FAYETTEVILLE — A little voice in Matt Jones’ head told him he’d said something wrong.
Ah, yes, the direction of the play. He’d called it to the wrong side in the huddle as Arkansas was trying to hold a touchdown lead.
So as Jones stood at the line of scrimmage facing third-and-1, he signaled to tight end Jason Peters on the right that the play would go to his side. Nearly every other offensive player blocked the play to flow left, Peters took out a linebacker and Jones streaked around the right for 60 yards to the Texas 1-foot line.
Just about everything went Arkansas’ way Saturday.
The Razorbacks delivered one of the most impressive offensive displays in Coach Houston Nutt’s era, riding Jones’ acrobatics and a big-play defense in downing sixthranked Texas 38-28 in front of a crowd of 83,271 at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
Just to make clear which team carried the day, tailback De’Arrius Howard staked an Arkansas flag in the north end zone turf in front of 4,000 or so cheering Razorbacks fans. Coaches and players celebrated and hugged with the kind of emotion usually reserved for a championship.
Almost everyone in red flashed the downward Hook ’em ’Horns sign except the coaches. Nutt had to explain last week why he’d flashed the sign at the end of Arkansas’ 27-6 victory over Texas in the 2002 Cotton Bowl.
Nutt deferred when asked to rank the victory against Arkansas ’ others in the Texas series. "It’s an awesome feeling, it’s up there,"Nutt said.
Arkansas never had scored so many points on Texas’ home field. The previous high came in a 32-14 victory in 1956.
Like they did four years ago, the Razorbacks (2-0) turned the Longhorns (1-1) on their heads by battering them with the running game (265 yards), stuffing Texas’ ground game (62 yards) and striking with opportunistic passing.
And like four years ago, Arkansas was the tougher team. "They weren’t being very physical out there,"Arkansas linebacker Caleb Miller said. "No offense to them, but I’m just saying it didn’t seem to us that they were playing very hard on offense."
Cedric Cobbs rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown and Howard scored two touchdowns, with both running backs finding generous room behind a seemingly inspired line. "I felt our offensive line had more heart than their defensive line,"Cobbs said.
Defensive coordinator Dave Wommack sent a steady stream of linebackers into the face of Texas quarterback Chance Mock, and the Hogs held tailback Cedric Benson to 27 yards rushing, 2.1 per carry.
But nobody made as many plays on offense or defense as Jones, who ran the option and scrambled through Texas ’ defense for 102 yards. He also passed for 139 yards and another touchdown. "You look at game Matt Jones had, I don’t ever remember seeing a quarterback make that many plays,"Texas Coach Mack Brown said. "Today he changed the game."
Arkansas offensive tackle Shawn Andrews said," I’ve been blocking for him for three years and he still amazes me."
Jones was supposed to be hobbled by a strained hip muscle — he had trouble lifting his leg Wednesday night — but he never showed it.
Nutt showed confidence in Jones by letting him throw from the end zone twice — on third-and-30. A penalty negated the first completion, then Jones threw a 54-yard strike to George Wilson on the retry.
Nutt also showed confidence by letting Jones call some plays. "I called the play where I fumbled, I know that, so I’m probably done calling plays for a while,"Jones said. "It’s just something you get when you start learning the offense and start knowing what’s working and what’s not."
Arkansas forced three fumbles. Two set up touchdowns and the other turned back Texas after it had driven to the Arkansas 11.
Howard scored on a 2-yard run to give Arkansas a 21-7 lead with 1:53 left in the first half off the first fumble, by Texas receiver Roy Williams. Cobbs bolted 46 yards for a touchdown and a 28-14 lead less than four minutes into the third quarter after the second Texas fumble.
Defensive lineman Elliott Harris forced the second fumble after linemate Justin Scott recognized the play before the snap and hollered it to Harris.
Offensive players told similar stories. "I felt like I knew what Texas was going to do,"tight end Jared Hicks said. "We felt like we were inside their heads all day."
Jones threw an 18-yard touchdown to Wilson on the first series after Texas had taken a 7-0 lead, and that’s how the rest of the day went. Every time Texas scored or hit a big play, Arkansas answered.
When Jones fumbled and Texas free safety Dakarai Pearson returned it 77 yards for a touchdown to open the fourth quarter, Arkansas’ lead dwindled to 28-21.
Cedric Washington returned the kickoff 57 yards to steady Arkansas’ nerves and set up an eventual 1-yard touchdown run by Howard. Arkansas led 35-21.
Texas pulled within 35-28 by moving 71 yards in 31 seconds. Mock hit Tony Jeffery on an 11-yard touchdown pass with 9:38 to play The Hogs had settled into a running groove in the second half and kept the ball on the ground to control possession for 10 minutes more than Texas in the fourth quarter. "We decided we were going to run the ball at them until they stopped it,"Andrews said. "[Texas’ defenders] were getting very tired."
Jones effectively put the game away on the third-and-1 from Arkansas’ 39 when his 60-yard run set up a David Carlton field goal with 5:08 to play. Cornerback Cedric Griffin kept Jones from scoring on the run, driving him out of bounds just short of the goal line. "Too slow,"Jones said with a smile.
There were a lot of those going around.
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