FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas was a prohibitive favorite Saturday night but the expected cakewalk didn’t happen until a crazy second quarter when the Hogs swamped the Vanderbilt Commodores en route to a 49-14 victory.
That second period was like something out of a fairy tale. A Grimm one if you were wearing the gold and white of Vanderbilt.
It was 15 minutes of an Arkansas celebration and doom and gloom for the visitors, who gave it all they had but still became a good homecoming opponent as Arkansas posted its sixth victory to become bowl eligible.
It seemed as though the Razorbacks had missedmore tackles than they had made, that wrapping up was for Christmas, as the Commodores gained 125 yards and led 14-6 with 2:53 to play in the first quarter.
As the opening quarter closed the Hogs were facing a fourth-and-1 at the Vandy 25. Knile Davis got 13 yards and after a pass for 9, the sophomore got 7 yards and then 2 for a touchdown and although no one knew it, the momentum was swingingharder than the San Francisco Giants in the first two games of the World Series.
For reasons unknown, the ’Dores decided to help the Hogs by pulling starting quarterback Larry Smith, who had led them to both touchdowns. Smith was replaced by senior Jared Funk, who had a pass deflected and then intercepted by Rudell Crim, who returned it 19 yards to the Vanderbilt 20.
A screen to Ronnie Wingo went for 5 yards and then Ryan Mallett rolled right and threw for 15 and a touchdown to Jarius Wright.
The Razorbacks’ defense then began to systematically take the Commodores apart, first forcing a punt, then on the next possession Jerry Franklin crushed Smith, whose fumble resulted in a safety.
Freshman Lance Ray returned the free kick 66 yards to the Vanderbilt 25 and four plays later Mallett again threw 15 yards to Wright for a touchdown.
That was 23 unanswered points in 6:59 and for all practical purposes the only thing Vanderbilt had to look forward to was seeing Reynolds Razorbacks Stadium in the rearview mirrors of the buses.
Arkansas’ defense held Vanderbilt after the Hogs’ third touchdown of the quarter, with Tenarius Wright’s 8-yard sack acting as the final straw.
Mallett drove the Hogs 71 yards for a Zach Hocker fieldgoal and the Hogs went into halftime with a 32-14 halftime lead.
The Hogs offense scored 24 points in the second quarter, but just as impressive was a defense that scored two points while racking and sacking Vanderbilt for minus-17 yards.
The defense domination of the ’Dores continued through the final three quarters and was so overwhelming that the visitors went more than 43 minutes without a first down.
On a night when Ryan Mallett set a single-game passing record with 409 yards, D.J. Williams received the Crip Hall Award as the top senior on homecoming and the Razorbacks’ defense answered the bell after getting knocked down twice early,there was a real downer.
Greg Childs had the 17-yard catch that gave Mallett the record, but he went down and had to be helped up by trainers, who were called for immediately by the players on the field.
Childs has been the goto receiver this season with acrobatic catches that would seem impossible to some, but easy to him.
Tests will be run and hopefully he’ll be fine, partly because he was instrumental in the Hogs getting bowl eligible, but mostly because he’s a good kid.
Sports, Pages 27 on 10/31/2010