No. 18 Arkansas Embarrassed at Home by Toledo 16-12

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

All of the glitz and promise of being a SEC team on the rise hit a crossbar on Saturday afternoon when the No. 18 Arkansas Razorbacks fell at their home away from home in Little Rock to Toledo 16-12.

From the first quarter something seemed amiss on the Arkansas side of the ball. After an eight-play drive was stalled at the 47, Razorbacks’ punter Toby Baker had a punt blocked giving the ball to the Rockets (1-0) at the 25 yard line. Five players later Phillip Ely connected with Corey Jones on a 5-yard touchdown pass putting the score at 6-0 after a failed 2-point attempt.

The Razorbacks would be held off the scoreboard until the 8:47 mark when Alex Collins broke free for a 21-yard touchdown run. Before the end of the half the Rockets would reclaim the lead on 38-yard field goal by Jameson Vest.

At the 5:29 mark in the third quarter, backup running back Damion Jones-Moore padded Toledo’s lead on an 11-yard run putting the Rockets up 16-7.

The Razorbacks added a Cole Hedlund 25-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter closing the gap to 16-10. With less than a minute to play, Rockets’ punter Nick Ellis purposely ran out of the back of the end zone for the final score at 16-12.

The score could have gone one way or another for Arkansas but ended up unfavorable. Offensive tackle Dan Skipper, 6-foot 10-inches, blocked his fifth career field goal in the second quarter preserving a 7-6 lead. Arkansas also had two touchdowns called back because of penalties negating a terrific Jared Cornelius punt return and a fourth quarter Alex Collins touchdown run.

The Hogs controlled every aspect of the game from the time of clock, 37:55 to 22:05, to total yards from the line of scrimmage, 513 to 322. The two areas no college football team wants to be out in front on is turnovers and penalties. Arkansas had one turnover and committed nine penalties for 85 yards compared to eight for Toledo for 55 yards. Arkansas also lost the battle on third down efficiency only able to convert 5-of-13 while Toledo continued playing on 8-of-17 chances.

On the plus side, Arkansas starting quarterback Brandon Allen completed 32-of-53 passes for 412 yards, all career-highs, with one interception. Hunter Henry was Allen’s most reliable target with eight passes caught for 117 yards. Keon Hatcher had a nice stat line but dropped several passes ending up with seven receptions for 92 yards.

The Hogs failed in the running game, something not expected of a Bret Bielema and Sam Pittman coached team. Arkansas had 104 net yards on the ground holding Alex Collins to 54 yards on 20 carries.

Phillip Ely had a solid game completing 21-of-38 passes for 237 yards with a score. Damion Jones-Moore, getting the bulk of the work with starter Karrem Hunt serving the second of a two-game suspension, had 68 yards on 11 carries with a score. Ely’s top target was Corey Jones securing eight passes for 61 yards with a score.

On the defensive side of the ball, Dejuan Rogers was all over the field coming up with 11 tackles and one interception for the Rockets.

Next week Toledo hosts Big 12 member Iowa State and Arkansas will play host to another Big 12 team, Texas Tech.

Photo credit: Danny Johnston; Toledo celebrates an upset victory over Arkansas.