FAYETTEVILLE — For almost 43 minutes Saturday, there was joy and hope in the hills.

That’s how long the Arkansas Razorbacks played Florida almost evenly.

The Hogs’ scoring drive had no penalties, no plays for minus yards, just what appeared to be the makings of a well-oiled machine.

With 2: 31 to play in the third quarter, Arkansas trailed Florida 17-7.

The Razorbacks had racked up 297 yards — the 238 is the most in the first half this season — and allowed the Gators only 246 yards, and there seemed to be some pep in their step when the defense came to the line of scrimmage with Florida facing a fourth-and-1 from the Arkansas 44.

The Gators were in punt formation.

Arkansas was about to shoot itself in both feet.

Florida faked the punt, and a direct snap to Brandon James turned into a 10-yard gain as the Gators rolled to a first-and-10 at the Razorbacks 34. Then the home team caught a break, it seemed.

Tim Tebow threw a rare interception, his first of the season, and Jerry Franklin had played it perfectly.

Only, the Razorbacks offense went three-and-out and Tebow was pure Tebow after that, completing all four of his passes for 76 yards, including a 21-yarder for a touchdown and a 24-7 lead.

It wasn’t Tebow’s arm that allowed the Gators to roll to a 38-7 victory. The Hogs couldn’t stop the run.

After three quarters Florida had 134 yards on the ground, but it raced for 144 and two more touchdowns in the final period.

Until then there was still a real shot the Hogs would make it respectable. Maybe get a moral victory after two weeks of being buried alive by Alabama and Texas.

They drove to the Gators’ 12 midway through the final quarter, and Bobby Petrino elected on fourth down to kick the field goal and close the deficit to two touchdowns.

After losing the last two games by a total of 77 points, that would have been a good thing.

It was also a way to get Shay Haddock some confidence, but the 29-yard field-goal attempt was blocked, and Florida made the final score much worse than the game by scoring on runs of 75 and 48 yards.

So, where does another onesided loss leave the Razorbacks ?

First, the Hogs did show improvement against another ranked team, but one that is not Alabama or Texas.

The Razorbacks had 361 yards of offense, but they have to find the confidence to get the ball in the end zone.

They had drives end at the Florida 22, 25 and 11 (and the 36 and 41 ).

They have to learn turnovers are almost always costly. Trailing only 7-0, Michael Smith fumbled a punt at the UA 16 that Florida recovered and almost immediately ended up in the end zone for a 14-0 lead.

That fumble does not overshadow Smith’s day, when he tried to put the Razorbacks on his shoulders and carry them. He ran for 133 yards, without a single run for a loss, and had 6 catches for 43 yards.

These young Razorbacks need to build off Saturday’s performance, and they do that by putting the loss in the record book and not their minds.

Arkansas plays its fourth ranked team in a row next week when it goes to Auburn, then it is on to Kentucky, where the Razorbacks are the homecoming opponent. That’s followed with emotional games against Ole Miss and Tulsa.

Now is not the time to be looking back at anything, but to learn from a game Saturday that was much better than the final score.

Last week, Petrino simplified the offense and defense and it helped.

He probably can’t make it any less difficult now, but these kids showed improvement over the two previous games.

This young team is trying to grow up, and there is a reason hopes were high for almost 43 minutes Saturday. The Razorbacks are improving.

Three fourth-quarter touchdowns were a little misleading.