Vikings stand ground: Hogs win, but scoring spotty in Portland State territory

Arkansas running back Rakeem Boyd scores a touchdown during a game against Portland State on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019, in Fayetteville.
Arkansas running back Rakeem Boyd scores a touchdown during a game against Portland State on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks lived in Portland State territory for most of the game in Saturday's season opener, but it didn't project into domination on the scoreboard.

Not even close.

In fact, the visiting Vikings got the ball back at their own 3 with 1:04 left in the game with a chance to drive for a tying touchdown. They didn't get far.

Arkansas safety Joe Foucha intercepted a tipped pass with 11 seconds remaining to seal the Hogs' 20-13 victory over Portland State before a crowd of 61,055 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

[Video not showing up above? Click here to watch » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrbG8xFCHnk]

"Never will I ever apologize for winning," Arkansas second-year Coach Chad Morris said. "There's no such thing as a bad win.

"You win and you correct. Now you may not have played as well as you want to play, and we didn't at all. But we won."

Arkansas won its fifth consecutive season opener, and got its head above .500 for the first time since smoking Eastern Illinois 55-20 in last year's season opener.

Yet the the game was a slog against the FCS-level Vikings (0-1) after the Razorbacks bolted to a 10-3 lead on their first two possessions.

Portland State Coach Bruce Barnum touted this as his best team, and the Vikings hung tough, but the legs of scrappy quarterback Davis Alexander and a desperation touchdown heave on fourth down late in the game were about all the Vikings had going for them.

[Gallery not showing up? Click here for more photos » arkansasonline.com/galleries/27005/album/]

"What our coaches tried to preach to us is basically that we were going to get their best shot, that these guys were very confident coming in, and these guys could play," said Arkansas defensive tackle McTelvin Agim, who had 2 of the Hogs' 6 sacks and a team-high-tying 6 tackles. "We understood that they were coming in here like it was their Super Bowl."

Said Arkansas tailback Rakeem Boyd: "We knew they were going to bring a punch, so, we just had to finish the game. We fought until we finished."

The Razorbacks picked off three passes -- by Kamren Curl, Jarques McClellion and Foucha -- and logged the six sacks while outgaining Portland State 395-230 in total offense.

"Their defense whupped us," Barnum said. "We came in and I had a plan, and their team did a hell of a job on defense.

"They sat on our routes, and up front they got to us. We don't see defenses like that. That was my fear. I tried to adjust to it with some things, and it didn't work."

[RELATED: Hicks does just enough in first start as Hogs' QB » arkansasonline.com/news/2019/sep/01/hicks-does-just-enough-in-first-start-a-1/]

Arkansas established the run much better than it did in last season's opener, with 204 yards on the ground.

Rakeem Boyd ran for a career-high 114 yards and a touchdown to lead the way. Arkansas scored both of its touchdowns on the ground, with Devwah Whaley adding a 1-yard score to give the Hogs a 10-3 lead with 3:16 left in the first quarter.

[Video not showing up above? Click here to watch » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ6OF5WL51Y]

Ben Hicks got the start at quarterback and played all but two series. He completed 14 of 29 passes for 143 yards and was sacked 1 time.

Nick Starkel completed all five of his passes (for 48 yards), four to the Razorbacks and one to Portland State linebacker Robert Holt at the Vikings' 5 as Arkansas frittered away a couple of chances to pull away late in the first half.

The Razorbacks had the ball in Portland State territory on each of their last nine possessions, and on 11 of 12 of their series for the game. But the Hogs punted four times between the Vikings' 35- and 45-yard lines, and came away empty on a pair of chances deep in Portland State territory late in the first half.

"It was really frustrating," Morris said. "That was disappointing that we couldn't come away with some type of points."

Said Barnum: "They got whatever, 400 yards, if you look at stats, but we buckled up in the red zone and made them kick. You don't win games kicking field goals."

The Razorbacks did not throw a touchdown pass, and Hicks was held without a touchdown pass for the first time since Sept. 7 against TCU when he played for SMU.

Curl returned his interception 29 yards to the Portland State 18 to set up the first series for Starkel with 2:46 left in the first half. Three plays later, Starkel was intercepted over the middle by Holt, who had dropped back into coverage.

Arkansas got the ball back with 34 seconds left, and on the first snap Starkel hit freshman Trey Knox deep down the field for a 38-yard gain -- the Hogs' longest gain of the day -- to the Portland State 27.

[WALLY HALL: Lackluster opener fails to stir UA optimism » arkansasonline.com/news/2019/sep/01/lackluster-opener-fails-to-stir-ua-opti-1/]

After Starkel spiked the ball on first down, the Razorbacks mismanaged the remaining time. Boyd fought his way out of bounds at the 16 as the halftime clock expired after a 3-yard gain.

Morris took responsibility for the blown clock management.

"I was signaling 'clock' to kill the ball, and we had one of our signalers signaling a 'run it again' call," Morris said. "So there was miscommunication right there. I thought we had an opportunity to kick a field goal, and that's on me. I'll get that corrected."

[Video not showing up above? Click here to watch » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GklX2qxacpY]

Hicks called his performance "OK," but he was clearly not happy with the point production.

"We had opportunities to put the game away, and we just didn't punch it into the end zone," Hicks said. "We moved the ball, but we just didn't score points, especially when our defense gets turnovers like that. You've got to make teams pay for turning the ball over."

The Razorbacks, leading 10-6, drove to the Portland State 45 with their first possession of the second half before Chase Harrell dropped a third-down pass. They got to the Vikings' 37 on their second series before punting into the end zone.

All the while, the fans got more antsy while Portland State gained confidence.

McClellion picked off a deep Alexander pass with 7:17 remaining in the third quarter, and the Razorbacks finally got some separation.

After Mike Woods caught a pair of passes for a combined 23 yards that resulted in first downs, Boyd got five consecutive touches and powered in for a 2-yard score to make it 17-6.

The Razorbacks drove 63 yards to the Portland State 8 on their next sequence, but had to settle for Connor Limpert's 25-yard field goal, his second of the game.

"It's great to get yards, but if you can't get in the end zone then you're typically not going to win," Hicks said.

The Razorbacks will open SEC play next week at Ole Miss, which lost 15-10 at Memphis in its opener.

[Video not showing up above? Click here to watch » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L39bKbjYUD8]

Sports on 09/01/2019

Upcoming Events