With the game on the line Saturday, Arkansas’ defense stepped up with two huge plays to avert disaster and fuel a 38-17 victory over Rice.

The score was tied at 17 early in the fourth quarter when safety Jalen Catalon came away with an interception. He returned it inside the Owls’ 20, where Trelon Smith eventually finished things off with a rushing score for the go-ahead score.

That put Arkansas up by a touchdown and the pressure once again on the defense to make stops. No problem. Montaric Brown intercepted a pass on the next drive to preserve the victory. The Hogs tacked on another TD when KJ Jefferson hit Tyson Morris. After a third interception, Dominique Johnson added a 3-yard TD run to account for the final margin. Arkansas scored 31 points in the second half.

The Razorbacks (1-0) struck first Jefferson broke free for a 34-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. It was the kind of start expected in this game, in which the Hogs were favored.

However, things quickly began to fall apart. Arkansas simply beat itself in the first half, where the Hogs simply couldn’t seem to shake penalties. The Owls (0-1) got on the board in the second quarter with a field goal, then added a touchdown with 4 minutes left in the half to take a 10-7 lead.

The Owls scored early in the third quarter to take a 17-7 lead, their largest of the game.

Arkansas began to mount its comeback shortly after. Jefferson added another rushing touchdown on the next drive to make it 17-14 and freshman kicker Cam Little then tied the score with a field goal just as the third quarter was ending.

Jefferson largely struggled through the air. He was 12-for-21 for 121 yards. He threw 1 TD and 1 INT. He often overthrew receivers and had an early interception. It wasn’t the beginning to 2021 he hoped for.

Arkansas receiver Treylon Burks also had a quiet day. Touted as one of the best receivers in the conference, he had only 5 catches for 42 yards on 9 targets.

The Razorbacks play Texas on Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. CST. Hopefully the performance Saturday was simply shaking off the rust to start a new season.

Cover photo via Twitter @RazorbackFB