Knile’s game a jewel

Davis shines as lead back

— There was no running backs by committee for Arkansas on Saturday.

Sophomore Knile Davis ran with a singular authority to help the Razorbacks beat Ole Miss 38-24.

Davis had career highs of 22 carries for 176 yards, including touchdown runs of 71 and 22 yards in the fourth quarter, each extending Arkansas’ lead to 14 points.

It was the most rushing yards by a Razorback since Michael Smith had 176 against Auburn in 2008.

“It was great to see Knile run like that,” Arkansas receiver Joe Adams said. “To have his breakout game against Ole Miss was great.”

Davis came into the game with 44 carries on the season, including 14 for 91 yards at Auburn last week.

“The more reps I get, the more comfortable I get in the backfield,” Davis said. “The offensive line gives me a lot of support and time to do what I’ve got to do. They did a good job today.”

Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said the game plan was to go with Davis and sophomore Ronnie Wingo as the primary ball carriers, with junior Broderick Green as the third option.

Wingo got two carries. Green had one carry.

“Knile was hot,” Petrino said.

“Coach was confident enough to keep me in there,” Davis said. “I wanted to keep it that way, running hard.”

Davis, 6-0, 220 pounds, pounded Ole Miss for 150 yards on 14 carries in the second half, when the Razorbacks lost starting quarterback Ryan Mallett to a shoulder injury and their top two receivers , Adams and Greg Childs, to ankle injuries.

“I thought Knile had a great game for us, and it was at the right time,” Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick Mc-Gee said. “Knile’s strength and his size really came through for us because he had to run through some arm tackles to get out in the open field.”

Davis found plenty of open field on his 71-yard run that put Arkansas ahead 31-17 with11:11 left in the fourth quarter.

“The offensive line did a real good job of blocking,” Davis said. “It was a huge delay [on the handoff], and I had to get my body right.

“As soon as I came out, I grabbed my keys, hit the hole and went full speed. ... Nobody was about to catch me.”

Arkansas backup quarterback Tyler Wilson was in the game for Davis’ two touchdown runs.

“Before I came in, he had some big-time runs, but especially when I came in he had two big-time runs that just shut the game down,” Wilson said. “Our offensive line did a great job blocking. Therewere huge holes there.”

Davis said he didn’t feel an extra burden to run well with Arkansas missing some key players in its passing game.

“I think it’s always on me,” he said. “I take the run game very seriously. Every time I run I’m trying to make something happen to take the pressure off of the quarterback.”

Arkansas tight end D.J. Williams said Davis is an explosive runner who can be a feature back on a consistent basis.

“He’s a talented player, and he can play like this week in and week out if he wants to,” Williams said. “And I think he does.”

Sports, Pages 36 on 10/24/2010

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