FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Austin Allen threw for a season-high 264 yards as Arkansas ended a two-game losing streak with a 42-24 win over New Mexico State on Saturday.
Allen finished 19-of-26 passing and threw three touchdowns, two to Jonathan Nance, for a Razorbacks (2-2) team that entered the game having lost four of their last five games.
Devwah Whaley led an Arkansas rushing attack with 119 yards on 19 carries. The Razorbacks finished with a season-high 494 yards of total offense, including 230 on the ground.
"I think our guys knew going into that game that we could win," Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said. "I think that was the chippieness, the anger, even from a coach. You do all this work, why not win a game. Why not put ourselves in a position to be talked about on a bigger scale?"
Tyler Rogers completed 23 of 38 passes for 344 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Aggies (2-3), while senior Jaleel Scott finished with career highs in catches (9) and receiving yards (174) — including a 36-yard touchdown catch.
THE TAKEAWAY
NEW MEXICO STATE: The Aggies last win over a Power 5 conference opponent was against Minnesota in 2011. While the school didn't earn the victory over the Southeastern Conference Razorbacks on Saturday, New Mexico State's offense did show it has the potential to cause headaches for Sun Belt Conference teams for the rest of the season.
"I think we're an exceptional throwing team, I think offensively we can play with just about anybody," New Mexico State coach Doug Martin said. "But that was a test today. They're really good and they're going to give a lot of people problems."
ARKANSAS: Allen said two weeks ago that he needed to play more relaxed and "let it rip" like he did last year, when he threw for an average of nearly 264 yards per game and 25 touchdowns on the season. The senior recovered from an early interception on Saturday to do just that the rest of the way, leading the Razorback to touchdowns on four of their first five possessions and completing 13 of his first 15 passes for 203 yards in the first half.
UP NEXT
NEW MEXICO STATE: The Aggies return to conference play when they travel to Appalachian State next week.
ARKANSAS: The Razorbacks begin a stretch of four straight SEC games when they travel to South Carolina next week.
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Follow Kurt Voigt on Twitter at @Kurt_Voigt_AP
