FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas started slowly on defense, but made some adjustments on its way to an 52-7 win over Alabama A&M Saturday afternoon in Razorback Stadium.
Arkansas got off to a very fast start on offense. Quarterback Taylen Green played the first three quarters. He completed 24 of 31 for 322 yards, six touchdowns and rushed nine times for 41 yards. The Hogs scored on all their possessions with Green except one. Green's six touchdown passes were to five different receivers.
"I mean, honestly, I wasn't surprised," Green said of his receives. "If you see how, how much work they put in, but at the same time, how fast they practice, especially O'Mega (Blake) and CJ (Brown). Like, O'Mega would take a drag route, and we'll be, like, on the 20 yard line, and take it 80 yards. Just the way that they work every single day, they could be tired but you wouldn't know it. I'm not surprised, but I'm just glad and grateful to have a receiver room like this."
Blake transferred to Arkansas from Charlotte prior to the season. He also has played for South Carolina in the SEC. Blake caught seven passes for 121 yards and a touchdown. It was the fourth time in his collegiate career he has hit the 100-yard mark in yardage. Blake likes for Green to throw him the ball.
"Always," Green said. "He's always going to say, even when he's covered. He's always going to be like, 'Keep feeding me,' or he's going to give me a certain look, and I know that O'Mega is the one I can depend on if I don't get scrambling or something like that. So just to have that weapon in the offense is definitely."
Blake talked about what has contributed to his success at Arkansas.
"It just goes back to us training and getting the extra reps after practice, and just meeting and watching film, and like I said, just having his back and knowing he got mine," Blake said. "So, like I said, it's just, he's gonna make certain things and I just feel I gotta make it correct so we don't hear Coach (Bobby) Petrino's mouth at the end of the day. That's really all it is."
Brown, a sophomore who recently lost his father, caught four passes for 49 yards and two touchdowns. The former Bentonville standout was prepared for the bigger role this season. Sam Pittman talked to Brown after his second touchdown catch.
"Coach Pittman was there through every step of the way with my father." Brown said. "He almost had to force me to go see my father because I know like, my dad wanted me to be at practice, like, always. If anyone knew my dad, he wanted me to be at practice. So, Coach Pittman pulled me aside when it was all going on and told me that I need to go and they're going to take me this afternoon. You know what I'm saying? So, that moment we shared, he just hugged me, and I told him I'm doing it for my pops. And he was like, 'You are.' So that was all that was."
Green provided a scare to the fans in the game when he went into the injury tent.
"Just cramping," Green said. "I haven't been live and with the bullets flying since the bowl game. And of course, it's a 3:15 kickoff, so I gotta do a better job of hydrating and get my body right."
Blake had 55 yards after the catch to top the charts for Arkansas. He explained his success with the ball in his hands.
"Just hearing it every day from coach Petrino – yards after the catch," Blake said. "And just self-motivated, and just wanting to get the extra yards. So, that's really all to it."
Pittman chimed in on Blake's yards after catch.
"Yeah, He played extremely hard and went in there and got us a first down when it looked like he could have been down and could have been short," Pittman said. "Taylen did too, jumped over there and made a first down. O’Mega’s a tough guy and he likes to play football. So, did I want him to do that? Yes. Did I know he could do that? Yes. So if that’s the case, yes, we’ll expect it every week."
Arkansas will be in Little Rock on Saturday to take on Arkansas State at 4 p.m. in War Memorial Stadium.
