NASHVILLE - Arkansas didn’t need a perfect defensive night to beat Vanderbilt on Saturday. It just needed the right plays at the right moments, and that’s exactly what the Razorbacks got in a 31-21 win.
The biggest answers came when quarterback Jared Curtis started getting uncomfortable. When Arkansas could get heat on him, the game shifted. When it couldn’t, Curtis showed why he was such a problem, finishing with 274 passing yards and delivering a pinpoint touchdown throw to Junior Sherrill.
But the Razorbacks made sure those flashes didn’t decide the night.
Joker Johnson delivered the first huge swing, picking off Curtis and taking it back for a touchdown to tie the game at 7. Johnson said, "Coach Roberts called a great play for that situation," and added, "Put me in cloud [coverage]... I just read it."
That interception helped wake up an Arkansas sideline that had been quiet up to that point. And when the game tightened again in the fourth quarter, the defense came through once more.
With Arkansas up 28-21, Curtis led Vanderbilt on a steady march into UA territory and kept the drive alive with a string of third-down conversions. But on second and 12, with pressure closing in, he forced a throw that Miguel Mitchell snagged for his second straight week with an interception. The play went to review to see whether the ball had touched the turf, but the call stood.
Mitchell also had a sack and finished with five tackles.
"I knew I caught it, but I was just worried if the refs were overturning it," Mitchell said.
That turnover set Arkansas up to drain more clock and add a game-sealing field goal on the next drive.
"We had to find ways to affect him," head coach Ryan Silverfield said post-game. "We knew he was a young quarterback and we knew how talented he was. If you give him time back there he can certainly pick you apart.
"Getting to him made him push the ball out of his hand a little bit quicker, which was huge for us. It was one of our keys to victory. We needed to affect the quarterback and certainly we were able to do so as the game ended."
Silverfield also pointed to Arkansas’ recent takeaway surge, noting, "You saw the takeaways we got last week with three and we get two this week," and "And taking care of the football has got to be huge. It’s got to be something from that with that plus 10 we got off of that, if you can do that in SEC football you’re going to give yourself a chance and you’re probably going to win a lot more games."
Arkansas finished without a turnover and won the turnover battle for the second straight week, this time turning that edge into a victory.
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