Shocked In The Rock
Everything was going Arkansas’ way.
The Razorbacks overcame a slow start. Its defense provided a goal line stand in the final minute of the first half.
But from there, it was nothing but bad news for the Hogs.
Tyler Wilson never left the locker room after halftime. Tevin Mitchell and Koby Walker were both carted off the field due to injuries.
Not to mention that Louisiana-Monroe scored 21 consecutive points to force overtime and then got a 16 yard touchdown run, on a fourth down, from Kolton Browning in overtime to give the War Hawks a 34-31 upset win at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
“They out played us. They out coached us,” Arkansas coach John L. Smith said after the game. “We all contributed to the loss. They’ll wrap their arms around each other and come to work and get better and get ready for Alabama.”
The loss essentially ends any title hopes Arkansas had. Now Arkansas must find a way to regroup and get ready for Alabama, who comes to Fayetteville next week as a front runner for the national title.
“Those guys (ULM) came here and beat us,” Smith said. “There’s no reason we can’t go beat Alabama.”
Wilson was said to have an “above the shoulder injury” but no other details were given to the extent of the injury.
“We haven’t got a doctor prognosis yet. It was something above the shoulder. We’ll have to find out.”
Despite losing Wilson, Arkansas (1-1) marched down the field to score early in the third quarter and took a 28-7 lead. But it was all ULM (1-0) from that point.
Browning finished with 412 yards on 42-of-68 passing with three touchdowns, two of which came in the fourth quarter. Browning added 76 yards rushing and the game winning score. The 488 yards of offense that Browning accounted for was 112 more yards than the entire Arkansas team had.
“It comes down to execution,” Arkansas defensive coordinator Paul Haynes said. “They made more plays than we did. They deserved to win.
“Everything that we have goal wise can still happen. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror and see what we can do.”
ULM was just 8-of-23 on third down conversion attempts but was 6-of-7 on fourth down tries, further evidence of just how much Browning had the Hogs’ defense baffled.
ULM also had almost a 20 minute advantage in time of possession, 39:19 to 20:41.
Arkansas was outgained 297-108 after halftime.
Smith said that Mitchell is moving and “he’s going to be ok, which is the most important thing about tonight.”
Arkansas was held to a 37-yard field goal by Zach Hocker after ULM won the toss and elected to play defense first in the sudden death overtime period.
Wilson finished with 196 yards passing on 11-of-20 passing and two touchdowns but the offensive line play was not there for the Razorbacks. Arkansas was held to 95 yards rushing and averaged less than four yards per attempt.
ULM led 7-0 after Centarius Donald hauled in a four yard touchdown pass from Browning but the Hogs answered with 28 straight points. Wilson hit Julian Horton for a 20-yard touchdown to tie the game with 6:45 left in the first then gave Arkansas a 14-7 lead when he hit Cobi Hamilton for a 39-yard scoring strike.
Brent Leonard had 11 catches for 112 yards, both game highs, and the game tying touchdown with 47 seconds left in regulation. Je’Ron Hamm had seven catches for 102 yards while Tavarese Maye had nine catches for 76 yards for the War Hawks.
Hamilton led Arkansas with 99 receiving yards on six catches and a score while Chris Gragg had seven catches for 83 yards. Davis had 62 yards rushing on 16 attempts while Dennis Johnson added 50 rushing yards.
