Arkansas left Salt Lake City with more questions than answers about their football team as they get routed by the Utes 43-10 on Saturday night.
Both teams started off their first possessions of the game with two long drives, each leading to points. Arkansas got the ball first and went on a 14 play 65 yard drive that ended in a 29 yard field goal to give Arkansas the early 3-0 lead with 7:16 left in the first.
Utah took their opening drive led by Devon Damipier and marched down the field converting on a 4th and two then on the very next play Wayshawn Parker took it in from one yard out and Dillion Curtis added the PAT making it a 7-3 Utah lead with 3:39 left in the first.
Each team traded out three and outs on their next possession and the first quarter ends with Utah leading 7-3.
Second quarter started off with Utah forcing an Arkansas punt but Quincy Rhodes was able to get pressure on Dampier leading to an interception by Christian Harrison returning it 14 yards to the Razorback 48 yard line. Utah gets an interception of their own and they capitalize on a 7 yard touchdown run by Dampier giving them a 15-3 lead after a successful two-point conversion.
Arkansas went on a 11 play 42 yard drive but missed a 51 yard field goal giving the Utes the ball back with 5:00 left in the half.
Dampier leading the way with the 2 QB system along side Ficklin marched right down the field and scored on a Rashawn Parker 9 yard touchdown run extending the Utah lead to 22-3, giving Parker his second TD of the first half with 1:55 left to play in the half.
After a Razorback 3 & out. Utah got the ball back with 1:32 left in the half which led to a 9 yard touchdown pass from Dampier to Parker making it a 29-3 Utah lead heading into the half.
It only took Utah 5 plays to march down 75 yards to strike to start the second half when Dampier found TE Noah Bennee on a 1 yard touchdown pass making the score 36-3 Utes.
Utah adds on to the scoring after a 11 play 70 yard drive when Dampier scored his 4th touchdown of the night on a 2 yard scamper into the endzone making it a 43-3 Utah lead.
KJ Hill made his debut for the Razorbacks and led a 14 play 75 yard drive going 7-11 and 78 yards which was capped off by a 21 yard touchdown pass that was deflected into the hands of Max Gilbert, 43-10 Utah lead with 6:43 left in the game, and would end up being the final score of the game. Arkansas had one final possession to add more points but Utah’s defense sacked Hill to put them out of field goal range and The Utes would take over on downs and run the clock out giving Utah the 43-10 win.
KJ Jackson finished the game 14/34 for 139 yards passing with 0 touchdowns and one interception. Jackson also led the team in rushing with 34 yards on 7 carries. Cam Settles added 25 yards on 6 carries, followed by Braylen Russell’s 13 yards on 5 carries.
For Utah they outgained Arkansas 442-244 overall and it was the Devon Dampier show as he went 18-24 passing with 261 yards and 2 touchdowns along with 11 carries for 50 yard and 2 touchdowns on the ground. Wayshawn Parker added two touchdowns on the ground finished with 53 yards rushing on 10 carries. The Utes averaged 4.1 yards per rush and 15.1 yards per passing play.
Ryan Silverfield said after the game “Clearly not good enough. Guys are pissed off and angry. One loss will not define our season, we’ll get back to work and learn from it.” Arkansas wont have much time to dwell on this loss as they welcome in Georgia next Saturday with an 11am kickoff. The Bulldogs are coming into Fayetteville as the second ranked team in the country and are 2-0 on the season after a 70-20 victory over Western Kentucky.
