FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas’ defensive players knew what had to be done when they saw starting quarterback Brandon Allen go down with a shoulder injury in the first quarter of Saturday’s game against Southern Miss.
Allen was hurt rushing for a touchdown for the game’s first score, and it became apparent he wasn’t returning after the Golden Eagles kicked a field goal to pull within four points in the second quarter.
“We said, ‘If they don’t score any more, we’re going to win,’ ” said Razorbacks senior defensive end Chris Smith, who had a career-high three sacks. “Me and Robert Thomas, as captains, we told the defense, ‘We’re putting it all on our shoulders.’
“When the offense isn’t having as good a day, we’ve got to lift them up, just like when we’re not having as good a day they lift us up. We’ve got a hold-the-rope mentality.”
Arkansas held Southern Miss scoreless over the final 42 minutes as the Razorbacks pulled away for a 24-3 victory.
“I feel like it’s a step in the right direction,” Razorbacks senior outside linebacker Jarrett Lake said. “In the past years here it’s been offense this, offense that. I feel like we as a defense made a statement today, saying no matter what the offense does, the defense is going to do our job as well.”
Arkansas backup quarterback AJ Derby passed for 36 yards after taking over for Allen, but the offense was able to keep leaning on its running game because the defense kept the Golden Eagles out of the end zone.
“I went in at halftime and told the defense, ‘Hey, fellas, we just can’t give them any free stuff,’ ” Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said. “I can’t say enough about the way those guys handled it.”
Southern Miss was in position to tie the score 7-7 with a first-and-goal at the Arkansas 2, but Thomas and senior tackle Byran Jones dropped running back Kendrick Hardy for a 3-yard loss. Quarterback Allan Bridgford then threw two incompletions sandwiched around a false-start penalty that pushed the Golden Eagles back to the 10-yard line, and they had to settle for a field goal.
“We had to keep them out of the end zone any way possible,” Lake said. “Show our offense that no matter what, we were going to have their back.”
Southern Miss moved the ball into Arkansas territory on six possessions, coming away with a field goal, three punts, a missed field goal and were stopped on downs when Lake and cornerback Tevin Mitchel helped foil a fake field goal.
Southern Miss running back Kendrick Hardy reached the end zone on a 49-yard run on the drive that ended with a fake field goal, but the play was negated by a holding penalty on wide receiver Chris Briggs. A touchdown and extra point would have cut the lead to 17-10 late in the third quarter.
The Golden Eagles kept plugging away after the penalty, driving to the 21 before lining up to attempt a field goal.
And Lake said he expected Southern Miss to attempt a field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter when the Golden Eagles faced fourthand-8 at the Arkansas 21, trailing 17-3.
“I noticed the two guys on my side whispering like something was up, so I was going to wait and see what my man was going to do,” Lake said. “Once I saw he was trying to block me, I just shed the block and made a play.”
Nic Bekkers, in the middle of the line, caught a shuttle pass from holder Matthew Moseley, but Lake hit him first and Mitchel helped finish the play for a 2-yard gain.
“We take pride in protecting the end zone,” junior defensive end Trey Flowers said. “We bent some, but we didn’t break.”
Lake, who missed last week’s game against Samford because of an undisclosed disciplinary reason, was in on 13 tackles.
“I felt really sick to my stomach about last week,” Lake said. “I just wanted to come out here and make a statement and show my teammates they can still trust me and count on me.”
It also was a big comeback game for Flowers, who didn’t play against Samford because of a knee injury. He had his first career interception.
“For any football player to sit out a week, knowing you’re supposed to be out there, I just had it in my mind I had some catching up to do,” Flowers said. “I owed it to the defense to make a couple plays.”
Smith’s three sacks accounted for 22 lost yards.Smith joked he felt like Jake Bequette, the former Arkansas All-SEC defensive end who plays for the New England Patriots.
Razorbacks center Travis Swanson said he told the defensive players he appreciated everything they did in shutting down Southern Miss’ offense.
“They held us in that game a long time, so hats off to them, especially Chris with his three sacks,” Swanson said. “That’s unreal.”
Sports, Pages 30 on 09/15/2013