Razorbacks’ QB Wanted ‘Ground and Pound’ Second Half

KJ Jefferson put up good numbers, but managed Hogs' dominating 41-27 win

Author:
Andy Hodges
Publish date:
Oct 29, 2022 9:59 PM EDT

In this story:

Arkansas Razorbacks

Auburn Tigers

Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson won't get many SEC wins as comfortable as Saturday's 41-27 one over Auburn.

At halftime he was wanting to establish that.

"We kinda got away from that in the first half," Jefferson said later. "We just wanted to get back to the basics where we can ground and pound and establish the running game."

Every coach wants to run the ball. Saturday showed why. After a Tigers punt backed the Razorbacks deep in their end of the field, Raheim "Rocket" Sanders broke a 76-yard run and it was was over.

Before that, Auburn still had hope. That run and ensuing touchdown by Rashod Dubinion dashed that.

The Hogs had taken control in coach Sam Pittman's opinion on the previous nine-play, 64-yard with Jefferson completing his only touchdown pass of the day, an 11-yarder to Jadon Haselwood.

"At that point we were in control of the football game," Pittman said.

He wouldn't say the game was over then, but it really was.

Jefferson was 16-of-24 passing for 234 yards, a touchdown plus he added another pair of first-half touchdowns on 63 yards. He admitted later it wasn't perfect, though.

That second touchdown, which came with 10:27 to play in the second quarter was a 13-yard keeper he actually messed up.

"I ran the wrong play," he said with a laugh later. "It was really a shallow route to Haselwood. I didn't see him at all so I just took off running and make the most out of it. I made one guy miss and the other guy missed."

Now he's got the Hogs sitting at 5-3 on the season with enough games left to actually top last year's eight regular-season wins.

"We're not bowl eligible, but the next one we have an opportunity to get eligible," Pittman said. "That'd be a huge deal for us. After that, it's just which one do you go to."

A big part of that is Jefferson who is 14-7 in games played and this year he's only thrown one interception all season.

"We've bought into the process knowing that we need to go on this run," Jefferson said. "We need to create history like today, beating Auburn, keep writing history and keep our program on track."

The next step will be against Liberty next week at 3 p.m. finally getting to play a home game after a month on the road.