By Scott Faldon
Times Record • sfaldon@swtimes.com
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Arkansas running back Knile Davis is an emotional player. And he’s not afraid to show it, even during practices.
So when he fumbled with less than two minutes to play as Arkansas was protecting a 31-28 lead against Mississippi State, the sophomore was distraught. But a steady stream of teammates kept coming by to pat him on the shoulder pads and say it would be OK.
“My team did a good job keeping me in the game. I held my head down for a little bit,” Davis said. “I regretted it, but I had to come on through and finish (the game).”
Davis didn’t have to wait long for redemption.
After MSU forced overtime on the turnover-sparked drive, Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett hit Davis with a 7-yard touchdown pass in the second overtime. The Razorbacks defense held the Bulldogs for a 38-31 win at Davis Wade Stadium.
Davis also fumbled in the second quarter.
The two fumbles threatened, for a time, to overshadow yet another outstanding game by Davis. He carried the ball 30 times for 187 yards and two touchdowns. He scored another trademark TD with a 62-yard sprint down the left sideline in the first quarter. Then he punched it in from the 1 to give Arkansas a 31-21 lead early in the fourth quarter.
“Knile had a great game; we gave it to him a bunch. It’s unfortunate (he fumbled twice),” Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino said. “On the touchdown play, they blitzed everybody … he had a free release. Him and Ryan have worked on that tons of times. Threw it right to him and he got it in.”
Davis topped the 1,000-mark in the game. He’s now rushed for 1,031 yards on 148 carries for a 6.97 yards per carry averages.
He’s also scored 12 touchdowns this season, including 11 in the past five games.
“I’ve never done that in my life, even in high school because injuries held me back,” Davis said of running for more than 1,000 yards. “I just feel really good. I just took care of my opportunities when I had them.”
Davis produced without the ball. Late in the first quarter, D.J. Williams caught a Mallett pass and raced down the right sideline. At the 10, Williams cut back to his left, picked up a monster crack-back block by wide receiver Jarius Wright and another block by Davis that freed him to step into the end zone near the right pylon.
“That wasn’t even how that’s supposed to go, usually I’m not even in the play,” Davis said.” But I saw him cutting across the field and I just had to make a touchdown block and I did.”
With the win, Davis said the Razorbacks learned something important about themselves.
“This is a tough team; it goes all the way back to the summer,” Davis said. “We’re grinding when the cameras aren’t there and nobody is watching. We won this game in the summer.”
And a little personal redemption felt pretty sweet.
“It felt really good to come through and the win the game for the team,” Davis said. “And offset those two fumbles.”
