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Published Oct 12, 2019
Hogs can't stop WR-turned-QB, fall to Kentucky for 14th straight SEC loss
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Andrew Hutchinson  •  HawgBeat
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Arkansas got an extra week to prepare, but had a similar result as its last time out.

With a chance to take the lead, the Razorbacks failed to convert a fourth down and Kentucky was able to ice a 24-20 victory in Lexington, Ky. They did the same thing two weeks earlier against Texas A&M, falling 31-27.

It was the 14th straight SEC loss by Arkansas, which is the 13th longest such streak in conference history. Head coach Chad Morris also moved to 0-11 in conference play, which is tied for the sixth most consecutive losses to start a tenure by an SEC coach.

Although it was under different circumstances, Ben Hicks came off the bench and gave the Razorbacks a chance to win. He marched the offense inside the red zone with less than three minutes remaining, but he was sacked on third down and pressure up the middle led to an incompletion on fourth down.

The Wildcats ran off the remaining 2:32 with the aid of a 51-yard run by Lynn Bowden, the wide receiver-turned-quarterback. Making his first start behind center, he finished with 196 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries and completed 7 of 11 passes for 78 yards and another score.

Replacing an ineffective Nick Starkel, Hicks was 5-of-8 passing for 81 yards and displayed some mobility in the pocket, even running for a 13-yard gain on Arkansas’ final drive. For comparison, Starkel completed just 7 of 19 passes for 41 yards.

While most of its opponents have struck quickly this season, Arkansas flipped the script with a 74-yard touchdown run by Rakeem Boyd on the second play of the game. Coming after just 42 seconds of play, it was the earliest the Razorbacks have scored since Korliss Marshall returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown in a win over Northern Illinois in 2014.

The Razorbacks were forced to punt on their second possession, but seemed to catch a break when Josh Ali muffed it and Jordan Silver apparently recovered it. However, it was was ruled Kentucky’s ball.

The missed call ended up not being much of a factor. Facing a fourth-and-short in their own territory, the Wildcats went for it, only to have Jonathan Marshall sniff out the play and stop Bowden in the backfield. He actually forced a fumble that De’Jon Harris recovered to give Arkansas excellent field position.

Boyd went over 100 yards on a 9-yard run to start the drive and the Razorbacks eventually got inside the 10. They couldn’t punch it into the end zone, though, as Starkel had back-to-back incompletions - including missing Cheyenne O’Grady on a pass that should have been a touchdown - and then connected with Mike Woods for a 1-yard loss.

Arkansas had to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Connor Limpert. After Matt Ruffolo missed a 47-yarder for Kentucky, the Razorbacks had another drive stall out and Limpert booted a 44-yard field goal that put them up 13-0.

The Wildcats broke up the shutout by putting together a 10-play, 75-yard drive that took nearly five minutes on their ensuing possession. Bowden capped it with a 3-yard run on third-and-goal to make it 13-7 with less than a minute left in the half.

Instead of trying to get any points with 50 seconds left, Arkansas was content to take its six-point lead into halftime.

On the opening drive of the second half, Kentucky converted a third-and-12, third-and-5 and fourth-and-10, with the latter coming via penalty. McTelvin Agim finally ended it with a sack, but Ruffolo bounced back to make a career-long 50-yarder.

The Razorbacks then had a pair of three-and-outs sandwiched around a Kentucky three-and-out. Starkel didn’t connect on any of his four passes, including several really bad throws.

A pair of false starts on the second of those punts helped the Wildcats start their next drive in Arkansas territory. They took advantage of the field possession by marching down the field and scoring on a 10-yard fade route from Bowden to Clevan Thomas. It put them up 17-13 for their first lead of the night.

With Starkel having completed only 7 of 19 passes for 41 yards, the Razorbacks finally made the switch to Hicks. Coming off the bench for the second straight game, he hit Trey Knox and Tyson Morris for 18 and 11 yards, respectively, and then a 9-yard run by Devwah Whaley got them into Kentucky territory.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, though, Whaley was stuffed on second down and then Hicks was sacked on third-and-one. Sam Loy’s punt from midfield wasn’t great, but it bounced and rolled down to the 2.

Another three-and-out by Kentucky forced Max Duffy - the leading FBS punter - to punt out of the back of the end zone. He booted a 54-yarder, but Treylon Burks managed a 26-yard return to set the Razorbacks up at the 30.

Burks then had an 11-yard run - after he aborted the double-pass trick play - and caught a 15-yard pass to get Arkansas to the 3. After a pass interference, Boyd punched it in from 2 yards out and the Razorbacks regained the lead 20-17.

It didn’t last long. Kentucky responded quickly with 25- and 27-yard runs by Kavosiey and Asim Rose, respectively, setting up a 24-yard touchdown run by Bowden that proved to be the difference.

Even after the Razorbacks were stopped on fourth down, they had all three timeouts remaining, but couldn’t get the Wildcats off the field.

After running for 110 yards on nine carries in the first half, a shoulder injury limited Boyd to just 24 yards on six carries after halftime. He still finished with a career-high 134 yards and two scores.

Led by Bowden, Kentucky racked up 330 yards on the ground and out-gained the Razorbacks 418-305.

Arkansas returns to Fayetteville next week for an 11 a.m. kickoff against Auburn on Oct. 19. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.