There was a certain amount of irony that Arkansas’ victory against Louisiana-Monroe came down to a missed 45-yard field goal by Warhawks kicker Jeremy Gener.

For most of the game, it had been the Razorbacks’ special teams that put Arkansas in danger of losing to an underdog. Numerous mistakes in the first half helped the Warhawks score 10 points and cost the Razorbacks seven.

Arkansas sophomore Alex Tejada missed two field goals and one extrapoint attempt. The Razorbacks also had a blocked punt and a 4-yard kickoff return that forced Arkansas to start a drive at its 5.

And that was just the first half.

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After Arkansas cut the Warhawks’ lead to 24-14 in the third quarter, the Razorbacks gave up a 47-yard kickoff return to Robert Williams. That return led to a field goal and a 27-14 Louisiana-Monroe lead.

“We did a lot of things in special teams that could have gotten us beat,” Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said. “We’ve been working hard. We have to do a better job. We have to get the entire operation in sync.”

Tejada was benched after his disastrous first half and replaced by Shay Haddock. Haddock made both of his extra-point attempts in the second half.

After Tejada missed an extra-point attempt in second quarter, the Razorbacks were penalized for delay of game before the kickoff. Tejada then kicked off out of bounds, giving the Warhawks possession at their 45, setting up a touchdown drive for Louisiana-Monroe.

“He needs to come back and get his confidence back,” Petrino said of Tejada. “The bad thing is he had a great week of practice. I don’t think he missed one field goal in our work after practice all week long.”

Tejada’s struggles were the most visible of Arkansas’ special-teams gaffes. Louisiana-Monroe got a field goal out of a blocked punt in the second quarter.

Anthony McCall rushed off the left end and ran past the three blockers in front of punter Jeremy Davis to deflect the punt, which went just 8 yards and was downed at Arkansas’ 21.

After Gener made a 20-yard field goal, Arkansas return man Dennis Johnson fielded Gener’s kickoff along the sideline at the 1. Johnson tried to tiptoe up the field but stepped out at the 5.

Special-teams miscues can be frustrating, especially for the offense or defense, which often finds itself put in tough positions because of poor field position. The Razorbacks were able to overcome the mistakes and said, almost to a man, that no one was blaming anyone for any errors on the field.

“You can’t just put it all on anybody,” Razorbacks quarterback Casey Dick said. “We accept full responsibility for what everybody does. We win or lose as a team.”

Center Jonathan Luigs said dealing with teammates’ mistakes, big and small, is a part of football.

“That’s the great thing about football, to be honest with you,” Luigs said. “That’s what builds a team, the adversity that you go through together. When your brothers mess up, you have to go over there and pick them up and make plays elsewhere. That’s what is really fun about this game and this team.”

Arkansas tight end D. J. Williams was one of the stars of the game with 5 catches for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns. On Arkansas’ final drive, though, the normally reliable Williams dropped an easy catch over the middle.

“We have work to do on our special teams, and we have a bunch of people on special teams that need to step up and make big plays, myself included,” Williams said. “That’s a situation as a player you get put in that makes you turn out to be a good player or a great player. You’re always going to have that slump, but you come back the next game and you’ll be better for it.”