FAYETTEVILLE — A large segment of Arkansas fans booed when Coach John L. Smith elected to punt from the Arkansas 48 with about 6:20 remaining and the Razorbacks trailing 35-26 on Saturday.
The move did exactly what Smith had hoped.
Dylan Breeding’s 51-yard punt rolled out of bounds at the Rutgers 1, shielded by Cameron Bryan and Ross Rasner.
On the ensuing snap, Rutgers running back Jawan Jamison immediately bumped into a thick pile of stymied blockers up the middle a couple of yards deep in the end zone.
“We had four guys on him and I thought it was a safety,” Rasner said.
But no Razorback could get a solid grip on the speedy Jamison, who regrouped, bounced to his left and made the edge for a 24-yard gain, his longest of the night.
“We get them down on the 1, and we’ve got them stopped for a safety,” Smith said. “We just have to make that play.”
Smith said he thought about going for it on fourthand-10 after three consecutive incomplete passes by Tyler Wilson.
“The fourth-and-10 play, yeah, I had some thoughts about going for it, but I thought, ‘Boy, there’s enough time up there and we have all our timeouts left that we can make this work.”In the mirror
Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson, who chastised his teammates last week for giving up at times in a 52-0 loss to No. 1 Alabama, said of Saturday’s 35-26 loss to Rutgers, “There was a lot of fight out there on that field from a lot of people. And the look on the sideline told a different story this Saturday than it did the previous Saturday.
“We’ve got the right look on the sideline. We’ve got the intensity where it needs to be.”
Wilson said the Razorbacks would emerge Saturday at Texas A&M as an improved team.
“No question, that’s where I’m looking,” he said.
“I’m looking directly at me from a guy leading it. It’s important when we step down here in the red zone that we execute.”Injury update
Tight end Chris Gragg suffered a bruised bone on his left leg after taking a shot just below his knees from Rutgers cornerback Brandon Jones and flipping to the turf late in the first quarter.
“It looked a lot worse than it was,” said Kelvin Gragg, the player’s father.
Gragg went to the locker room and came back with a compression sleeve on his leg, but he did not return to the field. He finished with two catches for 8 yards. The senior from Warren will be in treatment for the bruise this week as Arkansas prepares for its first road game at Texas A&M.
Receiver Javontee Herndon, who took a wallop on a pass down the Arkansas sideline in the second quarter, was able to return for special-teams work later in the game.
Third and woe
Arkansas converted 2 of 11 third-down chances against Rutgers and fell to No. 113 nationally with a conversion rate of 28.9 percent on third downs.
The Razorbacks were 1 for 10 on third down after Tyler Wilson completed a 54-yard completion to Cobi Hamilton on a third-and-8 snap on Arkansas’ first series.
Only Vanderbilt (23.2 percent) and Auburn (28 percent) have a lower third down conversion rate in the SEC.
Man mishaps
Rutgers targeted Arkansas cornerback Will Hines and capitalized with big plays against the freshman and others in the Arkansas secondary with the Razorbacks employing a lot of man coverage.
“True freshman, growing pains there,” Coach John L. Smith said. “He’s going to be a good player. You know, you hate to say that you have to play a freshman right now, but that’s the situation we’re in. He’ll get better. He’s going to be a good football player.”
Arkansas played without senior corner Darius Winston, who defensive coordinator Paul Haynes said “tweaked a knee” this week.
Senior cornerback Kaelon Kelleybrew gave up a 60-yard score to Mark Harrison after the Hogs pulled within 28-26 in the fourth period, and safety Ross Rasner was beaten for a 45-yard gain by Quron Pratt to set up a third-quarter touchdown.
“We got beat in man coverage a few times that really cost us,” Rasner said.
“I think it was big on third down. We didn’t get off the field, and whatever they needed, they got.” Rutgers cashes in
The Scarlet Knights appeared to cut Arkansas’ lead to 10-3 in the second quarter on Kyle Federico’s 32-yard field goal, but Rutgers elected to accept a defensive offside penalty on Byran Jones and take the points off the board.
The move worked, as Gary Nova found back Jawan Jamison down the right sideline for a 10-yard touchdown on the next snap.
Coach John L. Smith said the play was a momentum changer.
“That was just a mistake on our part,” Smith said.
“You can’t have that kind of mistake when you play as hard as you do defensively and you hold them to three, and then you turn around and give them seven out of it.” Punt prowess
Dylan Breeding did his part on Saturday, launching six punts for an average of 49.2 yards.
The senior out of Hoover, Ala., struck a career-high 72-yard punt that sailed over the return man’s head and rolled dead at the Rutgers’ 2 on the final play of the first half.
The Razorbacks have been steadily moving up in net punting since Breeding’s first punt of the year - originally a 56-yarder that was nullified by a penalty - went 17 yards. Arkansas ranks No. 16 in the nation with a net punting average of 41.1 yards.
Texas A&M, which hosts the Hogs on Saturday, ranks No. 2 nationally with a 47.2 net punting average.
Stat chat
Arkansas’ statistics on defense and in the turnover department took another steep decline after Rutgers out gained the Hogs 525 to 492.
The Razorbacks now rank No. 120, last in the country, with a minus-2.5 turnover margin. Only Maryland, with 13 turnovers, has more than Arkansas’ 12 through four games.
Arkansas ranks No. 99 in total defense by allowing 458.8 yards per game, No. 111 in pass defense (312.3) and No. 107 in scoring defense (36.25 points per game).
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSE
WR Cobi Hamilton
Rutgers’ incessant blitzing gave Hamilton plenty of 1-on-1 time and the6-3 senior took full advantage with 10 catches for 303 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Hamilton, a senior from Texarkana, Texas, had scoring grabs of 57, 10 and 80 yards en route to setting an SEC record for receiving yards in a game.
DEFENSE
LB Alonzo Highsmith Highsmith, a senior from Missouri City, Texas, made a season-high15 tackles to take over the team tackle lead with 40 in four games. Highsmith, who moved over to middle linebacker, had 6 unassisted tackles and 9 assists and posted 2 tackles for loss totaling 5 yards.
SATURDAY’S GAMES Rutgers 35, Arkansas 26 Mississippi 39, Tulane 0 Florida 38, Kentucky 0 South Carolina 31, Missouri 10 Alabama 40, Florida Atlantic 7 LSU 12, Auburn 10 Mississippi St. 30, South Alabama 10 Texas A&M 70, S.C. State 14 Tennessee 47, Akron 26 Georgia 48, Vanderbilt 3
Sports, Pages 20 on 09/24/2012