For a quarter, the

Arkansas Razorbacks

gave their fans a glimpse of the football team the Hogs would like to be. The football that Bobby Petrino’s Razorbacks played in the third quarter is just the type of football the Head Hog would like to see his squad play for 60 minutes. The Hogs actually outscored the No. 12 Florida Gators, 7-3, during that 15-minute span.

The Razorbacks held Florida to a field goal on its first possession of the second half and answered with their best scoring drive in at least three weeks if not the season.

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The 7-play, 53-yard drive mixed the run with the pass, keeping the Gators off balance just enough for the Razorbacks to find paydirt on an excellently blocked 6-yard run by Michael Smith that trimmed Florida’s lead to 17-7.

On the ensuing drive, Florida’s Tim Tebow moved his squad down the field, but Arkansas’ defense rose up, pressuring last year’s Heisman winner into his first interception in his last 203 throws.

Redshirt freshman linebacker Jerry Franklin, who had his hands on an earlier Tebow pass but dropped it, snared the flat pass for keeps.

And for a moment — however slight — there was an opening and better yet hope of a Razorback comeback with 00: 23 left in the third quarter.

But the dream ended right there.

Arkansas’ offense failed to take advantage of the turnover, and in the fourth quarter, the Gators salted the game away with Tebow hitting four of four passes for 74 yards, including a 21-yard TD toss to Percy Harvin for a 24-7 lead.

Up to that point, Arkansas’ defense had played reasonably well. But from then on the Gators burst through the Arkansas wall like flood waters.

Gator Chris Rainey popped a seam for a 75-yard touchdown run with 5: 07 left in the game and his buddy Jeffrey Demps blasted for a 48-yard touchdown with 1: 04 remaining to post the final 38-7 total.

As promising as the Razorbacks played in the third quarter, their fourquarter collapse was just as deflating.

The fourth quarter was as ugly for Arkansas as any quarter played in their 49-14 loss to Alabama or their 52-10 loss to Texas.

The consolation might be that until the fourth quarter, the Hogs had played respectably against the No. 12 team in the nation.

From a general standpoint, the Razorbacks did not look as hesitant and confused as they did at times against Alabama and Texas.

For three-fourths of the game, the Razorbacks ran to the ball on defense and did a decent job of gang tackling. Against Florida’s beat-up offensive line, the Hogs got some penetration against the run and did pressure Tebow from time to time.

Offensively, the Hogs ran the ball better even with redshirt freshmen linemen Grant Freeman and Grant Cook playing for the bulk of the game.

But really, a lot of credit needs to go to Michael Smith. The 5-7, 175-pound junior may not look like a bellcow, but he sure runs like one.

The little man did his best Dickey Morton impression, running for 133 yards and Arkansas’ lone touchdown on 20 carries. That’s 6. 7 yards per carry. That’s big time.

For those who don’t recognize Morton’s name, he’s the Hogs’ third all-time leading rusher with more than 3, 300 yards from 1971-73, and like Smith, he too was slight of build but still a ferocious runner.

Smith also caught 6 passes for 43 yards, mostly in the screen game, trying to help slow down the Florida rush.

Freshman receiver Joe Adams, junior receiver London Crawford and sophomore tight end D. J. Williams also had good games receiving.

You can see why Southern Cal wanted Adams nearly every time he touches the ball, and Williams is already such a weapon that teams are attempting hold or tackle him off the line of scrimmage when they can get away with it.

And some day, whether it’s this year or next, Crawford’s going to have a breakout game where all his athletic ability will be on display.

So there are some positives on which the Razorbacks can build, but for now this football team is still under construction and not up to playing a complete football game.

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