Wilson Gets First Start
Junior quarterback Tyler Wilson, voted by teammates as one of the Razorback captains this season, got his first start since high school Saturday and his stats were impressive.
The junior from Greenwood completed 18 of 24 for 260 yards and two touchdowns. He got off to a good start with an 80-yard drive, capped by a 33-yard touchdown pass to Jarius Wright.
He also completed a 29-yard TD pass to Wright in the third quarter on a play first ruled out of bounds. The replay official said Wright had a foot down in the end zone, so the call was reversed.
Sarah Bentham • Special to the Arkansas News Bureau
Wilson’s first pass as a starter for Arkansas came on the first snap. He threw a crisp 8-yard pass to Cobi Hamilton up the right side.
As a high school senior, Wilson led Greenwood to the Class 5A state championship in 2007. It was the third consecutive state title for Greenwood and second with Wilson as the starter.
Playing behind Ryan Mallett the last two seasons, Wilson still managed one of the most impressive games a season ago against Auburn, throwing for 332 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. In his career at Arkansas, Wilson went into Saturday’s game having completed 67 of 109 passes for 740 yards. He had appeared in 13 games before Saturday.
Receivers Solid
One of the top returning receiving corps in the country turned in a solid performance against Missouri State in the season opener.
Quarterbacks Tyler Wilson and Brandon Mitchell completed 28 passes in 35 attempts, including Wilson’s six to Jarius Wright for 108 yards. Wright, the leading receiver for Arkansas, also had two touchdown receptions.
The returning starters — Joe Adams, Greg Childs, Cobi Hamilton and Wright — all caught at least one pass Saturday. The four had combined for 375 catches in their careers going into Saturday’s game, including 50 touchdowns.
Hocker Streak Ends
Sophomore Zach Hocker ended his perfect record on PATs Saturday at 57, striking the right upright on his second attempt of the first quarter. He kicked 56 in a row in 2010.
Hocker made 16 of 19 field goals as a freshman, including a 51-yarder against South Carolina, the longest ever by a Razorback freshman and the longest by any Razorback since 1988.
He added one from 32 yards against the Bears near the end of the first half.
Freshmen Prominent
Freshman offensive tackle Mitch Smothers became the eighth true freshman to start an opener for Arkansas in the Bobby Petrino era on Saturday and the only true freshman to start the opening game in the offensive line in Razorback history. Freshmen became eligible to play varsity football in 1973.
Smothers wasn’t the only true freshman to log playing time in Saturday’s opening game. Freshman running back Kody Walker scored two touchdowns for Arkansas. Marquel Wade and Keante Minor were the deep men on kickoffs; Tevin Mitchell played on the kickoff team.
Offensive tackle Brey Cook and defensive end Trey Flowers saw action in the second half.
On special teams, Alan D’appollonio was the snapper and Brian Buehner was the holder for Hocker.
The number of freshmen contributing Saturday may have been impressive, but did not compare to 2008 when Coach Bobby Petrino’s first Razorback team relied on 16 freshmen to contribute.
Many Happy Returns
Joe Adams turned a near disaster into a 69-yard punt return for a touchdown, tying an Southeastern Conference record with two punt returns for TD in a game. Adams touched the punt on a bounce and a Missouri State player tried to cover it, but the ball squirted backward to the 22 before Adams took control.
He also dazzled a near-capacity crowd with a 61-yard touchdown on Missouri State’s first punt of the game. He followed that with an 18-yard return on Jordan Chiles’ 72-yard punt, still in the first period.
He added an 18-yard return in the second quarter, but was stopped after 1 yard on his only other return of the first half.
His first return of the second half was officially only 7 yards because of a penalty. Otherwise, it would have been for 30-plus yards.
Adams averaged 15.6 yards per return last season, the seventh-highest single-season average in Razorback history. Last year vs. Ole Miss, Adams set a Razorback record with a 97-yard return, breaking the record of 95 yards by Ken Hatfield.
Adams also extended his streak of making at least one catch in every game of his career to 35 Saturday against Missouri State. Adams had one catch against the Bears in Arkansas’ season opener. Coming into the opener, Adams’ 34-game streak ranked as the longest in the SEC and fifth longest in the nation.
Johnson’s Record Ends
Dennis Johnson’s quest to extend his record for scoring the first points of the season for the Razorbacks in three straight years fell by the wayside Saturday. Johnson, whose preseason preparation for the opener were slowed by a leg injury, was dressed in a jersey and baseball cap on the sideline against Missouri State.
Johnson, who entered 2010 as a junior, suffered a season-ending injury in Week 2 and got a medical redshirt, but was not listed on the two-deep roster for the Missouri State game.
In 2009, Johnson returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown against Missouri State, and last season against Tennessee Tech he rushed 7 yards for an early TD.
MSU Starts Freshman QB
True freshman Kierra Harris of Texarkana got the starting nod at quarterback for Missouri State as a result of a one-game suspension by senior Trevor Wooden. He was 8 of 14 passing for 70 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown.
Petrino’s Success
Petrino ran his record for season openers to 8-0 Saturday, including two victories over Missouri State — one on Saturday and the other to start the 2009 season. Half of those wins came against Kentucky when Petrino was at Louisville and the last four occurred since he became head coach of the Razorbacks.
Arkansas has won 17 of its last 21 season openers, including the last five.
Sept. 3 Starts Suit Hogs
When Sept. 3 is a game date for the Arkansas Razorbacks, history shows it always works out well. It obviously held true Saturday when the Razorbacks clobbered the visitors from Springfield, Mo., 51-7 and the victory ran the Razorbacks’ record to 4-0 when playing on that date.
Arkansas defeated Missouri State 49-17 in Fayetteville in 2005, downed SMU 34-14 in 1994, and dominated Pacific, 63-14, in 1988.
We’re Walking, Walking …
The new tradition of honoring someone, or several someones, by walking through the “A” during the pregame continued Saturday as the university honored those who responded to RSVP (Razorback Seat Value Plan) — part of the Razorback Foundation’s “Answer the Call” program.
Seven fans represented more than 2,680 new Razorback Foundation members and an additional $6.5 million raised in support of University of Arkansas student-athletes in all sports.
The 18-month RSVP program succeeded by helping increase Razorback Foundation membership by 20 percent and raising annual foundation support of Razorbacks athletics to more than $18 million. The seven honorees were from various membership levels within the Razorback Foundation; all of them either joined as part of RSVP or increased their pledge as part of the program.
Those participating in the walk were Angelo Coppola, Audie Dennis, Mel Redman, J.J. Hurley, Kathy Stone, Raffy Quimbo and Brandon White.
— Dennis A. Byrd • Arkansas News Bureau
