Instant replay

One sack enough in victory

Tulsa mascot Captain ’Cane expresses his dismay after Arkansas recovered a Golden Hurricane fumble in the fourth quarter. The Hurricane had four fumbles in the game and recovered three of them. The Razorbacks fumbled three times and lost one.

— Arkansas defensive coordinator Paul Haynes didn’t see the gameclinching play against Tulsa on Saturday, but he heard it.

Tulsa faced second-and-4 from its 23 with a minuteleft when Razorbacks defensive end Chris Smith stripped the ball from quarterback Cody Green and tackle Byran Jones recovered the fumble at theHurricane 41. That allowed the Razorbacks to run out the clock and hang on for a 19-15 victory at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

“I was watching the coverage downfield, because I thought they were going to throw something deep, and all I heard was the crowd cheering,” said Haynes, who calls plays from the press box. “When I heard the cheers, I knew something good had happened. I just didn’t know exactly what.

“Then I looked back and saw our guys on the ball. It was a great sight.”

Smith, who was credited with a sack, said he knew he’d be going against an offensive tackle on the play because of Tulsa’s slide protection.

“So I just had to win one on one,” Smith said. “I just made a play. It felt good. It always feels good to get a sack.”

It was the only sack Tulsa allowed Saturday and just the fifth this season.

“It was funny. Last night Chris came in and said, ‘I’m going to get a sack. I’m going to get a sack because these guys haven’t given up many sacks,’ ” Haynes said. “I was sitting in there watching film and he said, ‘I’m going to get a sack tomorrow.’ So that’s awesome for him”

Add Smith to list

John L. Smith became the seventh Arkansas coach to beat Tulsa during the Razorbacks’ 18-game winning streak dating to the 1977 season.

The list of winning Arkansas coaches in that span are Lou Holtz (7-0), Ken Hatfield (6-0), Jack Crowe (1-0), Danny Ford (1-0), Houston Nutt (1-0), Bobby Petrino (1-0) and Smith (1-0).

The last Arkansas coach to lose to Tulsa?

Crazy as it sounds, it was Frank Broyles, a College Football Hall of Famer whose 144 victories in 19 seasons (1958-1976) are the most in school history.

Broyles went 15-4 against Tulsa but lost his last matchup against the Golden Hurricane, 9-3 in 1976.

Arkansas leads the series 54-13-3.

Bragging rights

Arkansas senior linebacker Terrell Williams, who is from Tulsa, had seven tackles Saturday. He faced several friends who play for Tulsa, including some former teammates from Tulsa Union High School.

“I know a lot of guys in the Hurricane uniform,” Williams said. “I wanted to win this one just for my pride. I know if we would have lost I wouldn’t have heard the end of it.” For starters

Sophomore offensive tackle Brey Cook was back in Arkansas’ starting lineup for the first time in five games, replacing senior Jason Peacock.

Cook started the first four games before Peacock started four.

Mitchell Loewen, a redshirt freshman from Lahaina, Hawaii, made his first start for the Razorbacks when they opened in a twotight end set.

Senior defensive end Colton Miles-Nash made his second start of the season- and the first since Texas A&M - when Arkansas opened in a five-man front and didn’t start safety Ross Rasner. Miles-Nash started on the line along with ends Chris Smith and Trey Flowers and tackles Byran Jones and Alfred Davis.

Welcome back

Arkansas senior defensive tackle D.D. Jones, who had missed the previous two games because of leg injuries,played Saturday and blocked an extra-point attempt by Tulsa freshman Daniel Schwarz in the first quarter.

It was the first blocked extra-point attempt by a Razorback in eight years, since Jeremy Harrell had one against New Mexico State in 2004.

Another 100

Arkansas senior tailback Dennis Johnson rushed for 100 or more yards in backto-back games for the first time in his career. He rushed 22 times for 109 yards and 2 touchdowns Saturday after having career highs of 27 carries for 161 yards and 1 touchdown against Ole Miss last week.

Head to toe

Receiver Cobi Hamilton had two catches for 37 yards on Arkansas’ 75-yard touchdown drive on its first possession, but he twice had to leave the field - first when his helmet came off and again when he lost a shoe.

New England Hogs

Former Razorbacks quarterback Ryan Mallett and defensive end Jake Bequette, who both play for the New England Patriots, made it back to campus for homecoming and watched Saturday’s game from the Arkansas sideline. New England has an open date this weekend.

Streak breakers

Arkansas ended Tulsa’s seven-game winning streak Saturday. The last time the teams played in 2008, the Razorbacks won 30-23 to break Tulsa’s eight-game winning streak.

Sports, Pages 34 on 11/04/2012