FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas didn’t put on a perfect performance in its season opener, but the 17th-ranked Razorbacks came pretty close on a picture-perfect evening in the Ozarks.
The Razorbacks, who hold their best season-opening ranking in 20 years, failed to score in the first quarter Saturday then pummeled Tennessee Tech with touchdowns on six consecutive possessions and threw in a safety for good measure in a 44-3 victory in front of 69,596 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
“We got the first one out of the way, and it was certainly a game we needed,” said Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino, who improved to 7-0 in season openers.
Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett was as crisp as the clear fall-like evening, connecting on 21 of 24 passes for 301 yards and 3 touchdowns. Mallett’s 87.5 completion percentage ranked as the second-best single-game performance in SEC history behind Tennessee’s Tee Martin (24 of 25 in 1998).
“We really had 22 [completions], just one was to the other team,” Mallett said, laughing, referring to a tipped-pass interception that ended the Razorbacks’ second series.
Mallett debuted with a 225.8 efficiency rating.
“My gracious, the skill they have with him,” Tennessee Tech Coach Watson Brown said. “They’re going to have fun with it if they stay healthy. They’re going to have a lot of fun on offense.”
Arkansas’ defense gave up 187 total yards and just 3.3 yards per play. After a 15-yard face mask penalty and a sprint-out pass for 39 yards helped Tennessee Tech reach the Razorbacks’ 1-yard line on its first possession, the Hogs got tough. Arkansas stuffed two running plays, then linebacker Anthony Leon crashed in and sacked quarterback Tre Lamb to force a 27-yard Matthew Barker field goal.
The Golden Eagles, a Football Championship Subdivision team in the Ohio Valley Conference, mustered just 136 yards after that as the Razorbacks ran well to clamp down on Tennessee Tech’s option attack.
“Three points, and it was a great goal-line stand,” defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said.
The Razorbacks won their fourth consecutive season opener and improved to 91-22-4 in all-time season openers.
Arkansas posted 519 total yards, including 196 on the ground, led by Knile Davis’ six carries for 67 yards. Tailbacks Dennis Johnson, Broderick Green and Ronnie Wingo Jr. all scored on the ground.
Junior Joe Adams carved up the Tennessee Tech secondary with a pair of touchdown receptions. Adams caught a 20-yard pass late in the second quarter, shook a tackler, then outran everyone for an 85-yard touchdown that stretched the Arkansas lead to 23-3.
Adams also cut inside the defense and scored a 15-yard touchdown in the third quarter to cap the Razorbacks’ sixth consecutive touchdown drive.
Johnson’s 7-yard touchdown run on the second play of the second quarter put Arkansas ahead for good and gave him the distinction of scoring the Hogs’ first touchdown of the season two years in a row.
Arkansas’ assault included a safety when cornerback Ramon Broadway and linebacker Jerry Franklin teamed up to slam tailback Jocques Crawford out of bounds in his end zone for a 9-3 lead.
Leon, who was converted from safety to linebacker midway through training camp, had two sacks and added two other tackles for loss.
However, everything wasn’t peachy for the Hogs.
On their first series, the 6-2, 248-pound Green was stuffed on a third-and-1, then, after tight end D.J. Williams jumped offsides, the pressure reached Mallett on fourth and 6 to end the sequence.
Following a season in which Arkansas’ running backs lost only one fumble, their ball security was shaky. Davis, who started, lost a ball on a 13-yard gain and backup lineman Zhamal Thomas pounced on it to retain possession. Two plays later, Johnson had the ball knocked free by a Tennessee Tech defender and Williams got on the loose ball.
Arkansas also had a minus-3 turnover margin, interceptions thrown by Mallett and Tyler Wilson, and Ben Cleveland’s lost fumble after a third-quarter reception.
Arkansas, which converted just 33 percent of its third-down plays last season, got off to a better start in that department by cashing in on 5 of 8 third-down plays.
The Razorbacks also showed their kicking game could be a weapon this season. Senior Alex Tejada had touchbacks on all but two of his kickoffs, and Tennessee Tech’s kickoff returns led to drive starts at its 2 - setting up the safety - and its 9.
Freshman Zach Hocker earned the place-kicking job from Tejada and made all six of his extra-point tries.
Sports, Pages 23 on 09/05/2010