FAYETTEVILLE — There was no magic formula.

There wasn’t even much in terms of halftime adjustments.

Arkansas’ assignment as a defense in the second half of Saturday’s season opener against Western Illinois was elementary.

“We just had to buckle down.... We said we had to hit them in the mouth every time we get a chance,” junior strong safety Matt Harris said.

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In the end, Arkansas’ defense never delivered anything close to a knockout blow, but slowed down Western Illinois just enough to allow for a 28-24 come-from-behind victory.

“To be able to weather that storm, the ebbs and flows... our team came back and responded,” defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said. “I can’t tell you how much of a character-builder this will be for our defensive team.”

An Arkansas defense featuring six first-time starters, including freshmen Jerico Nelson, Jelani Smith and Elton Ford, as well as redshirt freshman Jerry Franklin, was put to the test early. Western Illinois recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff and started the game’s first possession at the Arkansas 15-yard line.

Smith, who started at weakside linebacker, forced a fumble on a third-and-8 play, then broke up a pass on a botched field-goal try. Little else came that easy the rest of the game.

Western Illinois went 24 yards on its next possession before settling for a 42-yard field goal by Taylor Rowan that gave the Leathernecks a 3-0 lead, then answered Arkansas’ lone scoring drive of the first half with a 76-yard touchdown drive for a 10-7 lead.

Tailback Herb Donaldson, who gouged Arkansas for 157 yards on 35 carries, did much of the damage on the scoring drive. He ran six times for 40 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown.

Western Illinois opened the second half with another touchdown drive, this time going 57 yards in 10 plays, with Donaldson running for 18 more yards and catching a 12-yard touchdown pass. That gave Western Illinois a 17-7 lead, and the Leathernecks later pushed it to 24-14 by grinding out a 35-yard drive that consisted of 13 plays and chewed up 8: 05.

“We have to stop the run,” Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said. “We tried just about every call, every movement we could to stop the run.”

Petrino said Arkansas’ biggest defensive downfalls were “missing on some fits” and getting around blocks. The Razorbacks also allowed the Leathernecks to convert 7 of 17 third-down chances and 2 of 4 fourth-down tries.

“We’ve got to be more physical,” Petrino said. “We’ve got to get our line to hold their gaps.”

The Razorbacks were able to do that more frequently in the second half, and came up with two critical stops. The first came after Western Illinois took possession at its 22 with 7: 08 to play and the Leathernecks leading 24-21.

Donaldson picked up 15 yards on first down, but was stopped after a 2-yard gain by Antwain Robinson and Damario Ambrose on the next play. Franklin, who finished with a team-high seven tackles, then dropped Donaldson after a 1-yard gain.

Dallas Washington pressured quarterback Matt Barr into an incompletion on third down to force a punt, and Arkansas answered with the game-winning drive. Arkansas’ defense then thwarted Western Illinois’ lastgasp drive, dropping three potential interceptions in a span of six plays before getting a fourthdown pass breakup by Ford.

“We have a bunch of new guys,” senior defensive lineman Ernest Mitchell said with a tired smile. “We have the pieces of the puzzle and we were trying to get it together. In the end, we got it together, so hooray.”