Arkansas Pulls Away from North Alabama 31-14 Behind Three Jackson Touchdowns
KJ Jackson threw three touchdown passes in the opener, and Arkansas never trailed on its way to a 31-14 win over North Alabama. It was not tidy, and it was not close either. Arkansas lost two fumbles and threw an interception, which is three giveaways, and still won by 17.
Jackson hit Ismael Cisse from 20 yards with 0:36 left in the first quarter for the first score. Matt Adcock caught a 2-yard touchdown at 8:41 of the second, and Jaden Platt caught a 10-yarder at 6:49 of the third for a 21-0 lead. North Alabama, scoreless to that point, answered when Destin Wade ran in from 6 yards at 2:10 of the third.
Braylen Russell's 1-yard run made it 28-7 early in the fourth. Wade scored again from 4 yards with 10:24 left, which cut it to 28-14. Max Gilbert settled it with a 33-yard field goal at 2:59, and nobody scored after that.
Arkansas had 417 total yards (267 passing, 150 rushing on 48 carries) and sacked the opposing quarterback twice. Jackson himself went 24 of 35 for 267 yards, lost a fumble and threw one pick. Arkansas is 1-0 and North Alabama is 0-1.
Two things are worth remembering from the margin. North Alabama never led and never tied, and the 14 points it did score came on two short Wade runs, 6 yards and 4 yards, both after Arkansas already had at least a three-score cushion. A three-score lead is a comfortable place to make mistakes, and Arkansas made three of them.
Fantasy-wise, Jackson led everyone with 31.4 points. Chris Marshall caught seven passes for 79 yards without scoring, and Russell scored once on 17 carries.