Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — Gary Nova's career day came at exactly the right time for a Rutgers team eager to prove it belongs among the country's best.

Nova was 25 of 35 passing for a career-best 397 yards and five touchdowns Saturday night to lead the Scarlet Knights to a 35-26 win over Arkansas.

The win extends Rutgers' (4-0) undefeated stretch this season, and it was the school's first over a Southeastern Conference team since beating Vanderbilt in 2004.

"I'm proud of the evolution of Gary Nova," Rutgers coach Kyle Flood said. "All I wanted from Gary is to get a little bit better each week, and I think he's done that. It's starting to show up on game day, which is great.

"I think Gary made some excellent passes tonight. I don't know if he was perfect, but he's a great player."

Rutgers' continued rise came at the expense of a Razorbacks team once again left reeling. Arkansas, which lost 52-0 to No. 1 Alabama last week, has now lost three games in a row for the first time since 2008 — despite Cobi Hamilton's SEC-record 303 yards receiving and three touchdowns on Saturday.

The Razorbacks (1-3) entered the season ranked No. 8 before plummeting out of the rankings following a loss to Louisiana-Monroe. The last time they lost three in a row was in former coach Bobby Petrino's first season.

Petrino was fired in April, and interim coach John L. Smith — whose brother passed away earlier this week — was left to pick up the pieces after yet another disheartening defeat.

"Why would (fans) not think these guys are going to do the best that they can to right the ship?" Smith said. "They're going to go to the field. That's all we know. That's all they have. We don't have any other option except to go to the field, start tomorrow, work as hard as we can work, hopefully get some guys back and try to right it. That's all we can do."

Even quarterback Tyler Wilson's 419-yard passing performance in his return after missing the loss to the Crimson Tide with a concussion wasn't enough to stop Arkansas' losing ways.

"Physically I feel pretty good, but we have to go out and win," Wilson said. "I feel really good physically, but deep down inside, not so good."

The Scarlet Knights, meanwhile, were on the complete other end of the emotional spectrum. They celebrated the school's first 4-0 start since 2006 with the vocal Rutgers' fan base in Razorback Stadium afterward, and Flood couldn't help but smile while becoming the third coach in school history to start his career with that mark in his first season.