Burks doing it all for Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE — Sometimes because of previous plays one made, one wins on a play one can’t make.

That’s how one Treylon Burks beat Mississippi State. As a receiver, runner, blocker and decoy, Burks made plays all day enabling Arkansas to beat the Bulldogs, 3128 in Saturday’s wild SEC West game before 68,818 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

“We used him a little bit as a decoy,” Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said. “Used him as a runner. People keep total blitzing us and all-out blitzing us and KJ (quarterback KJ Jefferson) keeps throwing it to him. I thought he ran the ball real well today. He made some key plays catching the ball, as well.”

Did he ever.

Without the 6-3 junior receiver from Warren’s 121 all-purpose yards Saturday the Razorbacks don’t snap their 3-game SEC losing streak to be 2- 3 in the SEC and a better yet bowl eligible, 6-3 with three SEC games to play starting Saturday night at LSU.

Burks’ 39 yards running on 3 carries included a 26- yard run keeping alive Arkansas’ first touchdown drive achieving a 10-0 lead.

As a receiver, Burks caught 5 Jefferson passes for 63 yards vital to Arkansas’ cause. One was a 14yard touchdown.

His first catch, a 25-yarder on third and eight, set up Arkansas’ 3-0 first-quarter lead on the first of Cam Little’s three field goals.

Another, a late third- quarter 15-yard catch on third and eight, kept alive the drive Burks finished in the fourth quarter with his 14- yard TD catch of Jefferson’s pass.

Ultimately, though, it all hinged on the play Burks couldn’t make because of the plays he made.

It seemed game over with the Bulldogs celebrating Jefferson’s fourth and one incomplete pass with one- minute left and the Hogs down 28-23 at the Mississippi State 25.

But to prevent Burks from making one more play went to penalty inducing extremes. Bulldogs cornerback Martin Emerson tackled Burks though Burks didn’t have the ball. The defensive holding call that Jefferson saw coming and Burks knew he would get achieved the drive-extending first down at the MSU 15. It preceded, with MSU’s defense always Burks distracted, Jefferson’s 6-yard pass to Tyson Morris at the 9, Jefferson’s tackles- shedding 5- yard scramble to the 4, and running back Dominique Johnson’s 4-yard touchdown run and subsequent 2-point conversion run.

“On the holding call I knew I had him,” Burks said. “He was beat. But his way to get me was to grab me, so I just went with the grab and fell to the ground and it worked.”

Jefferson saw to it that it would work.

“I saw the guy tackle Treylon,” Jefferson said. “I just had to put the ball in the area and make it seem like he couldn’t get to the ball and I knew the flag was coming.”

Seems the Bulldogs couldn’t hold off Treylon Burks even when they held him.