FAYETTEVILLE — If there were any concerns of Arkansas falling victim to a trap game, it silenced them quickly and emphatically Saturday afternoon.
The Razorbacks were never in danger as they cruised to a 45-10 win over Georgia Southern inside Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
It was their largest margin of victory over an FBS opponent since a 39-point beatdown of Texas State five years ago and improved Arkansas to 3-0 for the first time since that 2016 game.
Arkansas dominated on both sides of the ball, out-gaining Georgia Southern 633-233. The defense forced six three-and-outs on the Eagles’ first 11 possessions, while the offense averaged 10 yards per play through the third quarter.
Quarterback KJ Jefferson shattered his previous single-game high with 366 yards on 13 of 23 passing and notched the second three-touchdown game of his career. Treylon Burks accounted for a good chunk of that, catching three passes for 127 yards.
For the second straight week, the Razorbacks didn’t have a 100-yard rusher, but they ran for 269 yards on 48 carries - an average of 5.6 yards per attempt.
Arkansas didn’t waste any time. After forcing a three-and-out, the Razorbacks dialed up a deep ball and Jefferson hit Tyson Morris for a 47-yard gain. They kept it on the ground after that and Trelon Smith needed just three carries to find the end zone.
His 13-yard touchdown run - on which he was untouched up the middle - gave Arkansas a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.
It required an offsides penalty by Georgia Southern that gave them a first down after what should have been a three-and-out, but the Razorbacks also cashed in on their second drive.
Dominique Johnson capped the 15-play, 94-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown run after Raheim “Rocket” Sanders had a score wiped out by a holding penalty on Myron Cunningham. That made it 14-0 late in the first quarter.
The offense stalled out after that, failing to move the chains on its next two possessions, but the defense wasn’t giving up much either. The Eagles managed only 8 total yards in the first quarter.
Georgia Southern punter Anthony Beck II had an impressive game, though, and pinned Arkansas inside the 1-yard line. Any chance at swinging momentum in its favor was erased when the Razorbacks marched it down the field for a score, needing just seven plays and less than two minutes of game time to cover the 99 yards.
Nearly half of that yardage came on a 48-yard run by Johnson and then Jefferson capped it with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Morris, who caught it despite the Eagles committing pass interference on the play.
The Razorbacks looks like they may be about to really blow it open, getting Georgia Southern into a third-and-11 on the ensuing drive, but quarterback Justin Tomlin outran Bumper Pool in the backfield and the field opened up in front of him. He raced 76 yards for a touchdown to end the shutout bid and make it 21-7 midway through the second quarter.
On the next possession, Jefferson missed a wide open Burks on a pass that would have kept the offense on the field, but instead Arkansas went three-and-out.
However, the redshirt sophomore responded nicely. After the defense forced its fourth three-and-out of the half, Jefferson led the Razorbacks down the field with three straight completions. It appeared to be four straight with a touchdown to Ketron Jackson Jr., but the play was wiped out by an ineligible mad downfield penalty.
Instead, the Razorbacks had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Cam Little. That pushed their lead to 24-7 late in the half.
There was just enough time on the clock for Georgia Southern to put together its first real drive of the game. It stalled out in the red zone, though, and Alex Raynor kicked a 32-yard field goal as time expired to end the half.
The Eagles finished the first half with 166 yards, but 76 of those came on Tomlin’s long touchdown run and another 60 came on that final field goal drive. That means they managed just 30 yards of offense on their six possessions that resulted in punts.
Arkansas used big plays to blow the game open early in the second half.
After keeping the drive alive with a third-down completion to De’Vion Warren, Jefferson took a shot and found Warren Thompson streaking down the sideline. The Florida State transfer had beaten his man and reeled in the 60-yard bomb for his first touchdown at Arkansas.
On their next possession, the Razorbacks needed just one play to cover 91 yards. Burks caught a screen pass from Jefferson, split the defenders and was off to the races for the second-longest passing touchdown in UA history to give Arkansas a 28-point lead less than four minutes into the half.
Backup quarterback Malik Hornby got some action in the fourth quarter and capped the Razorbacks’ final scoring drive of the day with a 6-yard touchdown run.
A huge top-25 showdown now awaits Arkansas. It travels to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, next weekend for a matchup with No. 7 Texas A&M, which beat New Mexico 34-0 to also improve to 3-0.
Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT and the game will be televised on CBS.
