FAYETTEVILLE -- After tearing through the porous Nicholls State defense last Saturday, the Arkansas running game is brimming with confidence.
The Razorbacks racked up 495 yards on 40 carries for an SEC-record 12.4 yards per carry and had four one-play touchdown drives on the ground against the Colonels, a member of the Football Championship Subdivision who play in the Southland Conference.
Running Razorbacks
• Arkansas has split up tailback carries between five running backs and receiver Damon Mitchell through two games. A look at their rushing statistics:
PLAYER;RUSH-YDS;TDS;YPC;LONG
Alex Collins;23-199;3;8.7;33
Jonathan Williams;11-177;2;16.1;90
Korliss Marshall;8-45;0;5.6;13
Kody Walker;8-37;0;4.6;9
Damon Mitchell;3-36;0;12.0;13
Denzell Evans;5-34;0;6.8;12
Jonathan Williams had only four carries, but he had a 90-yard touchdown run as part of his 143-yard day.
"I mean, I did that once on NCAA, in a video game, but other than that I've never done it before," Williams said. "The confidence is definitely high. We've just got to stay humble and go in and take this week of practice serious and keep improving."
Fellow tailback Alex Collins had three touchdown runs, broke a bunch of tackles and finished with 131 yards on 13 carries.
Collins said it was nice to see the offense go out execute what it has worked on in practice.
" It just feels good," Collins said. "You can't help but smile about it, knowing that this is what they've been harping on all practice."
The Razorbacks, who rushed for 151 yards in the first half at Auburn in the season opener but were locked down for 2 yards in the second half, said they felt like they needed to get their running identity back against Nicholls State.
"It was huge coming off the week before, being able to come in there and do what we wanted," offensive tackle Brey Cook said. "It really did boost that confidence."
Running backs coach Joel Thomas said he felt like the offense remained true to what it was trying to accomplish.
"At the same time, you were able to have some big plays and that kind of builds confidence as you go," he said. "We needed to get some big plays, and we were happy to get some out of that game."
In addition to true tailback runs -- on which Collins and Williams combined to average 16.2 yards per carry -- the Razorbacks also scored on Keon Hatcher's 82-yard end-around and got 36 yards on three pitch plays to receiver Damon Mitchell, who was lined up as a tailback.
Arkansas move up to No. 11 nationally with an average of 324 yards per game, but the Razorbacks understand the yards won't come as easily Saturday at Texas Tech.
"We expect their defense to be very stout," Cook said. "We know they're going to be on their A-game and, we're going to bring ours. We're ready to go out there and run the ball."
Collins, in his first start, and Williams gobbled up massive chunks of yardage against Nicholls State.
Collins had a 33-yard touchdown run on his first touch, a power run up the middle, then scored from 2 yards out on his third carry after D.J. Dean's 63-yard punt return.
Not to be outdone, Williams, who took a shot to his shoulder at Auburn and was limited against Nicholls, charged through a couple of arm tackles over the left side and raced 90 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Thomas said the Razorbacks quickly put the rout of Nicholls State behind them.
"We came in and accomplished what we wanted to accomplish," Thomas said. "I think about 5 o'clock, 5:15 on Sunday, it's on to Texas Tech.
Texas Tech Coach Kliff Kingsbury was asked Monday if the Red Raiders' lighter defensive linemen might have an advantage with their quickness.
"It better be, because they're big and physical," Kingsbury said. "So we've got to find a way to use our quickness to our advantage because we're going to be overmatched when it comes to size."
Arkansas offensive line coach Sam Pittman smiled when told of Kingsbury's praise for Arkansas' offensive front and its running game.
"Well, that's very kind of him, but he's not going to say we're horrible, either," Pittman said. "So ... I think we're a pretty good running football team. I'm sure they're practicing right now to stop the run, and maybe if they need to have another guy in the box, I'm sure they will.
"They did at last week against UTEP, so I hope they do against us, because that would be the respect factor if they did. We'll be ready for it."
Sports on 09/10/2014