Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

FAYETTEVILLE — The first bolt of lightning — Jonathan Williams' 74-yard catch and run down the left sideline on Arkansas' first offensive snap — was the first sign that this Saturday night would belong completely to the Razorbacks.

After a real bolt of lightning very close to Reynolds Razorback Stadium and a 65-minute suspension of play midway through the first quarter, the freshman Williams struck again with the same play on the opposite side. Tyler Wilson led Williams perfectly on the wheel route, and Williams sidestepped a freshman Kentucky defensive back for clear sailing down the right sideline and a 77-yard scoring play, giving Arkansas a 28-0 lead.

The game was essentially over, but not before yet another lengthy delay at 9:30 p.m. with Arkansas holding a 49-7 lead. Officials with Arkansas, Kentucky and the SEC called the game official at 10:08 p.m., with 5:08 left in the third quarter.

For that matter, the game was all but decided on Williams' first touchdown catch-and-run. Combined with the quick-strike offense that scored on five straight possessions and a defense that blitzed a shorthanded Kentucky offense into a handful of three-and-outs, this game was no contest. With the delays and the Hogs at one time in front 49-0 before Tyler Wilson retired for the night early in the third quarter, the need for an NCAA "mercy rule" running clock was never more evident.

Williams, the true freshman from Allen, Texas, looked good in August and has gradually been afforded more playing time — some wondered a few weeks back why he wasn't playing even more while the Hogs' running game struggled to find any success. Saturday night, Williams was slotted in the spot where Ronnie Wingo Jr. has excelled in past seasons: making big plays out of the wheel route.

Maybe Wingo has been figured out, but the wheel with Wingo has lacked the same effectiveness of the past two years. Maybe with Wingo out this game with a shoulder injury, Kentucky decided Arkansas wouldn't have a player to run the wheel.

And maybe Kentucky, with all its injuries in its secondary, was susceptible to a Petrino bread-and-butter offensive call. Bobby made it work as head coach, and brother Paul dialed it up successfully on Saturday night with a rising star.

Kentucky defensive backs Cody Quinn, Zack Blaylock and Daron Blaylock probably hope they don't see the play again anytime soon.

On Williams' first play, Daron Blaylock fell as Williams was breaking open at the Hogs 43. After the catch, Williams reversed field past Cody Quinn and Zack Blaylock, and Hogs running back Knile Davis knocked over Cartier Rice to open up the entire right side of the field. Williams made the mad dash to the right pylon for the game's first score.

“It was something we expected to do," said running back Dennis Johnson, who ran for 82 yards on 12 carries but was on the bench for the first offensive snap. "They had told Jonathan all week, 'You’ll be wide open on that play,' and we ran it and he was wide open. He just had to do the rest, which was making guys miss and he did.

"That play set the whole tone for the rest of the game."

The freshman was not available for interviews afterward but quarterback Tyler Wilson said, "It was big. It was exactly how we drew it up. Early in the week [Williams] made a little move in practice similar to what he did, cut across the field. That was good."

With only time for one play after taking over in the final five seconds of the first quarter, Wilson and the Hogs struck with Williams again. And again, he took Wilson's pass at his 43, gave Zack Blaylock a hip fake and left him tumbling while hitting the right sideline for an easy jaunt to the end zone.