ARKANSAS 58, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL 10: Mission accomplished

FAYETTEVILLE — That angst over the possibility that Arkansas could lose focus for its final nonconference game against winless Florida International?

Forget about it.

Arkansas scored on 10 of 14 possessions, Darren McFadden ran for a career-high four touchdowns and the Razorbacks beat the hapless Golden Panthers 58-10 on a pristine fall afternoon before a homecoming crowdof 60,750 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Saturday.

Arkansas (5-3) won handily despite losing quarterback Casey Dick to bruised ribs and a possible mild concussion early in the second quarter. Reserve quarterback Nathan Emert put in an admirable showing, hitting star receiver Marcus Monk with a second-quarter touchdown in both players' first significant action of the season.

The Golden Panthers (0-8) havelost 20 consecutive games, the nation's longest winless streak.

Arkansas wrangled seven turnovers from the reckless Golden Panthers, including five interceptions, two by reserve defensive back Rashaad Johnson. The Razorbacks' average scoring drive was a moderate 36.4 yards before Michael Smith broke off an 81-yard touchdown run on Arkansas' final possession.

"The field was very short because of the turnovers," Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt said. "We did what we needed to do. Nothing spectacular, but what we needed to do."

Arkansas fiddled around in its previous nonconference, a haphazard 34-15 victory against Tennessee-Chattanooga. The goal against Florida International was to choke off all hope early and keep the pressure on.

"Everybody's concern was, are were we going to play on their level," said Arkansas safety Matt Hewitt, who started the string of takeaways with a strip and forced fumble on the second snap of the game. "That's exactly what we didn't do. We played Arkansas football today."

The Hogs won the takeaway game 7-2.

"Credit to Arkansas, they forced those turnovers," Florida International Coach Mario Cristobal said. "We gave them some gifts. They made their gifts themselves and capitalized on them."

Florida International's first 12 offensive snaps yielded this mess: two lost fumbles, an interception by Jerell Norton, a near-interception by Norton and five other plays of 2 yards or less.

In that time, Arkansas cashed in a 32-yard Alex Tejada field goal, one of three on the day, and drove 51 yards for a 3-yard McFadden touchdown run and a 10-0 lead.

"I lost count after three [Florida International turnovers]," Arkansas guard Robert Felton said. "We had awesome field position, and we just capitalized on it. That'll win games every week."

Arkansas could have scored more early but Dick underthrew a fade route for Monk from the Florida International 6 and cornerback Anthony Gaitor intercepted it.

Norton's interception and 23-yard return set up a 32-yard scoring drive capped by McFadden's 1-yard run with a pitch around left end for a 17-0 score.

Dick directed that drive, but he was knocked out on the next series whensafety Ashlyn Parker blew in on a blitz and drove through the quarterback's midsection on a fumble-forcing sack. Dick finished 4 of 6 for 36 yards with 1 interception.

Emert engineered scoring drives on his first three series and finished the game 13 of 25 for 154 yards and 1 touchdown. The scoring throw went to Monk on a perfectly executed slant and go for a 13-yard touchdown that made it 31-7 late in the second quarter.

Arkansas racked up 439 total yards, 249 of them on the ground, and converted 11 of 17 third-down plays.

The Razorbacks did not need to punt until the fourth quarter.

Arkansas' biggest fault on the day was an inability to corral freshman quarterback Wayne Younger, who rushed for a game-high 124 yards on 14 carries.

Arkansas defensive coordinator Reggie Herring was not happy with allowing a deep-ball touchdown of 33 yards from Younger to Greg Elllingson on a fourth down in the second quarter, giving up several long runs by Younger on the quarterback draw and giving up a long field-goal drive at the end of the first half.

"The one positive thing for the game is that we got a lot of turnovers and gave the offense a lot of easy field position," Herring said. "That's why you have a score like you did."

The short-field drives and Florida International's bunching up to stop the ground game did not translate into a productive day for the Razorbacks' star tailbacks.

McFadden finished with 19 carries for 61 yards, but when he smelled the end zone, he hit it.

"They blitzed the corners on just about every play, trying to stop our running game," McFadden said.

"It felt good to get back into the end zone today after not scoring for a couple of weeks."

Felix Jones ran for a game-high 89 yards for the Razorbacks and had one score.