FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) – There were some ugly moments, but the Arkansas offense ultimately dominated the day racking up 520 total yards and taking down Colorado State 55-34.
Nick Starkel went 20-35 for 305 yards and three touchdowns in his starting debut, while Rakeem Boyd rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns. Freshmen wide receivers Trey Knox and Treylon Burks also combined for more than 180 passing yards and a touchdown.
Colorado State proved they came to play scoring just seconds into the game on a 75-yard rush from Kinsey.
However, the Arkansas offense provided one of the best quarters of football since Chad Morris took over in the rest of the first quarter. The ball got rolling when Trey Knox snagged a 24-yard touchdown pass from Starkel, and it kept going from there. Chase Harrell scored on a 14-yard pass and then Rakeem Boyd exploded on a 59-yard rush for the Hogs to take a 21-7 lead.
Colorado State responded on a 14-yard pass that made it a one-score game, but Connor Limpert nailed back-to-back field goals (54 yards and 22 yards) to extend the Razorbacks lead to 27-14 in the early minutes of the second quarter.
The Colorado State offense started to threaten after punching in the ball from a yard out and then making a 46-yard field goal. Despite having 305 total yards of offense in the first half, the Hogs only had a 27-24 lead.
Things looked to get back on track opening up the second half, when Rakeem Boyd capped off a scoring drive with a 4-yard run to extend Arkansas’ lead to ten points.
However, Arkansas once again started to crumble in the second half. Colorado State tied up the game after a field goal and another 75-yard touchdown where the Hog defense were nowhere to be seen.
The freshmen wide receivers started to step up in the fourth quarter, especially on a scoring drive where Trey Knox caught two passes for 32 yards and Treylon Burks caught one for 17 yards to keep the ball rolling. Devwah Whaley rushed for five yards to the endzone to put Arkansas back on top 41-34.
The play of the game came in the middle of the fourth quarter from Cheyenne O’Grady, shoving off every Colorado State defender that tried to bring him down and rushing 62 yards for a touchdown that gave the Hogs some cushion in their lead. The defense added to the breathing room when Hayden Henry forced a fumble that Ladarrius Bishop recovered for a touchdown.
Arkansas returns to Razorback Stadium hosting San Jose State in a rare night game. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30PM.
