Oct. 8, 2011
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Fayetteville, Ark. -- Tyler Wilson threw for 262 yards on 24-of-36 passing and two touchdowns to lead No. 10 Arkansas to a 38-14 victory over No. 15 Auburn at Razorback Stadium on Saturday, ending the Tigers' 11-game winning streak against SEC opponents.
Arkansas scored 31 unanswered points after Auburn took a 14-7 lead with 2 seconds left in the first quarter.
Wide receiver Joe Adams scored on a 92-yard touchdown on Arkansas' first second half play from scrimmage to give the Razorbacks a 28-14 lead with 7:43 left in the third. It was the longest touchdown rush by a wide receiver in Arkansas history and the second longest scoring run overall by a Razorback.
"We did all the things tonight, all the classic things, that lead to losing," said Auburn head coach Gene Chizik. "We turned the ball over on the road, dropped balls, guys who were wide open and we can't hit them, the ball going through guys' hands. We are going to move forward and learn from our mistakes and not let this game beat us twice. I saw some positive things when guys stepped up when our backs were against the wall. We kept fighting the whole game. We are gaining confidence. We had one turnover and we needed about two more to stay in the game."
The Razorbacks took over at the Auburn 26 after Barrett Trotter's pass went through the hands of DeAngelo Benton. It led to Arkansas taking a 31-14 lead on Zach Hocker's 36-yard field goal with 12:10 remaining in the game. The Tigers defense held the Razorbacks for five straight three and outs after the 92 yard touchdown run.
"Any time you play in the SEC you can't give up those plays we gave up on the long run," said Auburn defensive line coach Mike Pelton. "Those are just backbreakers to your defense. They are growing up. They are making mistakes they have never done before.
"I'm not making excuses for them. I look for improvement. I saw some improvement with the young guys. The only way to go out there and do it is to do it. They are making mistakes because of youth, not effort. I am seeing improvement every week out of these guys."
Frazier's second interception of the game was returned 29 yards to the Auburn 16 with 7:17 left. Wilson threw a third down screen pass to running back Dennis Johnson, who scored on a 33-yard touchdown reception to give Arkansas a 38-14 lead with 5:50 remaining.
After an 11-yard punt on Auburn's first possession of the game, Arkansas took over on the Tigers' 37. Auburn's defense held as Hocker missed a 34-yard field goal attempt that hit the left upright just over three minutes in.
Kiehl Frazier, a freshman from Springdale, Ark., completed his first career pass on a 14-yard screen to Onterrio McCalebb. A 13-yard Trotter to Quindarius Carr pass on 3rd and 12 to the Auburn 45 set up a career-long 55-yard touchdown run by Little Rock, Ark., native Michael Dyer on the next play to give Auburn a 7-0 lead just over five minutes in.
Arkansas (5-1,1-1 SEC) came back and tied it 7-7 with a 6-yard touchdown run by Broderick Green with 6:53 left in the first.
On Arkansas' next drive, one that included a 40-yard Wilson to Jarius White first down completion to the Auburn 40, Auburn's Corey Lemoneir came up huge. Lemoneir sacked Wilson and forced a fumble that was recovered by Jeffrey Whitaker at the Arkansas 47.
That turnover led to a 9-play drive that was capped by Frazier scoring his first career touchdown on a 7-yard run to give Auburn a 14-7 lead with 2 seconds left in the first quarter. Auburn's two touchdowns were scored by Arkansas natives, Dyer and Frazier.
Arkansas drove 80 yards to tie it at 14 on a 4th down and 1 quarterback sneak by Wilson with 9:36 remaining. With Auburn (4-2, 2-1 SEC) only gaining 44 yards in the second quarter, the Razorbacks took their first lead of the game at 21-14 on a 6-yard Wilson to Wright touchdown pass in the back corner of the end zone with 4:23 to go to end the first half scoring.
At the half, Auburn had 212 total yards, 167 of it on rushing, while Arkansas had 294 yards with 228 of it coming through the air on 20-of-25 attempts by Wilson.
Dyer rushed for 112 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown, his eighth of the season. McCalebb rushed for 91 yards on 13 carries while Trotter, Frazier and Clint Moseley combined to complete 9-of-24 passes for 104 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.
Trotter finished 6 of 19 for 81 yards and one interception, Frazier completed 2 of 4 passes for 18 yards along with two interceptions and rushed for 54 yards on 13 carries while Moseley completed his only pass attempt for 5 yards.
Arkansas outgained Auburn 438 yards total offense to 395 while the Tigers ran 77 plays to the Razorbacks' 67. Auburn rushed for 291 yards.
The loss was Auburn's first against a ranked opponent in the last nine tries and snapped its five game road winning streak in SEC games.
Wilson leads Arkansas past Auburn, 38-14
KURT VOIGT, AP Sports Writer
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Auburn watched a team continue its seamless transition following the departure of a star quarterback on Saturday night.
The only problem for the Tigers is that it was Arkansas' Tyler Wilson who continued his ascent into the ranks of college football's best, not Auburn starting quarterback Barrett Trotter.
Wilson threw for 262 yards and accounted for three touchdowns as the No. 10 Razorbacks (5-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) pulled away in the second half for the 38-14 win. The junior, who spent the last two seasons backing up Ryan Mallett, completed 19 straight passes at one point as Arkansas rallied from a pair of early deficits.
The No. 15 Tigers (4-2, 2-1), meanwhile, were left to ponder their future at quarterback in the post-Cam Newton era after Trotter finished 6 of 19 passing for 81 yards.
Auburn nearly equaled the Razorbacks in total yardage (438-395), but it finished with only 104 passing yards and three interceptions.
"I think it was pretty obvious what happened tonight," Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. "We did all the classic things that you cannot do to win games on the road. Offensively, we turned the ball over three times. Against a good football team on the road, that certainly is not going to get you wins."
Freshman Kiehl Frazier did provide the Tigers a lift at quarterback, but most of his impact came as part of a run game that featured 112 yards from Michael Dyer -- only 31 after the first quarter -- and finished with 291 total yards. Frazier had 54 of those rushing yards in limited action, including a 7-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. However, he also threw a pair of second-half interceptions for an Auburn team playing without leading receiver Emory Blake.
Arkansas, on the other hands, has no such questions.
It was against Auburn last year that Wilson had his first breakout performance, throwing for 332 yards and four touchdowns in three quarters in place of an injured Mallett. That game ended with a fourth-quarter comeback win by the Tigers.
There was no such comeback this time around.
"Obviously, it feels good to win your first SEC game, and yeah, a little bit of revenge," Wilson said. "I don't hold it against them. I felt it was more me than them down there last year, but absolutely happy."
Wilson threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Razorbacks earned their first SEC win of the season, two weeks after being on the receiving end of a 38-14 dismantling at the hands of No. 2 Alabama. His completion streak is the third longest in conference history, behind the mark of 24 by Tennessee's Tee Martin in 1998 and 20 by Mississippi's Kent Austin in 1982.
"It's something we really needed," Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said. "We got in a good rhythm, and he did a nice job of getting his feet set and understanding what they were trying to do coverage-wise in the first half.
"I thought our receivers really made a lot of good plays for him and we protected better."
After the Razorbacks failed to score in its first two possessions, Wilson led Arkansas on an 8-play, 71-yard touchdown drive to tie the game at 7-7. He set up Broderick Green's 6-yard scoring run with consecutive completions of 24 and 22 yards to Dennis Johnson and Joe Adams, respectively.
Wilson later ran for a 1-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal to tie the game at 14-14. He then capped the first-half scoring with a perfectly thrown pass over Auburn cornerback T'Sharvan Bell and into the hands of Wright to put the Razorbacks up 21-14.
Tramain Thomas had two of Arkansas' three interceptions, helping the Razorbacks hold the Tigers scoreless in the second half. Senior linebacker Jerry Franklin led Arkansas with 15 tackles, while Alonzo Highsmith added 12 and Jerico Nelson 10.
Adams led the Razorbacks in rushing with all of his 92 yards on a touchdown run on Arkansas' first play of the second half. The senior took a pitch from Wilson before hurdling one Auburn defender, finding his way behind the block of tight end Chris Gragg and then exploding down the left sideline to put the Razorbacks up 28-14.
"They blitzed from the opposite side, so it worked out perfect," Petrino said. "It was kind of a play that was good against the blitz, and Joe made a great run."
Dennis Johnson, who had 97 yards of total offense -- 49 receiving and 48 rushing -- scored Arkansas' final touchdown on an 18-yard pass from Wilson in the fourth quarter.