By Scott Faldon
Times Record • sfaldon@swtimes.com
FAYETTEVILLE — For their final home game in Fayetteville, Arkansas senior wide receivers Joe Adams and Jarius Wright put on a show.
Adams entered the game with 151 catches, just one behind D.J. Williams (152) and two behind Anthony Eubanks (153) on the career receptions list. Wright was one catch behind Adams with 150.
By the end of the game, however, Wright was in first place with 155 catches, while Adams finished tied with Eubanks at 153.
“It’s always good to break a record, especially in your home state and somewhere you’ve been so long,” Wright, a Warren native, said. “It’s great to know I broke a record and regardless if Joe passes me, I’ll be in the record books.”
Sarah Bentham • Special to the Arkansas News Bureau
With at least two regular-season games and a bowl game remaining in their senior seasons, it’s possible the duo will trade the record back-and-forth before the year ends.
“I’m glad for him to have the record. I didn’t even know about the record until (the media) told me about it,” Adams, a Little Rock native, said. “We pride ourselves in getting the other guy open. If you know the ball’s not coming, you still got to do your job and make sure that he gets the chance to catch the ball. We want everybody to get a touchdown.”
Wright drew level with Adams midway through the first quarter when he caught a 7-yard pass for a first down to the Tennessee 25. Nine plays later, he caught a 7-yard TD pass to move past Adams with 152 catches and into a tie with Williams.
Wright’s 153rd catch was an instant highlight reel classic. Running down the left sideline, Wright was shadowed by a Tennessee defensive back. Tyler Wilson’s pass was short, but Wright reached around the defender with his left hand and trapped the ball against the Volunteer’s back.
The ball then bounced into the air and Wright tipped it again and then a second time, off his own facemask. Wright tipped it a third time, then dove at the ball and clutched it with both hands before rolling onto his back as he landed for a 40-yard gain.
“I tried to stop and go back to (the ball),” Wright said. “I actually caught it the first time, but the cornerback was right there on me so I kind of flipped it in the air trying to bring it in. … I tried to catch it every time (I touched it).”
Wilson, who had missed a wide-open Adams early in the second quarter, finally hit the senior from Little Rock on the Razorbacks’ first play of the third quarter. The 12-yard completion gave him 152 catches to Wright’s 153. A second Adams catch was wiped out by a holding penalty.
On Arkansas’ second possession of the second half, Wilson threw a 14-yarder to Wright for the record-breaking 154th catch. He tossed a 26-yarder to Wright on the same drive for his 155th. For the year, Wright has 906 receiving yards on 53 catches and 10 TDs.
“Jarius has been having a great year,” Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino said. “He’s really become a complete receiver for us. We really rely on him as one of our biggest playmakers.”
After the Volunteers failed to convert on fourth-and-1 at their own 40, Arkansas went for the jugular with a 40-yard strike from Wilson to Adams. That gave Arkansas a 35-7 lead and Adams his 153rd career catch, which left him tied with Eubanks in second place.
Sarah Bentham • Special to the Arkansas News Bureau
But Adams’ most memorable play came in the first quarter. With 17 seconds left in the first quarter, he turned in what might be the most spectacular of his four career punt returns for touchdowns.
“I told him, I’ve seen you make a lot of plays around here, but that one was special,” Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick McGee said.
Tennessee punted from its own 29. Adams fielded the 31-yard kick at the Arkansas 40 and immediately dodged the first Volunteer. The punt return was set up to his right and he ran toward that sideline, before retreating a few yards and reversing field.
He stopped again and returned to the right sideline and ran into a swarm of Tennessee players, including one who grabbed Adams by the shoulder pads. But Adams ducked, slid the defender off, tiptoed through the arms of a couple more Volunteers and then hit the open field.
With a train of blockers, he sprinted down the sideline for an improbable 60-yard punt return for a touchdown.
“Guys picked up great blocks and I just tried to make guys miss again. I was just running and trying to make sure guys don’t tackle me,” Adams said. “I was just running around and trying to make them tired. Nah, I was just trying to draw them back to the field and then get back to the right because it was a right (side) return.”
Adams admitted he was eager to get home for ESPN’s ‘SportsCenter’ to see where his punt return ranked on the program’s top plays of the day.
“I just want to go home and see how the whole play went,’ Adams said. ‘Yeah, sometimes I surprise myself. I try to play a lot of NCAA (video game) and do plays on there and bring it to the game.”
Adams’ punt return left Wright almost speechless.
“It’s amazing,” Wright said. “That’s the only word that can sum up that punt return — amazing.”
