Rawleigh savors quiet time

Razorbacks sound running game puts kibosh on bells

Arkansas offensive lineman Frank Ragnow (72) lifts running back Rawleigh Williams (22) in celebration following a touchdown by Williams against Mississippi State on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016, at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss., during the first quarter

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Arkansas sophomore tailback Rawleigh Williams played at Mississippi State for the first time Saturday night, but he already had heard all about the cowbells.

To get the Razorbacks ready for the tradition of Bulldogs' fans ringing cowbells, Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema had the sound of ringing cowbells played over loudspeakers at practice.

"It's not the best noise to hear," Williams said last week. "But hopefully we can quiet it down a little bit."

Williams did his part to quiet the cowbells as he rushed 16 times for 205 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead the Razorbacks to a 58-42 victory over Mississippi State at Davis Wade Stadium.

For good measure, Williams threw his first career touchdown pass -- a 1-yarder on fourth down to tight end Austin Cantrell -- that put Arkansas ahead 44-21 with 5:03 left in the third quarter.

"Rawleigh really put the team on his shoulders and had an incredible game," Arkansas senior linebacker Brooks Ellis said. "That was awesome to watch."

Williams became the 11th Razorback to rush for 200 or more yards in a game, joining Darren McFadden, Dickey Morton, Fred Talley, Leon Campbell, James Rouse, Ike Forte, Alex Collins, Roland Sales, Ben Cowins and Madre Hill.

McFadden, a two-time Doak Walker Award winner as the nation's top running back, holds Arkansas' record with 321 yards against South Carolina in 2007.

Williams matched the 205 that Sales ran for in Arkansas' 31-6 victory over No. 2 Oklahoma in the 1978 Orange Bowl and tied for the 11th-highest total among the Razorbacks' 14 games in which a player rushed for 200 or more yards.

"Every time somebody brings up guys like that, it gives me chills," Williams said when some of Arkansas' all-time great running backs were mentioned. "Just because that was a big reason I came here, to be in the same conversation as those guys."

Williams rushed for a 72-yard touchdown the second time he touched the ball Saturday night -- on the Razorbacks' second play -- after his 3-yard gain.

Center Frank Ragnow, who pulled on the play, and left tackle Dan Skipper had key blocks to spring Williams, and wide receiver Keon Hatcher had a block to seal the edge as Williams got to the outside.

"That's a play we've been practicing all week, and it's been working against our scout-team defense," Williams said. "We were kind of excited to run it.

"When we called it, we looked at each other and said, 'Let's try to get it this time.' That's what happened. It was crazy."

Hatcher said the Razorbacks "just felt it" on the play.

"Rawleigh ran behind me, and he finished the job," Hatcher said. "He turned on the burners and got in the end zone."

As it turned out, Williams was just getting warmed up.

Williams rushed 8 times for 191 yards with touchdown runs of 72, 42, 7 and 33 yards to help Arkansas take a 38-14 halftime lead.

"Man, that guy," Skipper said of Williams. "He was reading his blocks, he was making great cuts, and he was running them over."

Williams said he knew he rushed for a lot of yards in the first half, but he didn't realize he was averaging 23.9 yards.

"I have to first give thanks to God and then give thanks to my offensive line," Williams said. "Those holes were huge tonight. I didn't have to do much. My eyes were big every time I ran the ball because the offensive line did such a great job."

Mississippi State's defense focused on stopping Williams in the second half, when he was held to 14 yards on 8 carries, but quarterback Austin Allen passed for 131 of his 303 yards in the second half.

The Razorbacks finished with 357 rushing yards, including 112 by freshman Devwah Whaley.

"Our passing game relies on the run," Allen said. "Anytime we can run the ball, we win. We ran the heck out of the ball today. That just makes my life easier, makes the wideouts' lives easier, makes our offense go."

Arkansas faced a fourth and goal at the Mississippi State 1 in the third quarter when Williams took a pitch from Allen.

Mississippi State's defense converged to stop him, so he jumped and flipped the ball to tight end Austin Cantrell -- alone in the end zone -- for a touchdown.

William said he thought offensive coordinator might call for him to pass on third and goal from the 2, when he was held to a 1-yard gain.

"Then Austin came into the huddle and he said, 'You'd better throw a good ball,' " Williams said. "I looked at Cantrell, and he was shaking his head.

"I did my best to get the ball there, and I did and we scored, thank goodness."

Williams said it was his first touchdown pass since he was an eighth-grader and played quarterback.

"That's been in the playbook for a few weeks now," Allen said. "The first week we had it in, he kept throwing it through the goal post, so we kept trying to give him some pointers on how to get that over there.

"Whenever we called that, I knew it was going to work. We practiced it a lot this week and last week. He hasn't missed it in a few weeks."

Allen laughed when asked to critique Williams' pass.

"Awful spiral, but he got it there," Allen said. "He put it in the right spot. I can't believe Cantrell got his first touchdown pass not from me."

Williams said it felt good to somewhat silence the cowbells as many fans left at halftime.

"Kendrick Jackson made a joke at practice this week, 'Hey, let's get it done quick so we don't have to hear those cowbells,' " Williams said of Arkansas' starting fullback. "We looked at each other when we started scoring, and he was like, 'C'mon, let's keep it going.' "

Sports on 11/20/2016