Live Game Blog: Arkansas vs. ULM

Arkansas 28, ULM 27 (final)

Jeremy Genner misses a 45-yard field goal attempt with 37.5 seconds remaining. Arkansas holds on 28-27. More coming after interviews, so check the blog and the main page on WholeHogSports.com for a recap, two sidebar stories and a column.

FOURTH QUARTER
Arkansas 28, ULM 27

UPDATE (9:24 p.m.): Arkansas takes its first lead of the game and Bobby Petrino has got some big guts. The Hogs ran a play-fake on fourth-and-1 and Casey Dick found true freshman Chris Gragg down field between two defenders for a 25-yard reception and first down at the 7-yard line.

The play-fake was so good, Michael Smith even had to spin to break a “tackle attempt.”

D.J. Williams, two plays later, hooked up with Dick for an 8-yard touchdown catch with 1:22 remaining. ULM, however, is driving. It’s second-and-7 on the Hogs’ 27-yard line.

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ULM 27, Arkansas 21

UPDATE (9:09 p.m.): Arkansas seemed to have a good thing going after holding ULM, but the Hogs were plagued with dropped passes, short losses and short gains after it reached midfield. Casey Dick rushed 7 yards on a fourth-and-14 and Arkansas had to punt the ball from its own 47-yard line.

 

ULM now has the ball and just threw a deep pass that should have been completed down field but was overthrown. Quarterback Kinsmon Lancaster just got nailed by jack linebacker Jerico Nelson in the backfield on a first-and-1, and is injured on the field. Backup quarterback Trey Revell is now in, but wide receiver Darrell McNeal is lined up at quarterback.

 

Lancaster back in now.

 

There’s 5:56 remaining in the game.

 

 

ULM 27, Arkansas 21

UPDATE (8:44 p.m.): That was quick. Arkansas just scored from four yards out with a Michael Smith rush to the outside with 12:19 remaining. The score comes two plays after ULM’s Jeremy Gener hit his second field goal of the game, a 40-yarder with 12:56 remaining to extend ULM’s lead to 27-14. The Arkansas fans were in the midst of doing the wave during the Warhawks’ drive, by the way.

ULM drove 30 yards on nine plays in the scoring drive that took 4:17 off the clock.

Casey Dick and D.J. Williams get a lot of the credit for this short, 37-second drive that went 80 yards on two plays. Dick found Williams over the middle for a 76-yard pass and catch. Williams ran for 40-plus yards after the catch before finally being tackled at the 4-yard line.

Arkansas’ extra point was kicked and converted by sophomore Shay Haddock. The crowd cheered loudly when he hit the attempt. Alex Tejada has got to be feeling bad.

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THIRD QUARTER
ULM 24, Arkansas 14

UPDATE (8:32 p.m.): Casey Dick and D.J. Williams have Arkansas attempting to steer onto the comeback trail. Arkansas drove 69 yards on nine plays and Dick found Williams for his first career touchdown reception on third-and-goal at the 8-yard line with 2:13 remaining. Dick then found Williams for a two-point conversion. Hogs are now down 10 points, 24-14.

Dick got things going with a 33-yard pass to Joe Adams to the ULM 42-yard line. Arkansas shot itself in the foot at the 3-yard line, however, with 12 men on the field but Dick got the Hogs back in it with the touchdown. ULM now has the ball on their own 47-yard line after a long kickoff return.

ULM 24, Arkansas 6

UPDATE (8:19 p.m.): Gary Frazier just scored the first touchdown of his career with 6:11 remaining after the Hogs failed to convert on a fourth-and-2 attempt at the ULM 47-yard line. The Warhawks pounced on the opportunity, as Kinsmon Lancaster found Anthony McCall (who has blocked a punt and caught two touchdowns) for a 46-yard gain to Arkansas’ 7-yard line.

Arkansas is bleeding and the Warhawks are screaming right now.

The 55,048 here in the stadium can’t be too pleased.

ULM 17, Arkansas 6

UPDATE (8:04 p.m.): Arkansas is in a familiar position. Arkansas is now down 17-6 after ULM drove down the field for a 33-yard touchdown pass from Kinsmon Lancaster to Anthony McCall at the 10:19 mark.

The Hogs, if you remember, were down 10 points to Division I-AA Western Illinois twice last week in the season opener.

As for tonight, ULM took the second half opening kickoff and drove 78 yards on 11 plays on offense. They converted one of two third downs and a fourth-and-1 on Arkansas’ 34-yard line prior to the nice pitch and catch.

The Hogs will have to do something on offense on their first possession of the second half to get back into this game. They can’t afford to keep making mistakes.

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HALFTIME
ULM 10, Arkansas 6

The 60th birthday of War Memorial Stadium isn’t one of its best. Despite the Hogs out-gaining ULM in the yardage department, Arkansas is behind at home 10-6. This team just isn’t looking too good with two missed field goals, a missed extra point and a blocked punt. Special teams, as I said earlier, is killing the Razorbacks right now.

Here are some stats to keep you entertained until the third quarter:

— The Hogs have 217 yards of offense compared to 100 yards for ULM.

— Michael Smith has rushed for 121 yards and 1 touchdown on 13 attempts. Casey Dick has played well, connecting on 7 of 12 passes for 74 yards, but he’s also been sacked three times. Joe Adams is your leading receiver with 38 yards on 4 grabs.

What’s killing Arkansas is ULM’s short field and the inability to stop making stupid mistakes. Two costly penalties inside the 5-yard line in the second quarter led to ULM’s lone touchdown.

Bobby Petrino has got the running game going, but special teams, I’m sure, is getting a good chewing in the locker room right now.

 

SECOND QUARTER
ULM 10, Arkansas 6

UPDATE (7:14 p.m.): Special teams are killing the Hogs. Shortly after ULM blocked an Arkansas punt, Jeremy Gener booted a 15-yard field goal to give the Warhawks a 10-6 lead. The Warhawks converted a third-and 3 at the 14-yard line with a pass to tight end Zeek Zacharie for 10 yards. Zacharie, a few plays later, nearly had a touchdown by a Kinsmon Lancaster toss was just out of reach in the back of the end zone.

 

Arkansas true freshman Dennis Johnson then stepped out of bounds on the 5-yard line on the kickoff return.

The Hogs started the drive with a false start but then Michael Smith got them out of the hole with a 22-yard run to the 27-yard line. Dick was sacked one play later for a 6-yard loss and, ultimately, the Hogs punted again to give ULM its last scoring attempt which failed after a dropped shovel pass at Arkansas’ 37-yard line.

The Hogs got the ball back with 0:17 showing on the clock, but a 6-yard pass to Smith was all they could muster.

It’s halftime and the Hogs look sloppy.

And in trouble.

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ULM 7, Arkansas 6

UPDATE (7:07 p.m.): The Razorbacks really shot themselves in the foot during a ULM touchdown drive. The Warhawks hit their extra point and now lead Arkansas, 7-6, with 8:12 remaining int he first half.

Cornerback Ramon Broadway drew a pass interference in the end zone to give the Warhawks the ball at the UA 2-yard line. Strong defense backed ULM up a bit, but a roughing the passer by Lavunce Askew gave the Warhawks a fresh set of downs at the 1-yard line. Quarterback Kinsmon Lancaster then found receiver Anthony McCall in the left-center of the end zone for a touchdown and the 7-6 lead.

The drive took 3:28 off the clock and went 55 yards on eight plays.

Arkansas just fired back with a long pass attempt 35 yards down field to true freshman receiver Jarius Wright, but the pass was tipped by a ULM defender. UA head coach Bobby Petrino wants a spark here, it seems.

A Michael Smith short run and a sack of Casey Dick leads the Hogs to a fourth-and-17 and punting attempt, which was just blocked Anthony McCall, who scored ULM’s touchdown just minutes earlier.

This could get bad quick, Hog fans.

——

Arkansas 6, ULM 0

UPDATE (6:43 p.m.): Michael Smith’s nifty run over the right side from 13 yards out just gave Arkansas a 6-0 lead. Alex Tejada, by the way, missed the extra point. Tejada missed two field goals in the first quarter before the missed extra point with 11:40 remaining in the second quarter.

Smith hurdled, spun and stretched his arm for a magnificent 13-yard touchdown run. The game officials originally ruled him down at the 1-yard line but an official review awarded the junior with his first touchdown of the season.

The Hogs drove 55 yards on seven plays for the score.

Something has got to be up with Tejada. It’ll be interesting to see how the coaches handle him from here out in the game.

By the way, Tejada is kicking off now. He drew a delay of game penalty. I’m not kidding. He then followed that up with a kick out of bounds.

Again, I’m not kidding. Tejada can’t shake this off. ULM, as a result, gets the ball at their own 45-yard line.

Note: The public address announcer gave some score updates between the first and second quarters. The final of Wake Forest 30, Ole Miss 28 prompted loud cheers.

FIRST QUARTER
Arkansas 0, ULM 0

UPDATE (6:36 p.m.): Just as it seemed Arkansas’ passing game was the only thing going for it, Casey Dick rushes for 12 yards and then Michael Smith busts two runs for 24 yards and 29 yards to give the Hogs a scoring opportunity at the 9-yard line. A short burst by De’Anthony Curtis, a stuffed run and a Dick incompletion led to a Alex Tejada 25-yard field goal attempt.

Tejada missed it, however, for his second miscue of the game.

Tejada hasn’t had a good go of it since the Razorbacks’ bludgeoning at the Cotton Bowl, where he missed two field goal attempts (35- and 37-yarders).

ULM has the ball now at its own 20-yard line with 1:57 remaining.

By the way, UA true freshman Tramain Thomas started at cornerback.

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UPDATE (6:21 p.m.): Arkansas drove down the field pretty good to open the game, but a costly offensive pass interference call led to the Razorbacks remaining scoreless.

Michael Smith, fresh off a one-game suspension, opened the game with a 6-yard run and Casey Dick ran for 10 yards and a first down as well. Dick also connected with receiver Joe Adams for 17 yards on a third-and-13 to the ULM 30-yard line. London Crawford came down with a long, over-the-shoulder catch at the 8-yard line but was called for pass interference to back Arkansas up to the 50-yard line for a first-and-30. What resulted later was an Alex Tejada 45-yard field goal attempt, which went wide with 8:47 remaining.

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PRE-GAME

We’re about 30 minutes away from kickoff here in War Memorial Stadium. A bunch of reporters are standing around TV sets watching Houston Nutt’s Ole Miss team take on Wake Forest late in the fourth quarter. The Demon Deacons are up 27-21.

As for the Hogs, Razorbacks Pants Watch continues. The Hogs are wearing white pants, with no stripe, and their custom red jerseys they debuted last week against Western Illinois. I guess they want to shake off those bad vibes from last week’s too-close-for-comfort, 28-24 win and the red pants they wore in the debut.

I’ll be back throughout the game with a bunch of updates, so keep checking in.

Filed under: Arkansas Football, Game Live Blogs by Brandon Marcello. Posted on: September 6, 2008 at 4:39 pm