Jefferson throws 5 touchdowns, Hogs run away with 52-35 win over BYU
Things looked to be much of the same for Arkansas' defense when BYU quarterback Jaren Hall scampered 12 yards for a first down on third-and-12 in the second quarter of a 52-35 road win for the Hogs.
After review, Hall's run was called short of the line to gain. On fourth down he fumbled the snap and Arkansas' Latavious Brini recovered it to give the Razorbacks the ball in BYU territory.
Five plays later, Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson found Matt Landers in the end zone to put the Hogs up 24-21, and they didn't trail again for the rest of the game.
Arkansas outscored the Cougars 31-14 after the turnover on downs. A dominant final drive by the Razorbacks that spanned 16 plays and 10:02 was enough to run all but 0:27 off the clock in the fourth quarter.
The Hogs gained 644 total yards of offense and Jefferson accounted for 367 of that through the air. His five passing touchdowns were a career-high.
Razorbacks' running back Rocket Sanders ran for 164 yards and two scores — one of which came on a 64-yard sprint.
The Hogs were 12-15 on third downs against BYU, who was just 7-13 on third downs.
Here is a how the game unfolded at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah:
First Half
The Razorbacks won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff for the first time this season. A third down conversion on a 13-yard pass from Jefferson to Jadon Haselwood was followed by a Sanders fumble just three plays later.
BYU managed to gain three yards on its opening drive, which resulted in a three-and-out. Ryan Rehkow's 44-yard punt was downed at the Arkansas 1-yard line to set the Hogs up with bad field position.
Sanders made up for the mistake by gaining 24 yards on three-straight carries to start Arkansas' next drive. Rather than sticking with the run, the Razorbacks had four straight incompletions to force a 62-yard Reid Bauer punt that was returned for five yards to the BYU 18-yard line.
The Cougars converted a fourth-and-8 with a 31-yard pass from Jaren Hall to Puka Nacua. Hall found tight end Isaac Rex for a 4-yard touchdown on the next play to put BYU up 7-0 with 5:39 left in the opening quarter.
Arkansas punched right back with a 9-play, 75-yard drive that was capped off by a 15-yard touchdown run from Sanders that tied things up with 2:37 left in the first quarter. The Hogs gained 54 rushing yards on the scoring drive.
After an 18-yard pass from Hall to Nacua, two straight pass interferences on Arkansas set the Cougars up just outside of the red zone. Hall found Kody Epps for a 21-yard score two plays later to make it a 13-7 BYU advantage after a missed PAT.
The Razorbacks scored on a 6-yard touchdown from Jefferson to tight end Trey Knox just under three minutes into the second quarter. Jefferson was 5-5 for 65 yards passing and a touchdown on drive that gave Arkansas a 14-13 advantage — its first lead in a game since Week 4.
BYU had a 65-yard touchdown nullified after Nacua pulled Arkansas safety Simeon Blair's face mask. The lack of a score on that play didn't matter, though, as a 37-yard pass to Epps set up a 5-yard rushing touchdown from Nacua. After a successful two-point conversion, the Cougars led 21-14 with 9:48 left in the first half.
The Hogs drove 59 yards in 10 plays to get into the red zone, but Pittman and crew elected to take a 34-yard field goal from Cam Little on fourth-and-3 to make it a 21-17 BYU lead.
Arkansas' third down defense continued to struggle on the next BYU drive, as it gave 11 yards to Hall on third-and-12. The Cougars elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 in their own territory and Hall fumbled the snap to give the Hogs great field position.
The Razorbacks took advantage on a 30-yard catch from AJ Green that was followed by a 4-yard touchdown pass from Jefferson to Matt Landers that put the Hogs up 24-21 with 3:39 left in the second quarter.
On the next drive, Arkansas' Hudson Clark made the first interception by a Razorbacks' defender not named Dwight McGlothern this season.
Jefferson knocked off a group of BYU defenders to scramble to his right and find Knox for a 36-yard completion that put the Hogs in the red zone. Three plays later, Jefferson found Rashod Dubinion for a 15-yard touchdown to put the Hogs up by 10 with 0:40 left in the first half.
After horrible clock management by the Cougars, the Hogs went into the break with a 31-21 lead.
Second Half
After rushing for 44 yards on their opening drive, the Cougars found themselves in a fourth-and-4 situation that resulted in a pass interference on safety Simeon Blair. The penalty set BYU up at the Arkansas 3-yard line and it scored a 3-yard touchdown on a rush from Nacua to make it 31-28.
Arkansas took little time to punch back after capitalizing on a defensive pass interference with a 39-yard touchdown catch from Landers to cap off a 2-play, 75-yard drive that lasted 33 seconds and put the Hogs back up by 10.
On the next BYU drive, Nacua caught a 33-yard touchdown — his third score of the game — to finish off a 10-play, 75-yard drive that kept the Cougars within three with 5:11 left in the third quarter.
Jefferson found Ketron Jackson Jr. for a 30-yard completion on third-and-10 to put the Hogs in BYU territory. Later on in the drive, Jefferson found Landers in the end zone for the third time, resulting in his fifth touchdown pass to make it 45-35.
Arkansas' defense forced BYU to punt for the first time since its first drive of the game with a stop right before the end of the third quarter.
On the second play of the fourth quarter, Sanders sprinted 64 yards for a touchdown to put Arkansas up 52-35.
On the ensuing drive, Hall and the Cougars found themselves in a fourth-and-8 situation on the Arkansas 32-yard line. Hall found Nacua, who fumbled and Clark recovered the ball for the Hogs to put the writing on the wall for a Razorbacks' victory.
The Hogs ran 10:02 off the clock on a 16-play drive that resulted in a turnover on downs at the BYU 1-yard line. Jefferson was shaken up on a play where his head hit the ground, but he was able to jog off the field under his own power.
A run play by the Cougars was the final play of the game.