KJ Jefferson threw a career-high five touchdown passes as Arkansas pulled away from BYU in the second half to post a 52-35 shootout win on Saturday afternoon in Provo, Utah, in the first-ever meeting between the programs.
Jefferson passed for 367 yards and hit 10 different receivers to help Arkansas (4-3) snap a three-game losing streak.
The game went back forth in the first half before the Razorbacks scored 17 consecutive points to go up 31-21 at the break. BYU (4-3) would never get closer than three points the rest of the way.
Raheim Sanders ran for 175 yards and two touchdowns, one of them a 64-yarder, to lead Arkansas’ stout rushing attack, which amassed 277 yards.
Jaren Hall led the Cougars with 356 yards passing and three touchdowns, with Puka Nacua hauling in eight passes for 141 yards and a TD and running for two other scores. Kody Epps had 125 yards and another TD receiving for BYU, which has dropped two straight games.
The Cougars began the scoring with Hall’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Rex with 5:39 to play in the first quarter. Arkansas answered three minutes later and tied the game when Sanders reeled off a 15-yard scoring run.
BYU used back-to-back pass interference penalties on the Razorbacks to set the stage for a 21-yard TD pass from Hall to Epps with 1:11 left in the first quarter.
Arkansas grabbed the lead on a 6-yard scoring pass from Jefferson to Trey Knox early in the second quarter. But the lead was short-lived as Nacua’s 5-yard TD run pushed BYU to a 21-14 advantage with 9:48 to play in the second.
The rest of the half belonged to the Razorbacks.
Cam Little booted a 34-yard FG with 6:46 to play before halftime to cut the BYU lead to 21-17. Jefferson hit Matt Landers with a 4-yard TD pass with at the 3:39 mark and then found Rashod Dubinion from 15 yards out to grant Arkansas a 31-21 advantage at the break.
BYU got back to within three points on Nacua’s 3-yard scoring sweep on the Cougars’ first drive of the third quarter. Arkansas immediately responded with a 39-yard Jefferson TD pass to Landers.
Nacua hauled in a 33-yard touchdown pass from Hall with 5:11 to play in the third. The Razorbacks pulled away with 5-yard TD toss from Jefferson to Landers and Sanders’ long touchdown run.
–Field Level Media
