Jackson, Green lead potent ground game and Arkansas tops UAB 37-27 after trailing by two touchdowns

Updated Sep. 14, 2024 9:09 p.m. ET

Associated Press

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Ja’Quinden Jackson ran for 147 yards and a touchdown and Taylen Green picked up 96 yards on the ground with two scores as Arkansas beat Alabama-Birmingham 37-27 on Saturday.

Jackson’s score, a 16-yard dash early in the third quarter, broke a 20-all tie to give Arkansas (2-1) its first lead. UAB had little answer for him whenever he ran the ball as his yardage total came on just 15 carries.

Green, Arkansas’ starting quarterback, countered his sub-par throwing day with his rushing results. He tied the game at 17 in the third quarter on a 14-yard touchdown and provided a 9-yard insurance touchdown with 3:38 left after Arkansas had taken a three-point lead. In the air, he was just 11 of 26 for 161 yards with an interception.

“I just think that we didn’t throw or catch it like we normally would,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. “I don’t think it was a wind problem. ... For whatever reason we were off.”

The Blazers (1-2) led 17-3 early in the second quarter, having scored on their first three drives. The second drive needed to go only 15 yards after Green was intercepted in his own red zone. Jared Zeno, who threw three touchdown passes for UAB, found Kam Shanks for a 15-yard score to put Arkansas down by a touchdown before Zeno connected with Amare Thomas for a 34-yard score on the next drive to make it a two-score game.

The Razorbacks scored on five of the next six possessions as Braylen Russell added a rushing touchdown and Kyle Ramsey made two field goals for a 30-20 lead in the fourth quarter. Zeno found Dallas Payne for his third touchdown of the game midway through the fourth before Green led the 7-play, 75-yard drive that ultimately proved the game-changer.

“We can’t compete in the SEC playing like we did tonight. We’ve got to do better,” Pittman said.

Jackson, a Utah transfer, became the first Arkansas player with 100-yard games in each of his first three in a Razorbacks uniform since Alex Collins in 2015. Collins, Arkansas’ second-leading rusher in school history, died last year in a motorcycle wreck. He was honored during the game along with other members of the 2024 Arkansas Hall of Honor.

Dangerous day

UAB wide receiver Brandon Buckhaulter left the field in the first half via a back brace and cart after, helmetless, he was hit in the side of the head by Arkansas defensive end Landon Jackson. Buckhaulter lifted his arm to signal movement to the crowd as he exited the field.

Two other UAB players lost their helmets because of Arkansas’ arms and hands to the face as play continued later in the game, as well.

One good, one bad

Only three players caught passes for Arkansas, though Andrew Armstrong reeled in eight of Green’s 11 completions for 137 of the 161 yards in the air.

On the ground, however, the Razorbacks ran for 266 yards, their second highest total against an FBS team in the last two seasons and above the 255 yards per game the team averaged entering the game, a total that ranked Arkansas 15th through two weeks.

Big picture

UAB is likely neither as bad as the team that lost to Louisiana-Monroe in Week 2 by 26 points nor as good as the team that lost to Arkansas by 10 on Saturday. The Blazers’ ride in the AAC could be just as chaotic.

Arkansas wasn’t especially impressive, but after last year’s 4-8 season and last week’s double-overtime loss to Oklahoma State, putting a team away in a close game is a large step forward.