FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas was intent on having fun and flexing its muscle on homecoming.
The Razorbacks did both.
Arkansas had a ball-control bonanza against Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday, as Jonathan Williams rushed for 153 yards and scored two touchdowns and 350-pound lineman Sebastian Tretola was the trigger man to the most unique play of the day, throwing a touchdown pass to snapper Alan D'Appollonio on a fake field goal in the second quarter.
Arkansas (4-4) ended a three-game losing streak, all in SEC games, with a 45-17 victory over the outmanned Blazers (4-4) before an announced crowd of 61,800 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
"I think our guys play better when you have fun," Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said.
Nobody had more fun than the junior-college transfer Tretola, who struck the Heisman pose after throwing a 6-yard touchdown pass that put Arkansas on top 28-0 early in the second quarter. But he quickly dispelled a good-natured mention that he had started a budding quarterback controversy with Brandon Allen.
"I'll take my one 15 minutes of fame and he can have that," Tretola said. "It's hectic back there."
Arkansas's victory ended a trying three-game stretch of SEC games, and the Razorbacks polished off their nonconference schedule at 4-0 for the first time since 2011 and built up some much-needed momentum heading into its game agianst No. 1 Mississippi State this week.
"Our confidence is extremely high," said cornerback Tevin Mitchel, who notched Arkansas' first defensive takeaway in three weeks with an interception on the first play of the second half. "This was the win that we needed."
Arkansas piled up 484 total yards, 273 on the ground, and did the majority of its damage in the first half, scoring touchdowns on all five possessions and holding a 35-0 lead at halftime.
"It was definitely fun to go out there and execute and be able to physically impose our will on someone," Arkansas tight end Hunter Henry said.
"Hats off to them," UAB linebacker Jake Ganus said. "That's a great football team. They made the plays when they needed to, and that's what got them a big lead in the first half."
Williams' 3-yard touchdown run capped Arkansas' game-opening 75-yard drive with 11:48 to go in the first quarter. He had 109 rushing yards by halftime and scored on a 17-yard reception.
"It was definitely good to see and good to feel," Williams said of the running game, which struggled against Alabama and Georgia the past two weeks.
Alex Collins, who finished the game with 82 yards, also scored a 3-yard rushing touchdown, and Kody Walker had a 5-yard touchdown as part of the Hogs' first-half barrage.
"I give Arkansas all the credit in the first half," Blazers Coach Bill Clark said. "They were as good as advertised. ... It was disappointing we couldn't get a stop in the first half."
The Blazers had to go without starting quarterback Cody Clements, who injured his throwing shoulder on the final play of last week's loss at Middle Tennessee. Redshirt freshman Jeremiah Briscoe completed 6 of 18 passes for 62 yards, including a 33-yard scoring pass to Nyiakki Height with 42 seconds left in the game.
Arkansas led 35-0 on the scoreboard, 19:36 to 10:24 in time of possession and 346-86 in total yardage at halftime.
"We wanted to come out feeling like the score was 0-0 and play a great second half, and we didn't really play a great second half," Williams said.
Mitchel's interception gave Arkansas the ball at the Blazers' 46 early in the third quarter, and the Hogs picked one first down before Adam McFain, a sophomore from Greenwood, attempted his first official field-goal attempt. McFain, who took over all place-kicking duties this week, kicked a 49-yard field goal for a 38-0 lead.
Brandon Allen's final series late in the third quarter ended with three big plays in a row. Williams took a second-and-15 draw play 27 yards, then Damon Mitchell lined up at quarterback in the Shotgun and went 15 yards over the right side. Allen connected down the middle to tight end Jeremy Sprinkle, who made a leaping catch over linebacker Derek Slaughter for a 15-yard touchdown and a 45-3 lead.
Allen completed 10 of his first 13 throws for 149 yards and finished 15 of 24 for 205 yards and 2 touchdowns.
"We were doing a lot of things well, moving the ball, converting a lot of third downs, big third downs," Allen said. "Our defense was holding them the whole time. We were doing what we needed to get done."
None more so than Tretola, who for a day turned "Tretola Left" into the most talked-about play in college football.
"This was necessary, just for the team vibe," he said.
Sports on 10/26/2014