Applying the perfect salve

SCOTT CAIN
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- A week of injury purgatory ended with Arkansas soothing its bruised confidence by beating up Louisiana-Monroe.
The Razorbacks parlayed three turnovers into three touchdowns and quarterback Robby Hampton threw four touchdown passes in a 52-6 homecoming victory at Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Saturday night.
A sellout crowd of 50,947 was announced but it appeared that a few thousand fans didn't use their tickets on a night when the windchill dropped below freezing.
Coming off a 38-7 pounding by Georgia, a blowout was just what the orthopedic surgeon ordered. Louisiana-Monroe (1-5), which has 31 true or redshirt freshmen, came along at the right time.
"Like I said last week, winning solves everything," center Josh Melton said. "You get back in the win column and it helps."
So do turnovers.
Through the first four games, Arkansas (4-1) collected just five turnovers. The defense's three Saturday were highlighted by linebacker J.J. Jones' first career interception. He returned it 14 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.
"I love the way our defense got turnovers for us tonight," Coach Houston Nutt said. "We had emphasized so much this week getting turnovers. It makes it so much easier cutting the field down."
Hampton completed 15 of 26 passes for 212 yards and no interceptions a week after a rough outing against Georgia. He threw touchdowns to receivers Michael Snowden, Boo Williams and Richard Smith and fullback Desmond Garcia.
It was the first time that an Arkansas quarterback threw four touchdown passes in a game since Brad Taylor did it against Rice in 1983.
"I thought Robby really bounced back," Nutt said.
Arkansas outgained Louisiana-Monroe 403-194 and converted 10 of 18 third downs.
For a change, Arkansas appeared not to have added much to an injury list that grew to about two dozen this week, the exception being a sprained ankle to linebacker Quinton Caver. Previously injured defensive end Randy Garner saw his first significant playing time since the Sept. 16 Boise State game.
More injured players are expected to return this week, including bandit Derrick Johnson and fullback Adam Daily. Coaches also are hopeful that left tackle Shannon Money and tailback Fred Talley will return in time to play Saturday at South Carolina.
Arkansas, which is 1-1 in the SEC, heads into its first road game sharing in a thick Western Division race. Every team has one loss except LSU, which has two.
"We told them they have until 12 midnight to celebrate this one, then we're going to start thinking about the Gamecocks," Nutt said.
As they plan, the Razorbacks might want to consider using true freshman tailback Brandon Holmes more prominently in their running game.
The run floundered in the first half, managing just 54 yards on 20 attempts. It didn't help that Holmes and starting tailback Alvin Ray fumbled once each.
But Holmes gave the offense a boost in the third quarter with touchdown runs of 39 and 13 yards. He rushed five times for 63 yards, a week after averaging 4 yards per carry against Georgia. Ray rushed 15 times for 40 yards, a 2.1 average.
"I'm going to study the film real hard and look real closely to see who's going to take this thing over," Nutt said of the tailback duties. "I thought [Holmes] hit it extremely hard."
The only thing hard about Louisiana-Monroe was its luck.
Already playing without No. 1 quarterback Andy Chance, who suffered a concussion last week, the Indians lost backup Ryan Corcoran to a concussion in the first quarter.
Losing Corcoran limited the game plan. With him, the Indians had sporadic success attacking the edges on the option. But his replacement, junior Andre Vige, isn't as mobile so the Indians turned more to passing and managed just 10 first downs.
Arkansas paid $315,000 for Louisiana-Monroe to play the game.
"I'm glad it's over with," Indians Coach Bobby Keasler said. "The payoff is over and we're going home."
Most of Arkansas' damage came on passing in the first 2 1/2 quarters and it used prime field position to pull of a 28-point third quarter. Those four scoring drives started at the Louisiana-Monroe 6, 42, 38 and 22.
Hampton threw for 168 yards in the first half. Two of his touchdown passes happened the play after Louisiana-Monroe turnovers.
Snowden caught a 44-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter after Caver recovered a Mark Henderson fumble. Garcia caught a 6-yard scoring pass -- Hampton's third -- in the third quarter after rover Corey Harris returned an interception 24 yards.
Hampton threw his fourth touchdown with 3:41 left in the third quarter on a scrambling, 29-yard heave to Smith in the end zone.
That started a 21-point burst in the last 3 1/2 minutes of the third quarter, Holmes scoring his touchdowns for the final points.
Holmes' second score was set up by Jimmy Beasley's blocked punt that gave the Razorbacks possession at the Indians' 22-yard line. It was Arkansas' first blocked punt since defensive lineman Ryan Hale blocked one against SMU in 1997, and it was the fifth block allowed by the Indians this season.
With the game well in hand early in the third quarter, Nutt continued to play Hampton. It was against the Indians last year that starting quarterback Clint Stoerner separated his shoulder while playing late with a cushy lead.
Backup quarterback Jared McBride entered in the final moments of the third quarter. True freshman Zak Clark never saw action, and Nutt said Arkansas is looking into whether Clark would qualify for a medical hardship year of eligibility. He played in the season opener.
Clark, who has been practicing, has a sore shoulder, Nutt said. The injury was not previously disclosed.
By halftime, Arkansas led 24-0 largely on its passing, a quick defense and Louisiana-Monroe mistakes.
What suspense there was ended late in the first quarter when Louisiana-Monroe failed to capitalize on Arkansas' two fumbles. The Indians' first opportunity died at the UA 15-yard line when Caver and Jones stopped an option run on fourth-and-1. The second scoring chance sailed wide right on a field-goal attempt after they reached the UA 12.
Tailback Bryant Jacobs provided the Indians' only touchdown on an 11-yard run early in the third quarter. The extra-point snap was high and the resulting two-point try failed.

This article was published on Sunday, October 8, 2000

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