Arkansas football win over UAB leaves coach ‘disappointed’ in lack of domination

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FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas football team survived a big scare at home Saturday.

The Razorbacks overcame a 14-point deficit before halftime and defeated Alabama-Birmingham 37-27 in front of an announced crowd of 75,021 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. The attendance was based on tickets sold, but swaths of the stadium were empty by the time the home team held on to beat the 24 1/2-point underdogs from the American Athletic Conference.

Arkansas improved to 2-1 and faces plenty of questions going into next week’s SEC opener at Auburn. For as prepared as the Razorbacks looked last week in a 39-31 double-overtime loss at No. 13 Oklahoma State, they looked unprepared early for the Blazers (1-2), a 26-point loser the week before at Louisiana-Monroe.

“Give credit to UAB; they did an outstanding job,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. “I’m very happy we’re 2-1, but very disappointed that we didn’t dominate the game at all like we certainly hoped that we would coming in.”

UAB led 17-3 early in the second quarter and held a 146-36 advantage in total offense through a little more than 15 minutes.

“I thought UAB physically was dominating us with their offense,” Pittman said. “Their offensive line, you know, seemed like it was second-and-3, second-and-2. Now the stats don’t necessarily say that, but that’s how it felt.”

Momentum began to turn in the second quarter when the Razorbacks scored on every offensive possession. Braylen Russell’s 2-yard touchdown run cut the lead to 17-10 and Arkansas tied the game 17-17 following Taylen Green’s 14-yard quarterback keeper with 4:48 to play before halftime.

UAB regained the lead, 20-17, on Jonah Delange’s 23-yard field goal with 1:53 left in the second quarter. Arkansas’ Kyle Ramsey answered with a 51-yard field goal with 1:03 left in the half to send the game to the locker room tied 20-20.

“I was proud that we ended up coming back and tying it at halftime,” Pittman said, “but just very, very disappointed in how we started the football game.”

The Razorbacks took the lead for good with an 11-play, 84-yard drive to open the second half. Ja’Quinden Jackson’s 16-yard touchdown run with 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter gave Arkansas its first lead.

Much like the week before, the Razorbacks moved the ball well but had trouble capitalizing with touchdowns. Ramsey missed a 45-yard field goal attempt wide right late in the third quarter, and Arkansas had to settle for a 40-yard field goal by Ramsey early in the fourth to go ahead 30-20.

Ramsey finished 3 of 4 on his field goal attempts after he made 1 of 3 at Oklahoma State.

UAB converted a fourth down as part of a 12-play, 83-yard touchdown drive that answered Ramsey’s third make. Jacob Zeno’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Payne cut Arkansas’ lead to 30-27 with 6:55 remaining.

The Razorbacks iced the game with a 7-play, 75-yard march that ended with a 9-yard touchdown run by Green on third-and-goal with 3:36 to play. Green also had runs of 11 and 13 yards, and a 16-yard completion to Andrew Armstrong on the drive, but he dropped a snap on second-and-goal that resulted in a 5-yard loss.

The game was a mixed bag for Green. He ran the ball well and finished with 109 yards on 14 carries when adjusted for sacks, but he only completed 11 of 26 passes for 161 yards and did not throw a touchdown pass. He missed open receivers in the end zone on drives in the second and third quarters, and his second pass of the game resulted in an interception that Michael Moore returned 40 yards to set up UAB’s first touchdown.

“We couldn’t throw and catch in the first half,” Pittman said.

Moore returned his interception to the Arkansas 15. Kam Shanks scored on a 15-yard push pass from Zeno two plays later. That gave the Blazers a 10-0 lead.

Ramsey’s first field goal, from 28 yards, cut the UAB lead to 10-3 with 4 minutes left in the first quarter, but Zeno found Amare Thomas for a 34-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing drive to increase the lead to 17-3 on the first play of the second quarter.

Zeno, who transferred from Baylor in 2022, completed 23 of 32 passes for 235 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. TJ Metcalf intercepted Zeno’s final pass attempt with just more than a minute remaining in the game.

“College kids can improve a lot in a week and so can coaches,” UAB coach Trent Dilfer said, “so we all did and they played better football this week, but it wasn’t enough.”

Arkansas found its footing behind Green and Jackson in the running game. Jackson finished with 147 yards on 15 attempts for an average of 9.8 yards per carry.

“I was telling them to give me the ball,” Jackson said. “Hey, give me the ball. It's working. Give me the ball.”

“I thought, ‘Give him the ball,’” Arkansas offensive lineman Josh Braun added. “That’s a pretty apt way to put it.”

The Razorbacks had 38 rushing attempts for 266 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Armstrong led Arkansas’ receivers with 8 catches for 137 yards. Isaiah Sategna (2 catches for 16 yards) and Jackson (1 for 8) had the team’s only other receptions.

Arkansas outgained UAB 427-354, including 235-142 after halftime. The Razorbacks entered the game averaging 667.5 yards per game on offense.

Both teams struggled with penalties. UAB was flagged 10 times for 109 yards, and Arkansas had 6 penalties for 65 yards.

Why Arkansas Won

The Razorbacks leaned enough on the run after a sloppy start in the pass game. When adjusted for sacks and end-game kneel downs, Arkansas rushed 33 times for 281 yards, or 8.5 yards per attempt.

Player of the Game: Arkansas RB Ja'Quinden Jackson

The transfer from Utah recorded his third 100-yard rushing performance in three games as a Razorback.

Green's 16-yard touchdown run in the third quarter gave Arkansas the lead. That run came on third-and-2 and was one of 3 third-down conversions for the back. He also converted a fourth down on the Razorbacks' first touchdown drive.

“Every time we ask him, he does some pretty spectacular things,” Pittman said. “The line does a good job, but he is our guy.”

Injury Update

UAB receiver Brandon Buckhaulter was taken off the field on a stretcher during the second quarter.

Buckhaulter had his helmet ripped off by Arkansas linebacker Xavian Sorey, who was flagged for a face mask penalty. With his helmet off, Buckhaulter took a hard head-to-head hit from Landon Jackson, then landed awkwardly on his head and neck area.

Dilfer said Buckhaulter was moving and talking when he was taken off the field. He was taken to Washington Regional Medical Center and was able to join the team for the plane ride home to Birmingham.

"They feel confident and positive," Dilfer said.

Up Next

Arkansas is scheduled to play at Auburn next Saturday afternoon. A kickoff time and TV network will be finalized Sunday.

The game will begin at either 2:30 p.m. or 3:15 p.m. and is a possibility to be on four networks — ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 or SEC Network.

The Tigers were 1-1 entering their home game against New Mexico on Saturday. Auburn lost 21-14 at home last week to California.

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