WATCH: Arkansas takes first lead against Missouri State with back-to-back touchdowns in fourth quarter
It seemed Arkansas was heading for an upset Saturday against Missouri State. The Razorbacks found themselves trailing 27-17 with 12 minutes to go against Bobby Petrino and the Bears, and were in danger of dropping their first game of the year.
A little more than two minutes later, they had their first lead of the game.
Running back Raheim Sanders got things started with a 73-yard touchdown on a shovel pass from KJ Jefferson to cut the Missouri State lead to 27-24. After that, the Razorbacks defense came up with a stop to force a punt. That led to Bryce Stephens delivering the biggest play of the evening, breaking free for an 80-yard touchdown return to give Arkansas a 31-27 lead.
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Later on, Sanders had a 43-yard run that set up Jefferson to punch it in from one yard out for the game’s final touchdown. He ended the game with 22 carries for 167 yards rushing and a touchdown in addition to two catches for 75 yards and a touchdown. His 242 total yards for the game are a career-high. Jefferson finished 19-of-31 passing for 385 yards, two touchdowns and an interception while adding 40 yards rushing and one more touchdown on the ground.
“They’ve been doing it all year for us and they basically took over the game in the fourth quarter and we needed ’em to,” Pittman said of Sanders and Jefferson. “I’m glad we’re 3-0. We have so much work to do. I’m not gonna be unhappy. I’m unhappy right now, but I’ll be happy once we get in there. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’re 3-0.”
After escaping Missouri State, Sam Pittman and the Razorbacks now turn their attention to a rivalry game against Texas A&M at 6 p.m. CT next Saturday in Arlington.