FAYETTEVILLE — For the second consecutive game, Arkansas achieved the offensive balance Bret Bielema has been looking for since he was hired before the 2013 season.
Unlike the previous week, though, the performance turned out well for the Razorbacks as they piled up 275 rushing yards and 219 passing yards en route to a 24-20 win over Tennessee Saturday.
It was the third time a Bielema-led Arkansas team hit the 200-yard passing, 200-yard rushing mark in an SEC game, but the first time it has ended with a victory.
Arkansas lost to Texas A&M in 2013 and last week.
Running back Alex Collins and receiver Drew Morgan each have at least 100 yards rushing and receiving, respectively, the last two games, becoming the first Razorbacks duo to do so in SEC play since Darren McFadden and Marcus Monk in 2006.
The 200-200 statistic seems to indicate there is no correlation between that kind of balance and winning, but as the Razorbacks have become more balanced this season, the results have improved.
After throwing for 300 more yards than it got on the ground against Toledo, Arkansas started evening things out on offense. The Razorbacks doubled their point total against Texas Tech the following week, when they ran for 228 yards and passed for 196.
Against Texas A&M, Arkansas hit the 200-yard mark in both areas and was in position to pull off the upset before blowing a lead in the fourth quarter.
Better play along the offensive line is one reason the Razorbacks’ offense has progressed throughout the season and it was on display Saturday night.
“Big credit goes to the offensive line,” Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen said. “They were moving guys. (Tennessee) knew we were running the ball, but we were still making holes for our backs. There is not enough we can say about the offensive line today.”
The offensive line didn’t give up a sack and paved the way for two 100-yard rushers: Collins (154 yards) and Rawleigh Williams (100).
It was the first time Arkansas had a pair of players go over the century mark in an SEC game since McFadden and Felix Jones did it against South Carolina in 2007.
“Both of them have been really (working) hard at practice, really practicing well,” Bielema said. “We’re not hitting them much, those guys have been giving us so much on Saturdays, we’re not touching them really during practice.”
For Collins, the performance was a continuation of his under-the-radar junior season.
His 656 rushing yards this year rank eighth in the NCAA, but third in the SEC behind LSU’s Leonard Fournette and Georgia’s Nick Chubb.
With Jonathan Williams out for the season, Collins has seen his carries increase – from 15.7 per game last year to 22.6 through five games this year – but he said the production is a byproduct of the balance Arkansas has created on offense.
“I’ve got to give credit to my teammates and the offensive line and receivers blocking downfield, the offensive line is giving me a good hole, and the great quarterback we’ve got,” Collins said. “Being a multiple-threat offense, it just opened things up for me.”
Collins has at least 150 rushing yards in each of the last three games. He has four 100-yard rushing performances this year.
In addition to his two touchdowns, he had runs of 25, 29 and 19 against the Volunteers, the latter of which allowed Arkansas to run out the clock in the final minutes.
"Now everybody's got it in their mind that we're capable of finishing games even when they're close," Collins said. "I just wonder how the season is going to go from here on out, knowing if we're ever in these close situations that we know how to, we can keep doing it."