LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas was able to get out of a season-opening blowout win with no injuries.
The Razorbacks weren’t so lucky in their latest runaway.
Quarterback Tyler Wilson (concussion-like symptons), receiver Jarius Wright (knee) and defensive end Jake Bequette (hamstring) – all team captains – were injured in the 52-3 win over New Mexico Saturday at War Memorial Stadium. The extents of the injuries weren’t revealed but none are believed to be serious.
Wilson appeared to be injured on a 7-yard touchdown run just before halftime. The redshirt junior didn’t come back out of the locker rooms until late in the third quarter.
RELATED VIDEO: Bobby Petrino – New Mexico postgame
“We noticed when we were going through the script to start out that he didn’t have the exact focus you’d like,” Petrino said. “We notified the trainer and he had symptoms of a concussion.
“We don’t know if he had a concussion but you know how we go about that now-a-days so he was held out the second half.”
Wilson finished the game completing 18 of 26 passes for 259 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed five times for 46 yards and a score.
Brandon Mitchell filled in nicely for Wilson, completing 8 of 13 passes for 114 yards and rushing five times for 59 yards. He had a touchdown passing and rushing.
“Him getting that experience was huge,” Petrino said. “I was really happy with the way he played. He ran the offense and did what he was coached to do.
“I’ve always felt we’re never going to know how good Brandon is until he gets out there and it’s live.”
Wright, who caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Wilson on the game’s fourth play from scrimmage, appeared to be injured on a reception late in the first half. Wright finished the game with five catches for 63 yards and the score.
Both Bequette, who left the game in the first quarter, and Wright watched the remainder of the game in warm-up suits on the sidelines. Wilson returned to the sideline still in his uniform but didn’t play after halftime.
Arkansas has been injury-plagued this year. Running backs Broderick Green (ACL) and Knile Davis (broken ankle) suffered season-ending injuries in the off-season. Running back Dennis Johnson has missed the first two games of the season with a hamstring injury and the timetable for his return is unknown.
You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.
i love petrino, we have the best athletes this university has ever seen, and petrino gets all the credit.
however, someone explain to me why he allows his QB to run the ball against new mexico. it just makes no sense.
also, we will not compete in the SEC with no running game. wingo will not run north and south, petrino mentioned this last year, and he has not changed. hopefully they are saving johnson for the sec games.
nutt proved that you cannot win in this conference with a one dimensional offense. you think alabama can put a little more heat on us than the teams we have played?
our weakness is our offensive line, not because they are bad, but because they are young. he must find somebody that can carry the rock and take the pressure off the passing game.
I agree 100& on the run game. We can wait as long as we want on Wingo and all he’ll ever be good for are lucky cut-back runs and wheel routes. Dennis Johnson has proven that he can be a good running back, but has yet to demonstrate that he can be that guy from game to game. More importantly, he has yet to touch the field this season. I think they need to work on developing Walker, who needs to lose weight if he wants to be a feature back, and Curtis, who has shown flashes in the first two games but clearly lacks the burst that will be needed when conference play rolls around. Other than that, I think putting Joe in the backfield more often will help to keep the defense on its toes and take some of the burden off our running backs. WPS!
Tyler chose to run on the plays in which he ran with the exception being the long run in the first quarter and I’m sure it was a run-pass option on that particular play. Tyler just has to be smarter when he scrambles. His decision making needs to get better fast. Needs to learn how to slide…needs to stop handling the ball loosely…needs to learn to throw it away especially while in the red zone. I like Tyler but he’s still learning. Boy do we miss Knile so far. Need that homerun threat in the backfield. We have to keep improving in the run game. That being said I believe in Petrino. The guy can coach.
I agree with everything said above. Passing game looks spectacular, but we are one-dimensional to this point. I woo am not a Wingo believer. In really big games, I say give Adams the rock out of the backfield 10-12 times…and keep feeding it to him at WR too. DJ can’t get back soon enough. We knew we’d miss Knile, but DJ was the man I thought would minimize the loss. He’s got to get back. ASAP.BTW, I don’t think DeAnthony lacks a burst. I just think he’s very rusty at TB in a game. Keep feeding him the ball next week to see if he comes around by Bama.
Iagree with most said above,but Joe Adams was so explosive from the Tailback spot,think The Hogs should try that against Bama,Wingo did explode for a couple of nice runs right at the last,he needs to keep improveing from that,i watched the Alabama Penn st game,Alabama is a conserative solid Rock hard team,But the Penn St players were running around like they had CONCRET Shoes on,the Hogs will offer Bama all kinds of Speed.
52-3? Go Hogs!
I see Joe Adams becoming the Hog version of Reggie Bush in his dominating USC days. He is really dangerous out of the backfield.
I think we are being to hard (unrealistic) on Wingo. Hogs ran 42 times and passed 39. They averaged 6.2/run. last week it was 4.2/run. 259 yards total rushing. Wingo averaged 6.2 yards per carry on 12 touches !!!; Walker averaged 3.2 on 10 touches. I think “Geezerhog” said “our weakness is offensive line.” but the point is seemingly missed by most including the old Geezer himself
; We need more patince for all of the RB’s, and the offensive line. That line will certainly get better and these RB’s that have been put into the Spotlight will come around with more reps. Just don’t expect them to be Knile. The coaches will need to figure out ways to exploit their strengths. (they will)
I like Joe Adams out the backfield too; but surely it won’t be a regular occurrence? just a good diversion to help take pressure of the line and other backs, not to mention the double bonus of giving him more touches.
Our QBs need to get out of bounds before a hit and\or learn to slide. SEC defenses will zero in on them if they keep that up. I like our chances and think our defense will determine if we beat Bama or not.
WPS!!!
Just so it is clear we had 103 yards rushing TOTAL against Mo State and 259 yard TOTAL against New Mexico!!! Not trying to to say we could have beat Alabama yesterday, but the running game had a big sign of life from previous week. I think they will continue to get better; but sure the numbers will drop in SEC play. Rushing for 100 plus against Bama may be all we need or could expect to keep them honest. But we may put 150 rushing on them if we get one break on one play. But first lets see if we can put 200 plus on Troy
I say all of this so hopefully fan base don’t come down too hard on Wingo, Curtis or Walker. Putting the ball on the ground is the only thing that I would criticize at this point.
WPS
I agree, the running game made a big step foreword. Wingo will come along, he had some better runs against stronger comp.. Plus I truly beleive we have a diamond in the rough with Cody Walker, This kid in the 2nd half had a couple runs that looked like he went nowhere, but chewed 6 7 or 8 yrds at a time. This kid will get much better and probably get a couple halfback passes for a touchdown. I can see big things coming from him.
Wingo seemed imroved to me. He was still dancing around a bit, but not as much. Overall he had a good performance… Until the fumble..
I love Kody Walker.. He is just young and raw.. He’s got SEC size and speed, he just hasn’t spent enough time in the training room.. He needs to move some weight around and improve his upper-body strength.. I like that he keeps those legs pumping, and can move the pile..
Van Stumon played a HUGE, kind of “swept under the rug” role in Knile Davis’ success last season.. We need Kiero Small to be that guy.. He is already proving to be a good addition.. If he can keep improving, so will our power run game…
Agreed BigHogFan, Small and Walker will make a big impact on our running game this year!
ESquid, I think that has something to do with “picking the fights that you can win,” as well as the fact that the majority of cultures have something going on aound the winter solstice.
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