10 drives, 10 touchdowns: Arkansas cruises to victory as Petrino’s offense shines | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Taylen Green and the University of Arkansas’ new offense got off to a fantastic start Thursday night, breaking records on the hot grass of War Memorial Stadium.

Green racked up 317 yards and four touchdowns in the first half alone, flashing his dual-threat prowess in Bobby Petrino’s offense as the Razorbacks defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 70-0 in the season opener before an announced crowd of 40,127 at War Memorial.

Arkansas became the first program to score a touchdown on every drive of a game, in this case going 10 for 10 with three quarterbacks at the controls. The ESPNU broadcast claimed it was the first time a college team had gone 10 for 10 on touchdown drives in at least the last 20 years.

The margin was Arkansas’s largest since a 73-0 shutout of Rhodes College on Nov. 29, 1928. The Hogs recorded their first shutout since a 23-0 win over Tulsa on Oct. 20, 2018.

The flashbacks to Petrino’s successful tenure as head coach at Arkansas from 2008-11, marked by big-time offensive performances, were hard to deny in his first game back as offensive coordinator.

“Bobby, I’m sure he’s feeling good,” fifth-year Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said. “Ten drives and 10 touchdowns, that’s pretty tough to do no matter who you’re playing against.”

Pittman smiled broadly and continued, “Bobby came back and the legend continues to grow.”

Arkansas mustered 687 total yards, but it could have been more as the teams agreed to two 10-minute breaks in the second half, shortening the game by 10 minutes of playing time. The Hogs scored eight rushing touchdowns by six different rookies, led by Green and Ja’Quinden Jackson with two apiece. Rodney Hill, freshman Braylen Russell, quarterback Malachi Singleton and Tyrell Reed also claimed their first Arkansas touchdowns on the ground.

Green made his final play memorable. The 6-6 junior danced around a diving sack attempt by Golden Lions defensive end Anas Luqman near midfield, ran up the right sideline, eluded a defender on the sideline and then cut all the way back across the field to score in the left corner to cap a two-minute drive with a 36-yard touchdown with 9 seconds left in the half.

Green said he went over his progressions before his internal clock signaled it was time to move.

“I felt pressure on my right side and I escaped the pocket,” Green said. “I knew it was two minutes, and at first I was going to throw it away, but then I decided to run. Of course, if I get tackled, the clock keeps running, so I thought, ‘I’ve got to score.’ I went across the field and saw the green grass and, you know, let my speed do the rest.”

UAPB coach Alonzo Hampton was quite impressed.

“He extended plays and we really couldn’t catch him,” Hampton said. “He’s obviously a really good football player and we knew he could run the boat and stuff like that. Early in the game we let them float the ball, but he was able to get away and make things happen. So I take my hat off to him.”

The Razorbacks scored touchdowns on their first seven possessions of the first half for the first time in school history and led 49-0 at halftime. Arkansas extended that streak with consecutive touchdown possessions behind redshirt freshman Singleton and a final drive by true freshman KJ Jackson in the final minute.

Arkansas’ final touchdown on Reed’s 4-yard run over the right guard with 36 seconds left may have led to a quick handshake between the coaches at the end of the game.

The Hogs defense under second-year coordinator Travis Williams pounded the Golden Lions and quarterback Mekhi Hagens, forcing eight tackles for loss in the first half. Arkansas had 10 tackles for loss in the game, including sacks by tackle Eric Gregory and linebackers Xavian Sorey, Stephen Dix and Bradley Shaw.

UAPB totaled 130 yards and managed just 7 rushing yards on 23 carries, with the sacks and other negative plays coming in at the end.

Hagens threw what appeared to be a 66-yard catch and run touchdown pass to Daemon Dawkins, who went over safety Jayden Johnson for the catch late in the first quarter with Arkansas leading 21-0. However, the play was ruled dead and replays showed that Hagens’ first foot had just been tapped out of bounds before he released the long throw.

Arkansas tailback Jackson played just over a quarter, but he took full advantage of his limited reps. The senior transfer opened the scoring with an 8-yard touchdown run on the eighth snap of the game, and he added a tackle-breaking 46-yarder on a nice cut a few minutes later to make it 21-0.

Jackson overthrew two Golden Lions defenders on his final attempt, an impressive gain of 14 yards that put him at 101 yards in eight attempts.

Green completed passes to nine different receivers in his two quarters, throwing the ball deep, over the middle and down the wing in typical Petrino fashion.

But Green’s wheels were the real deal. He took a bootleg 32 yards around right end and stayed in bounds to pick up a few extra yards to complete the run to the UAPB 8-yard line and set up Jackson’s first score.

Green also saw a zone read perfectly and scored untouched from the 4-yard line on the Hogs’ second possession.

Green finished with 88 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns and completed 16 of 23 passes for 229 yards and 2 scores, giving him an efficiency rating of 181.9.

Singleton wasn’t far behind with a 180.8 rating, as he completed 8 of 10 passes for 120 yards on his two drives. Jackson went a perfect 4 for 4 for 59 yards, including a 10-play, 90-yard march in the shortened two-minute drill. Jackson’s efficiency rating was 223.9.

The teams played a turnover-free game, which is rare in a season opener. But the teams got their punishments. Arkansas had two long punt returns called back, a potential 63-yard touchdown by Isaiah Sagtena on a block in the back and a 75-yarder by Bryce Stephens on a running-into-the-kicker flag.

The Razorbacks scored touchdowns on all seven plays in the first half, and combined offense and passing for 444 yards, giving fans the chance to look back on the best of the Petrino head coaching era.

After averaging 139 rushing yards per game in 2023, which ranked 87th in the FBS, Arkansas managed 279 yards against the Golden Lions.

UAPB quarterback Mekhi Hagens passed for 123 yards and the Golden Lions rushed 23 times for 7 yards. Receiver Aramoni Rhone had two receptions for 17 yards to lead UAPB with 34 receiving yards.

Golden Lions defensive tackle Abdulbasit Osholake had two tackles for loss.