielema said. “(During) the second half, wear them down and get some turnovers.”
Allen finished with 230 yards and three touchdowns on 15-for-22 passing.
“I thought he was tremendous,” Bielema said. “If you go to the quarterback store and get someone with the demeanor and personality of what you want, he’s got it. He hasn’t shown me anything but complete composure.”
The Razorbacks’ leading receiver was Henry, who had five receptions for 75 yards.
Nearly 70 percent of Arkansas’ offensive plays were runs, but most of those runs came in the second half, when they had a large lead and were trying to run out the clock. In the first half, the play calling was much more even, with the Razorbacks running only 59 percent of the time.
Cornerback Tevin Mitchel and linebacker Jarrett Lake tied for the team lead in tackles, with seven each. Trey Flowers had the best day of any of the defensive linemen, finishing with five tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries.
The defense held the Ragin’ Cajuns to 274 yards of total offense. Broadway finished 15-for-28 for 171 yards and a touchdown, as well as one interception.
Harris led them on the ground, with 56 yards on 10 carries, while Jacob Maxwell was their leading pass-catcher, with six receptions for 77 yards.
The Razorbacks return to action Saturday at 6 p.m. with a matchup against Samford in Little Rock.
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