Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

One of the loudest cheers during Arkansas’ 49-24 victory over Jacksonville State came early in the first quarter on Knile Davis’ first carry Saturday night. The cheer wasn’t because anything spectacular happened on the play, which was a 4-yard gain up the middle. The cheer came because of what happened afterward.

Davis was tackled and he jumped right up and went back to the huddle.

It was a sight Razorback fans had been anxious to see. Davis hadn’t played a down since the 2011 Sugar Bowl because of an ankle injury last season. Though he was fully healthy during fall camp, coaches held him out of scrimmages for fear of further injury. Davis convinced Arkansas Coach John L. Smith to let Davis participate in a limited role in the final, closed scrimmage, but it was hardly the same as a game environment.

The lack of contact in August didn’t appear to be much of a factor in Davis’ return. Arkansas fumbled four times, but none were attributed to him. Davis was actually one of the more reliable performers in an otherwise shaky first half for Arkansas; he ran for 80 yards on 14 carries with a second-quarter touchdown to help the Razorbacks outscore the Gamecocks 28-0 during one stretch.

After the game, amidst the usual talking points about finding things to improve and working to get better, Davis lit up when talking about his scoring plays. His eyes got bigger and his smile wider when he discussed his first touchdown in more than a year.

“I knew as soon as I saw the crease. I knew it was gonna be a score. It was a great feeling," Davis said. “ ... When I scored, Tyler [Wilson] came up and said congratulations and welcome back. Everybody congratulated me. That was cool.”

It was easy to see Davis’ disappointment in a missed, earlly touchdown chance. He helped get the Razorbacks to the 2 and it looked like he was going to score the first points of the season, but Davis was stuffed on first down. He tried to jump over the line on a second carry, but was pushed back.

“I wanted to score,” he said. “But the first time I don’t think there was a hold, but the second time I think I missed the hole and I jumped over it. One area of improvement, just got to get better at that.”

Finding a hole wasn’t a problem too often. In addition to the 80, first-half yards on the ground, Davis caught a pass out of the backfield and cut-and-dashed his way up the middle for 19 yards. The play took the Razorbacks inside the Jacksonville State 20-yard line and set up what would become the go-ahead touchdown.

How much a healthy Davis will translate into victories is uncertain, but the team benefits beyond his presence in the backfield. Senior running back Dennis Johnson, forced to carry the load much of last season, only had five carries in the game but gained 38 yards, a 7.6 yard average, along with a touchdown. Keeping his legs fresh could pay dividends for the Razorbacks throughout the year.

No matter what other troubling things happened (and there were plenty of things to cause fans to have concerns for at least the next week) it was a welcome sight to see Davis back in action. He looked fast, strong, agile and clearly motivated to retake control of a promising career put on hold a year ago.

Last season, Davis’ absence helped make the Razorback running attack one of the biggest question marks on the team. That won’t be a question this year. After just one half, it’s almost like Knile Davis never left.

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Doc Harper is the editor of ArkansasExpats.com and is a regular contributor to ArkansasSports360.com. You can email him at heydocharper@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @doc_harper.