Unrelenting charge
Hogs beat Wildcats as Collins runs wild
MEMPHIS — The Arkansas Razorbacks completed another takeover of Memphis with their second dominating bowl performance in a row under Coach Bret Bielema by blasting Kansas State 45-23 on Saturday at the Liberty Bowl.
Alex Collins rushed for a season-best 185 yards and three touchdowns to earn most valuable player honors before a crowd of 61,136 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, with some estimates giving Arkansas’ cardinal-clad contingent a 3-to-1 advantage over their Kansas State counterparts.
“I thought we could win this baby and get to eight wins,” Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said. “I know it’s not 9, 10, 11 or 12, where we want to be, but it’s one step closer.”
The Razorbacks (8-5), wearing “cardinal chrome” reflective helmets for the first time, won bowl games in back-to-back seasons for the first time, posted a school bowl-record 569 yards total offense and notched their first three-game winning streak in postseason play.
“Arkansas, all due credit to them,” said Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder, who was
Bielema’s boss for two seasons. “They came out and played their game.”
Kansas State led 7-0 early on Winston Dimel’s 10-yard touchdown after Elijah Lee intercepted Brandon Allen on the first series of the game. The Wildcats also led 10-7 and cut Arkansas’ lead to 24-20 early in the second half behind quarterback Kody Cook, a converted receiver, but the Razorbacks clearly had more offensive firepower and physical stamina.
“When you play teams that are so big in the SEC West, and so tough and physical, you see teams get worn down,” Allen said. “That’s kind of what happened tonight. We kept wearing on them.”
Shouts of “SEC! SEC!” began raining down late in the game, and for good reason.
Arkansas’ victory gave the SEC an 8-2 record in bowl games, including seven victories by 21 or more points, with Alabama’s appearance in the College Football Playoff championship game still to come. The SEC West is 6-1 in bowls, with all of the winning margins at least 21 points.
“We wanted to put up a lot of points and we wanted to dominate,” Arkansas guard Sebastian Tretola said. “I think this is huge towards
… showing just how good the league was.”
Allen, who completed 20 of 26 passes for 315 yards and 1 touchdown, said he had taken note of the SEC’s show of power during bowl season.
“We’ve been watching and a lot of the games, they’ve been beatdowns really,” Allen said. “I’m not saying that we wanted to come in and were expecting to beat K-State down, but we wanted to put our stamp on it.
“I think there’s been talk that the SEC’s kind of down and not the best conference, then you see us playing other teams and it’s not even really close and it means a lot.”
Collins, a junior, notched his 10th 100-yard game of the season, tying Darren McFadden’s Arkansas record, and finished the year with 20 rushing touchdowns, surpassing Bill Burnett’s 46-year-old record by one.
“We’ve been through ups and downs, but at the end of the day we wanted to finish strong,” said Collins, who was also voted Arkansas’ offensive MVP.
A 102-yard second half put an exclamation point on his performance, capping it with a 14-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter in which he ran through five Kansas State defenders.
Collins did not address a question about where he stands in the decision process on whether to declare as an underclassman for the
NFL Draft, and he and Bielema are meeting Wednesday in Florida.
“It’s been a steady crescendo with Alex,” Bielema said. “We’re just blessed to have three years with him already.”
Collins’ final score came on the snap that followed the game’s most pivotal play.
Kansas State had scored on its first two possessions of the second half to pull within 31-23, then forced the Hogs into a third-and-13 situation after Jordan Willis’ second sack of Allen, a 6-yard loss at the Arkansas 43.
The Razorbacks ran a fake tunnel screen, which had been successful earlier in the game, and got tight end Hunter Henry loose down the left sideline. Allen had to pause a moment to escape pressure, then uncorked a deep pass that Henry had to wait for but caught for a 43yard gain.
“Hunter made a nice catch … and that was obviously a really big part of the game and a big swing of momentum,” Bielema said.
“I don’t think the defense ever gave up, but that killed momentum right there,” Kansas State defensive back Morgan Burns said.
Arkansas led 24-13 at halftime after Marquel Bryant blocked Cole Hedlund’s 46yard field goal on the final play of the half. The Wildcats drove 74 yards with the opening series of the second half,
scoring in four plays when Dimel released uncovered down the middle for a 48yard touchdown.
Arkansas responded with an 82-yard touchdown drive capped by Jeremy Sprinkle’s 6-yard touchdown on a slant route as a split end for a 3120 lead.
“We closed it to four and then the wheels fell off,” Snyder said.
The Razorbacks held Kansas State to 79 rushing yards, 85 yards less than its season average. Arkansas held 12 of its 13 opponents to less than their season average in rushing yards.
Jared Cornelius scored on a 13-yard end around as part of his 62 all-purpose yards to give Arkansas the lead for good at 14-10 with 2:22 left in the first quarter.
Drew Morgan led the Hogs with eight receptions for 92 yards. Henry added five catches for 92 yards and Sprinkle added four receptions for 81 yards.
Kody Walker, who had 56 rushing yards on 11 carries, capped the scoring with a 10-yard touchdown. Arkansas cornerback Ryan Pulley greeted Kansas State reserve quarterback Joe Hubener with an interception to seal the final score, and Bielema put injured tailback Jonathan Williams, an 1,190-yard rusher last season, in for two snaps in the victory formation as Arkansas ran out the clock.