By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — As soon as the football left his right foot, and as soon as it sailed through the uprights, Arkansas place kicker Alex Tejada turned and took off on a dead sprint down the field Saturday.
The much-maligned junior, who missed plenty of clutch kicks the past two seasons, had just ended the Liberty Bowl with a 37-yard field goal in overtime. It handed the Razorbacks a 20-17 win in temperatures that were in the mid-20s by the time he trotted onto the field for his final kick.
So Tejada said his motivation was simple.
“I was headed inside,” Tejada said. “It’s cold as heck out here. But my teammates, they caught me.”
Tejada had to stay out on the turf and endure the bitter cold a little longer, but he probably didn’t feel it. Instead, he and the Razorbacks were reveling in the warmth of finally winning a bowl.
Arkansas (8-5) avoided adding to its bowl calamities in front of 62,742 freezing fans. Tejada made the game-winner, while East Carolina place kicker Ben Hartman missed two attempts in the final 1:03 of play and another on his team’s only possession in overtime.
It all helped the Hogs grab their first win in the Liberty Bowl in four tries and improve to 12-22-3 in bowl games all time. The win also was their first in the postseason under coach Bobby Petrino, who said Arkansas was determined to start a new chapter in bowls after struggling in its history.
“I’m very, very proud for our football team,” Petrino said. “It was a hard, hard game. It was certainly not easy. But we just kept battling.”
In reality, Arkansas was heading for a loss throughout much of Saturday’s game, though.
Offensively, the Pirates leaned on a ball-control offense led by running back Dominque Lindsay’s 151 rushing yards. They put together 13-, 11- and 8-play scoring drives that kept Arkansas’ high-powered offense off the field.
Defensively, ECU was even more impressive, slowing and frustrating quarterback Ryan Mallett and the Razorbacks’ passing attack. Arkansas scored only one offensive touchdown in the game after entering the postseason averaging 37.3 points.
East Carolina finished with huge advantages in total yards (393 to 283), first downs (24 to 10) and time of possession (37:55 to 22:05). They were an efficient 8 of 19 on third-down conversions, while the Razorbacks finished 0-for-13.
But Petrino wasn’t apologetic after the loss.
“We won the football game and we beat them,” Petrino said. “That’s what it’s all about. I’m not sure who outplayed who, but we won the game.”
It was frustrating for ECU coach Skip Holtz.
“I don’t know if I could ask this football team to do any more,” Holtz said.
Self-inflicted wounds proved costly for ECU.
Quarterback Patrick Pinkney threw a pair of interceptions on consecutive drives to open the second half. Linebacker Jerry Franklin grabbed the first, which led to an Arkansas field goal. Tramain Thomas, who was replacing suspended senior safety Matt Harris in the lineup, got the second and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 10-10 with 9:04 left in the third quarter.
The game-changing plays came from a defense working without three key performers. Harris and middle linebacker Wendel Davis were suspended after missing curfew earlier this week. Defensive tackle D.D. Jones was out with an ankle injury.
“Those guys stepped up. We had three fresh starters, three new starters in there,” Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said. “It paid off because of how much we rotated during the season.”
Then, Hartman — who is the school’s all-time scoring leader — missed three field goals from under 40 yards down the stretch.
Hartman’s first miss banged off the left upright from 39 yards with 1:03 left. Arkansas couldn’t do anything with the ball and Hartman got another opportunity from the same spot in the final seconds of regulation. This time, he missed right.
Hartman’s headaches carried over to the first possession in overtime when he hooked a 35-yard attempt wide. It set the stage for Tejada.
“To lose like that hurts,” Lindsay said. “You definitely walk off the field and felt like we should’ve won this game.”
In the end, Tejada came through for the Razorbacks after missing a similar attempt in the overtime loss at LSU in late November and another in the 23-20 loss at Florida in October.
The kicker missed a 43-yard attempt early in the fourth quarter, but said he stayed confident on the sideline.
“I was hoping for it,” Tejada said. “I prayed about it. I just knew I was going to be ready.”
Tejada said none of the Razorbacks said anything to him as he trotted onto the field for the game-winning attempt. ECU called a timeout to try to ice him, but it didn’t work. And Tejada and the Razorbacks finally got to celebrate a bowl win.
“It’s been a long year,” Tejada said. “It’s been a long two years. I just want to thank these fans and these coaches that stuck behind me.
“All the past stuff I went through … I found some faith and I held onto it.”
