FAYETTEVILLE — When Arkansas headed into the locker room for the first of two weather-related breaks Saturday, coach Bobby Petrino threw a bit of a curveball at the Razorbacks.
Instead of gathering his team, crunching X’s and O’s, scheming and preparing for what was sure to be a critical fourth quarter against Ole Miss, he did the opposite.
Petrino told them to sit down. Relax. And, most important, take their mind off football.
“It was kind of different,” Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett said with a laugh. “I thought he kept the mood light when he said that. We were just like, ‘OK.’”
The strategy seemed to work. Especially for Arkansas’ offense, which came back on the field and turned in its most productive fourth quarter since the Louisiana-Monroe game on Sept. 11.
The Razorbacks answered two Ole Miss touchdowns with scores of their own to maintain a 14-point cushion in the 38-24 win. Running back Knile Davis was responsible for both touchdowns, netting 71- and 22-yard runs after lightning caused roughly 90 minutes of delays Saturday.
The 14 points scored by Arkansas was the most it scored in the fourth quarter since getting 17 against the Warhawks. In fact, the Razorbacks managed 15 points in the fourth quarter of their previous four games combined.
“I think our team handled it well,” Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick McGee said of the breaks. “We’ve got a mature team. They were poised in the locker room. They stayed off their feet. Then when the ref came and got us they got up and got charged up. They were ready to go.”
Petrino said he had never been part of a game delayed twice by weather after kickoff.
In fact, the closest thing came before his first game at Louisville when the opening kickoff was delayed because of bad weather.
The Razorbacks held a 24-10 lead when lightning struck Saturday. Once inside, Petrino told his staff to “quit coaching” and let players relax.
But the time wasn’t completely void of football matters. Arkansas had to take a look at Mallett, who had suffered a bruised shoulder earlier.
“We tested him in the first break to see if he could throw it with the velocity and he had a hard time throwing a spiral, had a hard time getting much on the ball,” Petrino said. “We knew he wouldn’t be able to go, but we brought him out to warm up just to not let them know.”
Arkansas went through its pregame stretching routine indoors when the restart time was announced. The Razorbacks went through pregame warmups, too, once they got back on the field.
“The second time, because it was 22 minutes the second time, we treated that more like a halftime,” Petrino said. “We didn’t want to go through the entire stretch and warm up.”
While the offense performed well after each weather delay, defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said the “flow of the game” may have affected a defense that had limited Ole Miss to 10 points before the teams first went indoors.
Arkansas suffered from a busted coverage shortly after the first break when Ole Miss Jeremiah Masoli hit receiver Markeith Summers for a 43-yard touchdown to make it 24-17. But the offense responded with Davis’ 71-yard run.
Ole Miss scored again two minutes later to make it 31-24 with 9:04 remaining. Once again, the Arkansas offense responded with another score.
“It was kind of bizarre,” Arkansas defensive end Jake Bequette said. “I’ve never been involved in a weather delay game in high school or in college. So it was kind of different.
“We adjusted. Our coaching staff did a great job of keeping us loose, not overcoaching us in the breaks and keeping everything loose.”
It helped Arkansas snap the two-game losing streak to Ole Miss and even its SEC record at the halfway point in conference play. More important, Arkansas managed to put the Auburn loss behind it and pick up a much-needed win.
“I think that was one thing I want them to make sure they learn in life,” Petrino said. “When you have something that doesn’t go your way, put it behind you, look forward and good things happen. I felt we did that all week long, which is taking a giant step from last year.”