Second quarter rally sparks Arkansas win

 

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Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	10	16
Total Yards	197	326
Passing	81	183
Rushing	116	143
Penalties	9-88	2-20
3rd Down Conversions	5-15	4-13
4th Down Conversions	1-2	1-4
Turnovers	3	0
Possession	29:43	30:17

Individual Leaders

North Texas Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Hall 4/8 31 0 0 Smith 2/6 50 1 1	Arkansas Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Sorahan 8/15 116 0 0 Jones 6/8 67 1 0
North Texas Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Moore 20 76 0 11 Bishop 6 30 0 9 Hall 8 13 0 7	Arkansas Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Cobbs 20 104 2 24 Pierce 2 19 0 15 Howard 10 11 1 8
North Texas Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Quinn 2 18 0 11 Blount 1 43 1 43 Thrash 1 15 0 15 Nwigwe 1 9 0 9	Arkansas Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Wilson 4 100 1 39 Peters 3 35 0 22 Baker 1 12 0 12 Hicks 1 10 0 10

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				UNT	ARK
	TD	12:26	CEDRIC COBBS 8 YD RUN (DAVID CARLTON KICK) Drive info: 5 plays, 47 yards.	0	7
	TD	9:48	ANDY BLOUNT 43 YD PASS FROM ANDREW SMITH (NICK BAZALDUA KICK) Drive info: 5 plays, 65 yards.	7	7
SECOND QUARTER				UNT	ARK
	FG	8:00	DAVID CARLTON 31 YD FG Drive info: 4 plays, 20 yards.	7	10
	TD	4:01	DE'ARRIUS HOWARD 1 YD RUN (DAVID CARLTON KICK) Drive info: 5 plays, 46 yards.	7	17
	TD	2:11	GEORGE WILSON 26 YD PASS FROM MATT JONES (DAVID CARLTON KICK) Drive info: 1 plays, 26 yards.	7	24
	TD	1:21	CEDRIC COBBS 6 YD RUN (DAVID CARLTON KICK) Drive info: 2 plays, 28 yards.	7	31

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas looked like a team ready for an emotional setback midway through the second quarter of its 31-7 victory over North Texas on Saturday.

The Razorbacks (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 14 AP) were sky high last week after a 38-28 victory on the road against then-No. 6 Texas. With the lowly Mean Green in town and a Southeastern Conference road game at Alabama on the horizon, Arkansas broke open a 7-7 game with 24 points in the last half the quarter.

"We used a lot of energy last week, but we played good and hard tonight," said Arkansas coach Houston Nutt, who is now 15-0 at War Memorial Stadium. "It's great to be 3-0" on the season.

Cedric Cobbs ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns to become the first Arkansas back since Jerry Eckwood in 1975 to open the season with three 100-yard games. The fifth-year senior has 364 yards and four touchdowns on 52 carries.

The Razorbacks scored three touchdowns in a 2:40 span late in the second quarter and the defense didn't allow a touchdown after the Mean Green's first drive of the game. Arkansas held North Texas to 197 total yards after it opened the game with a 65-yard scoring drive.

"You never get as excited about a game as you can when you play a game like we did last week, but we did our best and came out ahead against a good team," said Arkansas linebacker Caleb Miller. "The bottom line is we won and despite our performance picked up another win."

North Texas (1-3) let a tight game slip away by giving up 17 points on three turnovers in the second quarter.

"We had turnovers and gave them a short field three times right in a row," North Texas coach Darrell Dickey said. "I'm not going to say they weren't going to score, but we just gave it to them."

George Wilson had four receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown, giving the Razorbacks a 100-yard receiver for the fourth straight game dating to the Music City Bowl.

This year Arkansas is showing more balance than in 2002 when Arkansas led the SEC in rushing and finished last in passing. The Razorbacks haven't had three 100-yard receiving performances in a season since 1997, when it had five.

Arkansas completed 14 of 23 passes to eight different receivers for 183 yards. Senior backup Ryan Sorahan didn't lead the Razorbacks to any points in the second half, but he kept the offense moving with 116 passing yards.

Arkansas settled for a field goal and a 10-7 lead with 8 minutes left in the half after an interception return by linebacker Sam Olajubutu to the North Texas 17.

After squandering good field position for most of the first half, Arkansas scored the three quick touchdowns to take control.

Sorahan's 39-yard pass to Wilson set up a 1-yard dive by De'Arrius Howard on fourth down for a 17-7 lead. The drive was set up by Marvin Jackson's 11-yard punt return to the Arkansas 46.

Olajubutu forced quarterback Andrew Smith to fumble three plays later at the North Texas 26. On the first play, Jones drifted to his left, hit Wilson at the 10 and the senior receiver ran untouched for a 24-7 lead.

On the kickoff, Tom Crowder knocked the ball from returner Ja'Mel Branch's hands at the Mean Green 28. Jones hit tight end Jason Peters for a 22-yard gain down the middle and Cobbs scored his second touchdown on a 6-yard run.

"Those turnovers were so fast that it left us just stunned right before the half," said North Texas tight end Andy Blount, who caught a 43-yard touchdown pass from Smith on the first drive. "It was 10-7, then all of a sudden in a matter of minutes it's 31-7."

Arkansas also scored on its first drive, as Cobbs handled the ball on five straight plays. He scored on an 8-yard run after North Texas failed to recover an onside kick to start the game.