Arkansas 49, Missouri State 17

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Posted 11:05PM on Saturday, September 3, 2005

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) Peyton Hillis ran for 135 yards and three touchdowns, leading Arkansas to its highest rushing output in 30 years in a 49-17 win over Missouri State on Saturday night. Freshman Felix Jones ran for 137 yards for the Razorbacks including an 80-yard score on his second college carry and De'Arrius Howard added 120. The Razorbacks rushed for 483 yards, their most since running for 501 against Air Force in 1975. Arkansas led 28-3 at halftime, but Division I-AA Missouri State made it 28-17 on an 86-yard touchdown run by P.J. Ikner in the third quarter. Hillis scored on runs of 1 and 4 yards in the fourth quarter, and freshman Darren McFadden added a 3-yard touchdown run. Marcus Monk had six catches for 77 yards and a touchdown for the Razorbacks, who shrugged off a sloppy start to win their ninth straight season-opener. Missouri State, known as Southwest Missouri State until its name change became official last weekend, fell to 1-20 against Division I-A teams since moving to I-AA in 1982. The Bears beat UNLV in 1990. Missouri State's Jon Scifres began the game with a low kickoff that hit Arkansas' Freddie Fairchild near midfield and bounced straight back to Scifres. The strange carom gave the Bears possession and set the tone for a first half filled with turnovers. Each team fumbled inside the other's 10 in the first quarter, and Missouri State lost two more fumbles in the period, one of which Darius Vinnett returned 44 yards for a touchdown to put Arkansas ahead 14-3. Robert Johnson, making his first start at quarterback for the Razorbacks as Matt Jones' replacement, went 12-for-22 for 88 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Backups Alex Mortensen and Cole Barthel also played. Hillis put Arkansas ahead 7-3 with a 32-yard touchdown run. The sophomore surpassed his career high of 66 yards rushing by the end of the first quarter. He also lost two fumbles in the game, and Monk lost one in the second quarter, but Arkansas' running game was enough to overcome the turnovers. Jones made it 21-3 early in the second quarter when he ran around left end and breezed untouched for the score, and Johnson found Monk for a 5-yard touchdown with 2 seconds remaining in the half. Jones had 116 yards on his first three carries. Hillis had two touchdowns in Arkansas' season-opener last year, a 63-13 win over New Mexico State. (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)