FAYETTEVILLE — There was no hangover for 20th-ranked Arkansas on Saturday.
The Razorbacks made easy work of Georgia Southern and won 45-10 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium to set up a showdown with No. 7 Texas A&M next week in Arlington, Texas.
Arkansas improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2016.
One week after throttling Texas on the same field, the Razorbacks showed no signs of overconfidence while playing their first game as a ranked team in five years.
Arkansas’ defense forced a three-and-out on the Eagles’ first drive. Arkansas followed with a 4-play, 73-yard drive that was punctuated by Trelon Smith’s 13-yard touchdown run less than 3 minutes into the game.
Smith’s run was set up by a 47-yard pass play from KJ Jefferson to Tyson Morris on the Razorbacks’ first offensive snap.
It was the first of several long pass plays for Jefferson, who completed 13 of 23 passes for 366 yards and 3 touchdowns. Jefferson did not play in the fourth quarter.
Jefferson threw touchdown passes of 60 yards to Warren Thompson and 91 yards to Treylon Burks on consecutive snaps early in the third quarter to put the Razorbacks ahead 38-10. Thompson’s touchdown was a deep pass on a go route, while Burks caught his touchdown pass at the line of scrimmage and nearly ran the length of the field.
Burks’ touchdown reception was the second-longest pass in program history, one yard shy of a 92-yard pass from Matt Jones to Richard Smith at Tennessee in 2002.
Arkansas out-gained Georgia Southern 633 to 233 in total offensive yards. The Eagles’ triple-option attack was limited to 152 rushing yards on 35 attempts.
The Razorbacks’ two long touchdowns in the third quarter answered a shaky end to the first half when Arkansas allowed Georgia Southern to pull within 24-10 after trailing 21-0.
Georgia Southern got on the board midway through the second quarter when quarterback Justin Tomlin ran for a 76-yard touchdown. Tomlin rolled away from the Razorbacks’ pressure on third-and-11 and went untouched to the end zone.
Alex Raynor kicked a 32-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to answer a 25-yard field goal by Arkansas’ Cam Little a couple of minutes before.
The Razorbacks scored on three of their first five drives to go ahead 21-0 with 8:42 to play before halftime. Dominique Johnson scored on an 11-yard touchdown on Arkansas’ second drive and Jefferson passed 14 yards to Morris for the third score.
Morris’ touchdown capped a 7-play, 99-yard drive that included a 48-yard run by Johnson, who rushed for a team-high 72 yards.
Arkansas backup quarterback Malik Hornsby capped the scoring with a 6-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
The Razorbacks are scheduled to play Texas A&M (3-0) at 2:30 p.m. next Saturday in a game that will be televised by CBS.