Bill Clark
UAB coach Bill Clark watches during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
(Danny Johnston)
UAB played 60 minutes at Arkansas but the game was over within the first 30.
The Razorbacks (4-4, 0-4 in the SEC) rolled up nearly 400 yards of offense and scored touchdowns on each of its way to a 45-17 victory against the Blazers at home to drop the Blazers to 4-4 (2-2 in Conference USA) overall.
Arkansas running backs Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins, the SEC's third and fourth leading rushers heading into the contest, got things going early.
First, Williams scored on a 3-yard run with 11:48 to go, his league-best 10th rushing touchdown of the season. Then, Collins added a 3-yard score of his own with 5:04 to play in the first.
Williams scored again on a 17-yard pass from quarterback Brandon Allen on third-and-17 from the UAB 17-yard line to put the Razorbacks up three scores on the first play of the second quarter.
By halftime, the Blazers trailed 35-0 and any hope of equaling the Week 2 performance when they put up 34 points on the road against now top-ranked Mississippi State were long, long gone.
Williams finished with 153 yards a score on 18 carries and Collins toted it 15 times for 82 yards.
Meanwhile, UAB managed just 195 yards of offense, including 62 on the air with backup freshman Jeremiah Briscoe starting in place of injured starter Cody Clements at quarterback.
Play of the game
It might be the No. 1 play on Sportcenter's Top 10 tonight.
When it looked as if UAB might be showing a little fight, Arkansas came up with something that let anyone watching, in person or on television, it wasn't going to the Blazers' day.
Down 21-0, UAB cornerback Jimmy Jean broke up a pass intended for Arkansas freshman wide receiver Kendrick Edwards.
Then Arkansas lines up for the field goal with a split line of scrimmage. The next thing you know guard 6-foot-5, 310-pound guard Sebastian Tretola is lining up in the shotgun. He receives the snap and delivers a perfect throw off his back foot to long snapper Adam D'Appollonio for a 6-yard touchdown pass that you'll probably see at least 100 more times this weekend with 9:11 to play in the second quarter .
By the numbers
484-Number of yards of offense Arkansas amassed against UAB, including 273 on the ground.
105-That's how many total yards UAB running back Jordan Howard had. On a day where there were few bright spots for UAB's offense, Howard was solid with 90 yards on 19 carries.
Coachspeak
"Defensively, I really think we made some adjustments in the second half and played very well. The special teams played well for us in the second half. And we moved the ball from offense, just not enough. I've been saying it all along, I thought they were a great team. I made a mistake in the first half, I should have played more press. But to give Arkansas credit, their quarterback was very accurate, we had some third downs we should have gotten them off the field on. I think they played very well."-UAB coach Bill Clark
They said it
"It was nuts, when I initially threw the ball, I thought I missed it you know because of the crowd, you kind of listen to the crowd so I didn't know if I got it but they gradually started getting louder and I was like alright I got it, I got it and it worked out. It was a great feeling."-Tretola on his unlikely touchdown pass
"There is no doubt that it's easier to play when you're having fun, but you have to have a balance. You can get away from your edge if you're too lose, but I think today was a perfect example. First half. we were having fun kicking someone's tail, but then we kind of had too much fun on the sideline and lost a bit of our edge with some mental errors, it's important to find that balance."-Arkansas coach Bret Bielema
Gameballs
Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen had a solid outing completing 15 of 24 attempts for 205 yards and two touchdowns while not being picked off.
Razorbacks defensive back Jared Collins had four tackles, including three for loss, a sack and a pass breakup.
After not practicing early in the week after being banged up at Middle Tennessee last week, UAB wide receiver J.J. Nelson had 166 total yards, all on returns. He added his second 100-yard kickoff return for a score in the second half.
What's next?
UAB will end a three-game road trip when it reconvenes Conference USA at Florida Atlantic. Arkansas will continue its quest to capture is first SEC victory under second-year coach Brett Bielema and have an opportunity to pull off a major upset when it takes on Mississippi State on the road in Starkville.