FAYETTEVILLE -- Korliss Marshall returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and defensive tackle Darius Philon added a fumble return touchdown minutes later to lead Arkansas to a 52-14 rout of Northern Illinois on Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
The Razorbacks (3-1), a two-touchdown favorite, flexed their muscle again as they snapped Northern Illinois' 17-game road winning streak before a crowd of 67,204.
Arkansas has won three games in a row by 21 or more points for the first time since the 2010 team routed Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Texas-El Paso in consecutive weeks.
"I think the guys are confident," Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said. "By no means have they arrived in any way, shape or form. But I think they have a certain mentality and an attitude that has not been here since I've been here, and it's getting better and better every day."
The Razorbacks played turnover free and won their third game in a row, the first streak of that length since winning their first three in Bielema's debut last season. They improved to 2-0 against Northern Illinois (3-1) and dropped the Huskies to 1-10 against SEC opponents.
"We've had a lot of fun these past couple of games," said Marshall, whose game-opening return was his first college touchdown. "It's a good feeling. It's been a while since we've gotten a couple of wins like this. ... I've never seen our team so riled up and happy all at one time."
Arkansas' ground game did not reach the game-breaking form it had in the past two games, when it went for 400-plus yards against Nicholls State and Texas Tech. Quarterback Brandon Allen stepped into the void with 199 passing yards and two touchdowns, and scored a rushing touchdown.
The Razorbacks passed for more yardage than they ran for -- 215 yards to 212 yards -- for the second time this season.
"Credit NIU for doing a good job of stopping our run a little bit," Allen said. "They had to put guys in the box to stop us, and it opened up our passing game."
Arkansas' defense came up stout, with Trey Flowers yanking the ball away from quarterback Drew Hare on a first-quarter sack and Philon returning it 14 yards for a touchdown. The Hogs also held the nation's No. 6 rushing offense to 123 yards, 202 below their three-game average of 325 yards. Northern Illinois, which entered with the nation's No. 16 total offense, managed 303 yards, 247 yards below its average.
"They came out and played disciplined and made plays in the kicking game and didn't turn the ball over, and really you can sum up the whole thing that way," Northern Illinois Coach Rod Carey said. "I give them a ton of credit, they're a fine football team."
Keon Hatcher caught a 44-yard touchdown pass and finished with 107 receiving yards, the first Arkansas receiver to hit that mark since tight end Hunter Henry had 109 yards against Texas A&M last year.
Alex Collins led Arkansas' rushing attack with 79 yards and Jonthan Williams had 69 as Arkansas outgained Texas Tech 427-303 in total yardage.
The Razorbacks scored in four different fashions in the first half -- Marshall's game-opening kickoff return, Philon's fumble return, Williams' 15-yard tackle-shredding run and Jared Cornelius' 10-yard catch from Allen in the two-minute drill -- to take a 28-7 lead into the break.
"In the first quarter ... we scored in all three phases," Bielema said. "Anytime you can say that, it says a lot. That drive at the end of the second quarter in the two-minute offense was an awesome confidence builder for us."
Northern Illinois threatened twice in the opening half but came away with points only once.
The Huskies offense rushed to the line on a fourth-and-3 play from the Arkansas 25 on their first series, but Cameron Stingily bounced wide left and was forced out of bounds by Flowers and Carroll Washington.
Northern Illinois limited Arkansas to 113 rushing yards in the first half, and 5.4 yards per carry. Allen nearly hit that total with 111 passing yards on 11 of 16 completions.
Allen was particularly effective in the two-minute offense, hitting four different receivers and going 6 of 7 for 58 yards. He found AJ Derby for 8 yards to convert on third and 2, hit Hunter Henry for 12 yards and Keon Hatcher for 9 yards.
After Williams ran 5 yards to the 10 on third and 1, Allen was forced out of the pocket, rolled far right and sent a laser pass to Cornelius for a touchdown and a 28-7 lead with 49 seconds left in the half.
The Razorbacks put away the game with a 68-yard drive midway through the third quarter that took 6:15 off the clock, similar to their opening drive of the second half at Texas Tech last week. Allen converted two third downs on the series with strikes of 16 yards to Cody Hollister and 14 yards to Keon Hatcher.
On second and goal from the Northern Illinois 2, Allen bootlegged to the right end after a play-action fake and trotted in untouched for a 35-7 lead.
Northern Illinois' last gasp came after Joel Bouagnon's 15-yard screen-pass touchdown made it 38-14 early in the fourth quarter. Carey called for an onside kick that went out of bounds, giving Arkansas possession at the Huskies' 44.
Allen ran play-action on the next snap and delivered a deep-ball strike to the uncovered Hatcher for a 44-yard score.
Sports on 09/21/2014