No. 18 Arkansas had no trouble moving the ball Saturday, but scoring against opportunistic Toledo turned into a major hassle.
Arkansas took multiple shots at the end zone in the closing minutes, whiffed on them all and looked out of sync most of the game in a stunning 16-12 loss to Toledo before a crowd of 49,591 at War Memorial Stadium.
"We did everything we could to lose, and that's what we got," said Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen, who passed for a career-high 412 yards on 53 attempts because the Razorbacks struggled to crank up their running game.
"This is a heart-breaker, and man it's bad," Arkansas defensive captain JaMichael Winston said. "It's a terrible feeling, an unbelievable feeling. Those guys came in here and earned their win and we didn't today."
Toledo (1-0), whose season opener was wiped out by bad weather last week, joined Louisiana-Monroe in 2012 as a non-Power Five conference team to open its season by shocking a ranked Razorbacks team in Little Rock on the second weekend of the season.
"We were able, on both sides of the ball, to do a great job dictating the tempo of the football game," Toledo Coach Matt Campbell said. "I thought we had a great plan."
Toldeo pocketed a $1 million guarantee while notching its first victory in four tries against an SEC team.
Arkansas (1-1) fell to 1-5 in its past six games at War Memorial Stadium dating to the 34-31 overtime loss against Louisiana-Monroe.
"The disappointment today was us, and it started with myself," Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said. "You earn victory, you earn defeat, and today we earned that defeat."
Arkansas outgained the Rockets by nearly 200 yards in total offense -- 515 yards to 318 yards -- but self-destructed with critical penalties, a missed field goal, a faulty run game and four blown red zone drives.
"I don't know what it was," Arkansas safety Rohan Gaines said. "It was just a certain feeling in the air tonight, and we didn't make it happen."
Allen threw for career-best passing yardage for the second consecutive week, but he was 2 of 10 inside the Toledo 20-yard line with an interception. Arkansas took its final four possessions inside the Rockets' red zone but came away with three points.
Allen threw incomplete on third and fourth downs from the Toledo 7 as Arkansas' 65-yard drive went fruitless with 1:55 remaining and Toledo leading 16-10.
The Hogs got one last chance after the Rockets took a safety instead of punting from deep in their territory, and Eric Hawkins returned Toledo's free kick to the Arkansas 32 with 52 seconds to play.
Allen passed the Razorbacks 51 yards to the Toledo 17 in the final minute. But his third-down throw intended for an open Hunter Henry in the end zone was high, and his final pass intended for a tightly covered Keon Hatcher with one second remaining also sailed high.
The play for Henry, who had eight receptions for a career-high 117 yards, was the one that got away.
"All of our coaches called it," Bielema said. "As soon as we lined up they said Henry's going to be open on the shake route, and obviously he was. I think we just overthrew him a little bit and weren't able to convert it, and that's kind of the story of the day. A touchdown opportunity is there and we miss it by about a foot."
Arkansas had four holding calls among its nine penalties for 85 yards, most of them affecting big-yardage plays.
Alex Collins barged to the 1 on a second-and-goal play from the 4 with less than three minutes remaining, but Henry was called for holding, backing the Razorbacks up to the 14. A pass to Jared Cornelius gained 7 yards, but Allen had two incomplete passes from there.
Cornelius returned Toledo's first punt of the second half for an apparent 59-yard touchdown, but Eric Hawkins was flagged for holding the Rockets' punter at the 16, moving the ball to the 26.
"I thought we had a chance to score on the punt return all week, and we held the punter," Bielema said. "It doesn't make sense."
Arkansas, trailing 9-7 at the time, got to the Toledo 7 after two plays, but Allen missed Henry at the back of the end zone on second down, then Hatcher fell down in the end zone on the next play and Toledo safety DeJuan Rogers was there to make an interception.
The turnover ended Allen's streak of 134 passes without an interception that dated to last year's 17-10 loss at No. 1 Mississippi State.
Toledo quarterback Phillip Ely executed an 80-play touchdown drive, triggered by his 18-yard pass to Cody Thompson on a third-and-3 play. Rockets running back Damion Jones-Moore ignited the drive with a 27-yard run and ended it with an 11-yard burst over the left side to give Toledo a 16-7 lead with 5:09 left in the third quarter.
Arkansas' defense struggled to control Toledo's passing game in the first half as Ely, a former Alabama quarterback, completed 13 of 27 passes for 183 yards and 1 touchdown. Ely's passing moved the chains four times on third-and-10 or longer in the first half.
Toledo got the pace in its favor, driving 45 yards to the Arkansas 32 before punting on its first drive, then taking advantage of the Razorbacks' self-inflicted mistake on special teams.
Deep snapper Drew Gorton snapped the ball over punter Toby Baker's head from the Arkansas 47, and after Baker corralled the ball, he punted right into Toledo's Zach Quinn and the blocked punt rolled out at the Arkansas 25.
The Razorbacks forced Toledo into a third-and-15 situation, but Ely found Kishon Wilcher down a middle seam for 25 yards to move the chains. Three plays later, Corey Jones caught Ely's 5-yard slant for a touchdown. Toledo threw incomplete on the two-point conversion try.
Arkansas seized a 7-6 lead midway through the second quarter when Collins capped an 88-yard drive with a 21-yard touchdown run on a misdirection pitch play around left end.
Toledo took momentum into halftime by stopping Collins on a fourth-and-1 play at the Toledo 34, then driving 45 yards for a 38-yard field goal by Jameson Vest with 1:06 left in the half.
Sports on 09/13/2015