Razorbacks find a way to win fight and battle | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

FAYETTTEVILLE – While the Navy was parachuting in here, the Vanderbilt Commodore were driving the Crimson Tide away from Alabama and its No. 1 ranking.

Saturday wasn't a good day for undefeated teams in the SEC, as Missouri fell heavily to Texas A&M and Tennessee fell victim to the heroics of Arkansas backup quarterback Malachi Singleton and backup running back Braylen Russell.

The pair scored 46 yards on a 59-yard desperation drive that ended with Singleton's 11-yard touchdown run with 1:17 to play and a 19-14 victory over No. 4 Tennessee.

It looked like it would be another win and lose fight.

In the first half, the team, which outscored its first four opponents by an average of 54-7, managed just 76 yards of total offense against a defense that had faced criticism all week – again – after its first-half offense Scored 14 points a week ago and three weeks ago in a 21-17 loss to the Aggies.

Tennessee's sloppy offense was 40 points below average per game.

Arkansas' plan was brilliant. The Volunteers — who looked like the other Tennessee team in the first half — couldn't score if they weren't on the field, as Taylen Green completed 12 of 18 passes for 186 yards and the Razorbacks racked up 75 rushing yards at the time of possession was stunning.

The Razorbacks' offense was 20:42, which limited the visitors to 9:18.

Tennessee couldn't mount a running attack, gaining just 15 yards on 13 carries, but Nico Iamaleava, who was 7 of 7 at one point and finished the first half 8 of 10 for 61 yards, didn't get the idea.

Arkansas scored its only points of the first half on its first possession, rushing to the Tennessee 1 before being forced back to the 6th yard by a false start. They finally settled for a 20-yard field goal.

The 3-0 deficit was definitely strange territory for the Vols, who hadn't trailed in a game in 318 days, or six games. They didn't trail for 24 straight quarters, so they won, but the streak of six straight wins seemed in jeopardy.

However, this was not unfamiliar territory for Arkansas, which would have been undefeated had it not found ways to lose to the Aggies in overtime and again to Oklahoma State last week.

The large and impressive number of Tennessee fans who found tickets to the game were probably less concerned than Razorback fans.

The Vol faithful were part of a crowd of 75,573.

At halftime, the orange-clad player endured a video of Razorback star Anthony Lucas and his catch 25 years ago that gave Arkansas a victory over the defending national champions.

Tennessee took the second-half kickoff and threw for short yards but moved the chains until Dylan Sampson broke through to the Arkansas 4 for 53 yards on third-and-4, chased by Tennessee transfer Doneiko Slaughter.

Arkansas scored its first shot in the foot while securing possession when two of three plays went down.

The Hogs' second and third shots came on Tennessee's next possession when they were assessed two personal fouls, leading to a 4-yard touchdown by Sampson and a 14-3 lead with 8:19 left in the third quarter.

Arkansas rallied, running 75 yards on eight plays to make it 14-10. The defense held and Arkansas scored a 22-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 14-13 with 12:08 to play. But on the drive, Green was hit roughly and had to be taken off the field.

He returned for one play, but took another hit and left the field.