FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino was part of six Kentucky-Louisville rivalry games in two stints as a Cardinals assistant. So the Razorbacks 49-7 pounding of the Wildcats Saturday night must have been extra sweet for him, right?
“It’s a great win,” Petrino said. “But to be honest with you, the way the season’s went, I just wanted to get a win. It’s fun to play well and get a win.”
The Razorbacks (3-4, 2-2 SEC) finally are having some fun after a 1-4 start. They won 24-7 at Auburn to stop a four-game losing streak, then looked sharp amid stormy weather against Kentucky by taking a 28-0 lead in the first quarter and continuing to pour it on until the game was called with 5:08 left in the third quarter after a second lightning delay.
“It was important for us to come out and show what we showed early, and do that for our morale going forward,” senior quarterback Tyler Wilson said. “For our confidence, for everybody in that locker room.”
Wilson talked to his teammates Friday night about making the game fun again.
“I said it’s a miserable game when you’re losing. It’s tough, it wears on you. ... Let’s go win. Let’s go have fun,” Wilson said. “Let’s practice like we know how to practice, translate it to the game and go home and feel good about yourself at night.”
Coach John L. Smith said before the game it was a good week of practice for the Razorbacks.
“Coaches deserve a pat on the back for keeping these guys coming, keeping them practicing hard, keeping them getting better and growing,” Smith said. “It’s really fun as a coach to see young guys just keep climbing that ladder and getting better and better.”
Wilson tied a school record with five touchdown passes, including a 74-yarder to freshman tailback Jonathan Williams on the Razorbacks’ first offensive snap.
“It gives you momentum,” tailback Knile Davis said of scoring on the first play. “It makes us want to go out there and do it some more, and that’s what happened.”
The Razorbacks scored touchdowns on their first six possessions.
Wilson completed at least one pass to 10 different receivers and finished 23 of 31 for 372 yards.
“Obviously, it’s great any time you’re in the record book, but we had a lot of guys making plays, which is fun to watch,” Wilson said. “The first play of the game is a touchdown, the second series we go down and score. It’s just one of those nights where it seems like everybody’s open, and you hit ’em.”
Kentucky started three true freshmen defensive backs because of injuries.
“We could call an aggressive game plan and take some shots against them,” Wilson said.
“It was good to see us get back on track, just winning,” said Davis, who rushed 13 times for 68 yards. “Whether it’s a blowout or not, that winning feeling is just good.”
Arkansas’ defense dominated, too, forcing Kentucky to punt on its first seven possessions.
“Our thing on defense has been to not really focus on what the offense is doing, but it’s nice to look up at the scoreboard and see that cushion,” junior safety Ross Rasner said. “That definitely helps when the offense is rolling. It’s lets us rest.”
The Razorbacks can get a little extra rest this week with an open date before playing Ole Miss Oct. 27 in Little Rock.
“We’re trying to resurrect the season and we’re starting off on the right foot,” Davis said. “We’ve got two wins, and now we’ve got to build on that.”
SATURDAY, OCT. 20
All times Central Auburn at Vanderbilt, 11:21 a.m.
Georgia at Kentucky, 6 p.m.
Middle Tenn. at Mississippi St., 6 p.m.
Alabama at Tennessee, TBA LSU at Texas A&M, TBA South Carolina at Florida, TBA
Sports, Pages 13 on 10/15/2012