Dennis Johnson surprised even some of his teammates.

Johnson, a true freshman, rushed 18 times for 127 yards and 1 touchdown Friday in Arkansas’ 31-30 victory against LSU at War Memorial Stadium. Johnson was pressed into starting duty because of an injury to junior Michael Smith, who had rushed for 1, 072 yards this year before injuring his hamstring.

Johnson started the season opener against Western Illinois because of Smith’s suspension and rushed six times for 18 yards. For the year, Johnson had 18 carries for 57 yards before his big game against the Tigers, who had allowed an average of 104. 5 yards rushing a game.

“I wouldn’t have believed it if you told me before the game,” center Jonathan Luigs said. “I know he’s a good player, but LSU has a good defense. They’re always strong up front. They didn’t do anything wrong tonight. We were just able to make plays against them.”

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Johnson, 5-7, 195, showed up in the first quarter, rushing four times for 40 yards and scoring his first college touchdown on a 17-yard run to finish Arkansas’ first drive. He had a 54-yard run on Arkansas’ second possession to set up another touchdown.

“It was exciting,” Johnson said. “I came out there and exploded the way I wanted to explode. I was thinking in my mind, ‘Let’s explode in the first quarter and we’ll have a chance to win the game.’”

The Tigers adjusted and held Johnson to minus-8 yards rushing in the second quarter, but Johnson rebounded with a strong second half. On one key third-and-1 in the fourth quarter, Johnson was momentarily stopped at the line of scrimmage but battled his way for the first down.

“I couldn’t have asked for more,” Johnson said. “If I had rushed for 90 yards I couldn’t have asked for more. I just love to play the game.”

Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said Johnson’s short-yardage success was a key in the game, even though the fourth-quarter run didn’t lead to a scoring drive. Petrino said the Razorbacks felt they could run on LSU if they could handle the Tigers’ dominant linemen.

Johnson made several big runs on cutbacks when he eluded pursuit on plays that didn’t begin with large holes.

“Dennis did a real nice job running,” Petrino said.

“He made a lot of yards after contact. His speed showed up. He gets those little legs churning real fast.”

Johnson still played like a freshman at times, missing some blitz pickups in pass protection, and he sat out the final touchdown drive when Arkansas went heavily to the pass.

“He did a fantastic job,” Arkansas quarterback Casey Dick said. “I don’t think we could ask for anything more out of him. He has a bright, bright future here. He just has to worry about picking up on the little things.”

Those are corrections for the future. The present is about Johnson showing the running talent that made him a star at Texarkana.

“I know I can run the ball,” Johnson said. “I know I can do stuff. It’s just the confidence the coaches have in me now.

“ Michael Smith, he’s a good back, so you can’t take nothing from him. They’ll have a little more confidence in me so we can rotate backs.”