Tag: Arkansas BYU

Not fumbling that one! Rocket Sanders goes 68 yards on BYU defense

Rocket Sanders set a career high in yards rushing against BYU early in the second quarter.

Rocket Sanders was basically benched in the middle of Arkansas’ game against BYU. It was unclear whether coach Sam Pittman would call it a benching, but he went a couple of series without his leading rusher on the field.

Fumbles were the likely issue for Sanders, the SEC’s leading rusher. But early in the fourth quarter, the man called Rocket was back on the field and on the second play of Arkansas’ first drive of the quarter he went 68 yards to give Arkansas a three-score lead, 52-35, with 14:20 left.

Sanders had a career-high168 yards on just 14 carries to that point with two touchdowns after he opened the Arkansas scoring in the first quarter. He entered as the ninth leading rusher in FBS, averaging 116 yards a game.

Arkansas had scored on eight straight drives dating back to the first quarter. Only one of those was a field goal as Sanders’ quarterback, KJ Jefferson, set a career high with five touchdown passes to that point.

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He can’t be stopped: Jefferson sets career high with fifth touchdown vs BYU

Arkansas needed KJ Jefferson in the worst way Saturday. The junior quarterback showed out.

KJ Jefferson has had some monster games at Arkansas. None quite as dynamite as Saturday’s against BYU.

Jefferson had nine touchdown passes in five games entering the season. Through just under three total quarters against the Cougars, he had five.

Jefferson’s five-yard pass to Matt Landers over the middle moved Arkansas’ lead to 10, 45-35, with 1:13 left in the third quarter. Landers’ catch was his third touchdown of the day and his eighth grab overall.

Through the fifth touchdown, Jefferson had gone 26 for 37 for 340 yards and the five scores. The other two were caught by Trey Knox and Rashod Dubinion, both in the second quarter.

Arkansas’ defense is forcing Jefferson’s hand, however. The Razorbacks allowed 417 yards of total offense through three quarters, including 311 and three touchdowns through the air.

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KJ Jefferson tosses second touchdown to Matt Landers as Hogs take control

The SEC is loaded with great quarterbacks and KJ Jefferson is proving he shouldn’t be forgotten as one.

KJ Jefferson tied a career high and he still had more than 20 game-clock minutes left to play.

The Arkansas quarterback in his first game back from an injury that kept him out of the team’s loss to Mississippi State last week threw four touchdown passes to three different receivers in just more than 35 minutes against BYU.

His fourth was a 39-yarder to a wide-open Matt Landers down the left sideline to give Arkansas a 38-28 lead with 9:20 left in the third quarter. Trey Knox had caught the first one early in the second quarter and Landers caught another later in the frame to put Arkansas ahead, 24-21, while Rashod Dubinion added a final before half, as well.

Jefferson had thrown 20 for 29 with 281 yards and the four scores (tying a career high) through the time of the second Landers touchdown.

Jefferson’s career-high in passing yards is 385, set earlier in the year against Missouri State.

KJ Jefferson is better than your favorite quarterback and proves it against BYU

KJ Jefferson is unlike any quarterback in all of college football.

As many moments as Malik Horsnby had filling in for KJ Jefferson at quarterback for Arkansas last week against Mississippi State, there’s still only one KJ.

Without him, Arkansas wouldn’t be 3-3 and taking a lead into the half against BYU. Without him, Arkansas might have one win through six games, instead. Jefferson is so good, he was our clear Most Valuable Player choice for the Razorbacks during our midseason awards earlier this week.

On Saturday, he tossed his third touchdown pass with 40 seconds left in the first half against the Cougars. It was a 15-yarder to freshman running back Rashod Dubinion, but it wasn’t even the most important play of the drive.

No, that came a couple plays before when the Jefferson that drew national attention in 2021 was back. He strengthened and spun his way out of a would-be sack – or three – on 3rd-and-11 from his own 42 with the Razorbacks ahead by just three points. Jefferson bought enough time to find Trey Knox over the middle for a gain of 36 yards.

Two plays later, touchdown.

WATCH: Trey Knox climbs the ladder for Arkansas’ second touchdown

At 6-foot-5, Arkansas tight end Trey Knox has the size and hands to make dynamite catches.

Trey Knox always had the hands and, at 6-foot-5, the height to be a dynamic pass-catcher.

On Saturday against BYU, with Arkansas trailing in the second quarter by a touchdown, the wide-receiver-turned-tight-end lifted himself off the ground to catch a high pass from KJ Jefferson for a score that would provide Arkansas the lead.

Knox, who had six catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns in Arkansas’ opener against Cincinnati, had just six catches for 73 yards and no scores in the five games since.

Jefferson went just 4 of 9 passing on Arkansas’ first three drives, but went 5 for 5 on the fourth. His pass to Knox was from six yards and his 10th touchdown pass of the year.

Twitter reacts: Rocket Sanders dominates to put Arkansas on board vs BYU

Arkansas running Rocket Sanders showed BYU he’s the best they’ll see all season long.

Rocket Sanders makes things happen.

Arkansas’ first two drives against BYU weren’t exactly what Razorbacks’ fans were seeking. A fumble and a stalled drive in their own territory were the results and some on Twitter were already picking up their chant from last week: fire Kendal Briles.

After the third drive, those quieted a little bit. The Arkansas offensive coordinator went to his bread-and-butter, Sanders, and the SEC’s leading rusher scored from 15 yards to tie the game against the Cougars late in the first quarter.

Sanders had 66 yards on six carries through the touchdown drive, while Arkansas’ passing game, with KJ Jefferson back as starter, was just 4 of 9 for 40 yards.

Twitter, per usual, had thoughts.

KJ Jefferson back in starting lineup for Arkansas against BYU

Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson was officially back in the starting lineup Saturday against BYU.

KJ Jefferson returned to the starting lineup Saturday for Arkansas in the Razorbacks’ road game at BYU.

Jefferson missed last week’s game against Mississippi State with an undisclosed injury. It was largely speculated that Jefferson had a head injury after coach Sam Pittman said he had one against Alabama when he did not finish Arkansas’ final two series of that game. Cade Fortin started against the Bulldogs, though he was quickly replaced by Malik Hornsby.

Jefferson was a dark horse Heisman Trophy contender during Arkansas’ first three games of the season when the Razorbacks were 3-0.

The junior quarterback has 1,096 yards passing with nine touchdowns and interception and 312 yards rushing with four touchdowns entering the game in Provo, Utah.

Arkansas turned the ball over at midfield on its first possession against the Cougars when Rocket Sanders fumbled.

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Best pre-game tweets from Arkansas vs. BYU in Provo

The Arkansas football team and its fans are ready for BYU on Saturday.

Arkansas and BYU are about set in what’s arguably the biggest game of the day between two unranked teams.

The Razorbacks need a win after having lost their last three to fall all the way out of the Top 25. The home team Cougars are just on the outside of the rankings with their only losses to national-title contender Oregon and preseason top-five Notre Dame.

Arkansas has never played at BYU, but it was a good excuse for many Razorbacks fans to head out to the mountains. Plenty have, too, as the tweets below suggest.

Coach Sam Pittman and his crew have a bye week following and an opportunity to get healthy before SEC play, which will determine the Hogs’ fate, resumes as does a final nonconference game against Liberty.

An Arkansas win would provide the Razorbacks momentum, perhaps enough to salvage the poor stretch that followed the recent start.

Five reasons Arkansas loses to BYU on Saturday

The Razorbacks will have their hands full against BYU on Saturday.

The Razorbacks need a win in the worst way.

Arkansas football isn’t just on a three-game losing streak, Hogs fans are slowly becoming more and more apathetic toward the 2022 team. No place is worse than apathy.

When teams are terrible, fans revolt with passion. They’re loud. They’re angry. They help make change.

When teams are great, fans rejoice with passion. They’re loud. They’re thrilled. They help keep times going.

But when teams are 3-3, winless in conference play but not bad enough to be considered one of Power Five’s worst, fans barely care. In fact, here at Razorbacks Wire, we’ve notcied a distinct lack of passion since Missouri State. Which, it makes sense that was the most passsionate of the season: it was against the last coach to have Arkansas football relevant.

A loss at Brigham Young on Saturday would have the opposite effect. The Razorbacks would become irrelevant. And no one, least of all us, wants irrelevancy.

We wrote yesterday the three reasons Arkansas could head out to Provo and come up with a win and showcased, also, how Wire staffers across the SEC are leaning the Hogs’ way. Now, let’s look at the other side.

Five votes for Arkansas, four for BYU: SEC Wire staffers pick Hogs vs. Cougars

Media from across the SEC are picking Arkansas to beat BYU on the road.

As much as the end-is-nigh folks may want to proclaim Arkansas’ season cooked, the professionals see it another way.

Five of the nine editors at USA TODAY Sports Wire sites in the SEC have picked Arkansas to beat Brigham Young on the road Saturday.

The Razorbacks have dropped three straight games to fall 3-3 after a perfect start saw them crack the Top 10 nationally. As of the most recent polls, Arkansas didn’t pick up a single vote.

BYU did. The Cougars are a de facto No. 26, one spot behind North Carolina, in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. They’re 4-2, but their two losses came against Notre Dame and Oregon, not exactly small potatoes.

An Arkansas loss would put the team behind things when it comes to finishing above .500. The Razorbacks travel to Auburn after the ensuing bye week, then host Liberty, LSU and Ole Miss in Fayetteville before finishing at Missouri. It’s no guarantee Arkansas would be favored in any of those games, though the Liberty game seems almost a lock.

Still, national and regional folks aren’t giving up on the Razorbacks yet. Fans shouldn’t either.