FAYETTEVILLE — Gary Banks spent much of the first half tormenting Arkansas ’ defensive backs, but he finally landed on his back without the ball in the third quarter Saturday night and opened the door for the Razorbacks to pull away.

Troy’s senior receiver stayed with his own tipped pass on third down, nearly grabbing it a second time, but the ball was jarred free by the ground as he tried to come down with it.

“They called the play looking for me to make a play,” Banks said. “The ball was a little bit behind me, and I still had a chance for it. I had my hands on it once and then twice.”

Troy got off a 7-yard punt after the incompletion, and on the next snap Darren McFadden’s touchdown pass to Crosby Tuck helped snuff out the Trojans ’ upset aspirations in a 46-26 loss at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

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At the time of Banks’ near circus catch midway through the third quarter, Troy was making the No. 21 Razorbacks and a crowd of 73, 926 restless. Its offense had moved the ball at will, and it had drawn three penalties on Arkansas ’ secondary in the first half.

“He’s trying so hard, and then he goes in the middle and he has this ball — it might have been deflected slightly — but he tips it himself into the air,” Troy Coach Larry Blakeney said. “He recatches it and then drops it.

“ He was a little bit frustrated.”

Only after he landed did Banks know he let another critical first down squirt free.

“If I caught that ball, we’d have some big-time momentum,” said Banks, who finished with five receptions for 66 yards.

Three times before, the Trojans trailed by 13, but they managed two touchdowns and a clock-beating field goal as time expired to stay within 23-17 going into halftime.

Quarterback Omar Haugabook, one of the stars in the Trojans’ 2006 New Orleans Bowl victory over Rice, found receivers in a variety of ways. They connected on crossing patterns, post patterns and high lob tosses that had Razorbacks cornerbacks and safeties grabbing and holding to prevent completions.

Banks had the catch of the day, an over-the-shoulder grab for 28 yards despite being interfered with by Arkansas cornerback Jerrell Norton that led to a touchdown.

“They’ve got some good corners, but we were able to get open a couple of times,” Banks said. “Omar started throwing a couple good passes and we got into a rhythm.”

Gerald Tate caught a 17-yard touchdown from Hougabook with 8: 57 left in the first half to cut Arkansas’ lead to 23-17. But the Trojans’ passing game dried up after halftime, and Haugabook threw for just 31 yards after a first half in which he completed 11 of 23 passes for 173 yards.

“I feel like our receivers are very good,” said Haugabook, who eventually left the game with an injured hand. “It doesn’t matter who they’re going against. If they’ve got a step, I’m going to throw it up there and see if they can make the play.

“ I’m always confident in my teammates.”