Arkansas beats North Alabama as KJ Jackson throws three touchdowns

Arkansas quarterback KJ Jackson had himself a night in his second career start.

He threw three touchdown passes and picked up 27 yards on the ground as the Razorbacks knocked off North Alabama 31-14 on Saturday.

Jackson finished 24 of 35 through the air for 267 yards and found a different receiver on each of his scoring throws. Cisse got the first one Adcock hauled in the second and Platt closed it out with the third.

With a dozen fresh faces at receiver after losing five of last year’s top seven pass catchers getting 11 different guys on the stat sheet wasn’t a surprise.

It was the plan.

Marshall did the most damage through the air with seven grabs going for 79 yards tops among all Arkansas receivers.

Silverfield isn’t satisfied despite the win

New Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield didn’t sound thrilled after his first win with the program.

He didn’t hide his frustration either noting the Lions had allowed well over 460 yards a game as an FCS opponent a year ago. Those numbers that made Arkansas’ offensive struggles harder to explain away. The Hogs needing all 415 yards of total offense they got to for a win.

“Today’s performance certainly wasn’t to the standard and expectations we want,” Silverfield said. “Probably one of the worst offensive performances I’ve been a part of.”

The Hogs gave the ball away twice more themselves with Jackson coughing one up and tossing a pick on top of it.

The Razorbacks were flagged eight times for 74 yards which added to their coach’s frustration.

“We said we wanted to play clean disciplined football and we didn’t do that,” Silverfield said. “Our players understand this. So many opportunities that we can improve on and we better do it very very quickly.”

North Alabama makes things interesting late

Through three quarters the Lions had barely moved the ball managing just 17 yards before halftime and stringing together only five first downs the entire time.

Smith’s fumble handed the Lions a short field and after a personal foul tacked on extra yardage Wade punched it in himself from close range to put North Alabama up 21-7 late in the quarter.

Arkansas answered right back. Russell punched it in from a yard out to finish an 11-play drive that covered 75 yards. He carried the ball 17 times on the day and topped the Hogs in rushing with 49 yards.

Wade broke off a 59-yard connection with Xavier Johnson early in the fourth quarter to spark North Alabama.

He then took off running on back-to-back plays picking up 16 yards combined. That second scramble put him in the end zone giving him a pair of rushing scores on the night.

On the stat sheet Wade ended up completing just over half his attempts for 113 yards and Johnson accounted for the bulk of that production catching six balls for 82 yards.

Snapping a long skid

For a program that hadn’t tasted a win in 10 tries Saturday’s result was overdue relief no matter how ugly it looked at times.

It gives Silverfield’s first season a much needed positive start.

It’s tough to read too much into beating a team that scraped together just two wins last season even if the defense held up well outside that one breakdown.

North Alabama beat Samford the week before and stayed competitive here too which points to a program that’s improved from the two-win squad it fielded last season.

Arkansas hits the road next to face No. 21 Utah on Saturday. That will be a much tougher measuring stick for Jackson and this rebuilt offense.

North Alabama also travels heading to Southeastern Louisiana for its next game.