ANDY SHUPE Northwest Arkansas Times

Oh, it was ugly, but for everyone on the Arkansas sideline, the victory couldn’t have been sweeter.

Arkansas’ come-from-behind 28-24 victory over the Western Illinois Leathernecks did not come in the fashion the Hogs wanted or in the way most expected, but the Hogs won’t trade the win.

The Razorbacks know they could be mourning over an unexpected loss like Michigan, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and others, but the Razorbacks did just enough to survive the upset bid by the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division 1-AA) Leathernecks to give Bobby Petrino his first victory as the Hogs’ head coach.

The Hogs head into their Sept. 6 meeting with Louisiana-Monroe at 1-0 and with the opportunity to improve. And that is the key for this Razorbacks football team, improving every chance it gets.

The Razorbacks showed all the weakness they were suspected to have coming into this season and maybe a few more.

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Arkansas’ offense line struggled mightily against the Leathernecks odd defensive front both in the running and passing games.

Arkansas’ lack of a running game owed some to the suspension of junior running Michael Smith, but frankly, the line did not get much movement against Western Illinois’ front. The running game could be a problem all year unless that changes.

Unfortunately, the Hogs’ veteran defensive front didn’t fare much better, playing before a raw group of linebackers and defensive backs.

The Leathernecks controlled the line of scrimmage and punished the Hogs with 157 yards on the ground, most by the hard-charging Herb Donaldson.

But as valiant as Donaldson was, he couldn’t steal the show from Razorbacks’ quarterback Casey Dick.

The much-maligned senior from Allen, Texas, had the finest game of his career, completing 25 of 41 passes for 318 yards, two touchdowns, 1 interception and 2 rushing touchdowns.

The yardage ranks as the seventh best ever produced by a Razorbacks’ quarterback, just ahead of Clint Stoerner’s 316-yard performance in a loss to Alabama in 1999.

But more important than statistics, Dick proved to be the leader at quarterback that the Razorbacks have not had in a number of seasons.

After Arkansas fell behind 24-14, Dick led the Hogs on two fourth-quarter drives to pull out the win.

While it was by no means a banner night for Arkansas’ defense, the unit came up with stops when it had to.

There really is no way to sugar-coat the Hogs’ performance. It wasn’t up to par for a team that expects to go bowling this season.

But the Razorbacks do have 10 more games to improve, and there is much improvement that can be made.

Terry J. Wood is the sports editor of the Northwest Arkansas Times.