Razorbacks Rewind

Kick into wind led to return

Arkansas running back Korliss Marshall returns the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown during a game against Northern Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
Arkansas running back Korliss Marshall returns the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown during a game against Northern Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas moved up to No. 1 in the nation in average yards per kickoff return after Korliss Marshall opened Saturday's 52-14 rout of Northern Illinois with a 97-yard touchdown return.

The Razorbacks are averaging 34.1 yards on eight kickoff returns, just ahead of Utah's 33.5 yards per return.

Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said assistant coach Rory Segrest predicted on Monday that the Razorbacks could use the return setup that led to Marshall's touchdown for a big gainer.

Northern Illinois won the coin toss, but then made two decisions that proved to be ominous. The Huskies deferred, giving Arkansas a chance to receive the opening kick, then elected to kick into the swirling wind at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

"I give coach Segrest a lot of credit," Bielema said. "He talked about being able to hit that play.

"I was kind of surprised they kicked into the wind. If they were kicking with the wind, we didn't want to show [the kick return alignment] because it would be a touchback."

Sack exchange

Arkansas had Northern Illinois on its heels with its game-opening kickoff return touchdown, and after the Razorback defense contributed a touchdown, the Huskies faced an insurmountable comeback.

Quarterback Drew Hare eluded an arm grab by Arkansas tackle Darius Philon when he spun into end Trey Flowers, who wrangled the ball free for Philon to scoop and score a 14-yard touchdown at the 8:07 mark of the first quarter.

"I got there but I didn't do what I needed to do, as in getting the sack," Philon said. "But it turned out for the best for me just getting in the end zone for the team."

Injury update

Receiver Demetrius Wilson was held out against Northern Illinois after turning an ankle late in the Hogs' 49-28 victory at Texas Tech.

"I just thought for him to have a great performance this week against Texas A&M we needed to pull him out and go with Cody Hollister," Bret Bielema said. "Him and Kendrick Edwards knew they were going to play and play a lot."

Linebacker Brooks Ellis took a helmet-to-helmet shot from teammate Martrell Spaight on play in which Spaight jolted running Northern Illinois quarterback Drew Hare. Ellis did not play in the second half, but Bielema said he should be "full go" for Texas A&M preparation.

"We prefer that he'd 'Spaight' the other team," defensive coordinator Robb Smith said before adding that Ellis seemed to have endured more of a whiplash impact on the play rather than solid helmet contact.

"I saw Brooks getting ready to tackle the quarterback and I just wanted to help get the quarterback down," Spaight said. "I didn't realize I'd accidentally hit Brooks until he told me. I was like, 'Ah, my bad, man.' I really had no idea."

Safety Rohan Gaines was down on the field after driving his right shoulder into 253-pound tight end Luke Eakes in the fourth quarter. Bielema said he thought the injury was a stinger and that trainers said there was no structural damage.

Linebacker Randy Ramsey tweaked the ankle injury that kept him out of the two previous games and did not participate in the second half.

Philon's football

Darius Philon's 14-yard fumble return touchdown was the first defensive score for the Razorbacks since Tevin Mitchel brought back an interception 26 yards at Rutgers last Sept. 21 on a pressure by Trey Flowers.

Arkansas notched its last fumble return touchdown on Alonzo Highsmith's 47-yard return at LSU in 2011.

Third surge

Arkansas' 10 of 14 third-down conversion rate (71.4 percent) against Northern Illinois pushed the Razorbacks above the 50 percent rate for the season. The Hogs rank 12th (53.5 percent) and fifth in the SEC behind national leader Auburn (.630), Alabama (.618), Texas A&M (.600) and Ole Miss (.550).

Northern Illinois converted 6 of 15 third-down plays against Arkansas but remained No. 6 nationally at 56.8 percent.

Bad pick

Arkansas had seen the way Northern Illinois was playing a three-man bunch and took advantage on Brandon Allen's 44-yard touchdown pass to Keon Hatcher on the play after a failed onside kick rolled out of bounds.

"We were able to get two vertical routes on the safety and he had to pick with one and we were able to hit Keon down the seam," Allen said.

Tight end Hunter Henry ran the other vertical route which the safety covered.

Just score, baby

Jonathan Williams' 15-yard tackle-breaking score with 21 seconds left in the first quarter gave the junior tailback a rushing touchdown in all four games this season. Williams leads the SEC with seven rushing touchdowns and he's second in the conference with 8.2 yards per carry.

No sacks

The Razorbacks went a third consecutive game without allowing a quarterback sack, which moved Arkansas to a tie for fourth nationally with six other teams who have given up one sack. Arkansas' rate of 0.25 sacks allowed per game is tied for Nebraska for fourth. Only Baylor, Texas Tech and New Mexico State have not allowed a sack.

Friday look

Bret Bielema said Arkansas' travel itinerary called for a trip to AT&T Stadium on Friday for a look around the stadium to get the players used to the enormity of the Dallas Cowboys' venue. The Razorbacks did not go through on-site walkthroughs at Auburn or Texas Tech this season.

Worth noting

• Arkansas has outscored its two home opponents 62.5-10.5.

• Arkansas dropped to seventh nationally with 324.5 rushing yards per game after running for 212 yards against the Huskies.

• Bret Bielema improved to 4-0 against Northern Illinois, with three previous victories coming by his Wisconsin teams. The average score in those games is 43-11.

• The 52 points scored by Arkansas was the most given up by Northern Illinois since a 63-60 victory over Toledo in 2011.

Sports on 09/22/2014

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