• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

McFadden, Jones lead Arkansas to easy win

Oct 29, 2006 - 1:38 AM LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Ticker) -- Darren McFadden and Felix Jones should be considered one of the best backfields in the nation.

McFadden and Jones each rushed for more than 100 yards and a touchdown and McFadden tossed a TD pass as No. 13 Arkansas posted a 44-10 non-conference rout of Louisiana-Monroe.

Jones gained 141 yards on just nine carries, and his seven-yard touchdown run in the the first quarter tied the game at 7-7.

McFadden rushed for 129 yards on 18 carries. His nine-yard pass to Wes Murphy put the Razorbacks up, 23-7, just before halftime.

"Our passing game wasn't going that well, so it was good to be able to run the ball consistently," McFadden said. "It was fun to throw a touchdown. It brought back a lot of memories from high school. We don't need to celebrate this victory too long because going to South Carolina next week will be real tough."

McFadden added a 18-yard TD run early in the third period to open the lead to 30-7.

"Our defense played well after the first drive," said Razorbacks coach Houston Nutt, who won his 100th career game. "We kept them out of the end zone, but we still have to improve. We played good enough, but we realize there are still things we have to improve on. We were keyed up and the central Arkansas fans kept us keyed up. We really appreciated them tonight."

The two sophomore running backs led a rushing attack that churned out 331 yards on the ground. It was the third time they both have rushed for 100 yards in the same game.

"Darren McFadden is really talented," Nutt said. "I love the way he runs. He runs with authority and power. It's nice to have that threat. We are fortunate to have two caliber backs."

True freshman quarterback Mitch Mustain completed just 7-of-18 passes for 71 yards and two interceptions, but he did throw two touchdowns.

"Our timing was a little off early on and that is something we have to continue to work on," Mustain said. "We will have to make some small corrections for South Carolina next week. It was nice to throw some different routes and I thought we executed fairly well."

"We have been winning on the ground," Nutt said. "We have to improve in the air. The true freshmen all around the nation are struggling. Ours will learn from their mistakes and improve."

The Razorbacks (7-1) have won seven straight games for the first time since 1998, when they opened the season with eight consecutive victories. They improved to 7-0 against the Warhawks, including 4-0 here.

Kinsman Lancaster was 14-of-25 for 147 yards, one touchdown and five interceptions for Louisiana-Monroe (1-7).

"When you give them that many gifts, you're going to get your tail kicked," Warhawks coach Charlie Weatherbie said. "I'd love to play them again without turning it over. Hopefully we could score some points if we got the ball like that. I thought we had a good game plan and we executed it at times, just not in the second half."

Three of the interceptions were recorded by safety Michael Grant, who became the first Razorback to have that many in a game since Louis Campbell - now Arkansas' defensive backs coach - in the 1971 Liberty Bowl.

"I have to give the defensive line a lot of the credit for my interceptions because they were getting a lot of pressure on the quarterback and forcing him to throw some balls quicker than he wanted," Grant said. "I was probably playing a little deeper than I usually do as well. They started playing faster than we expected but it is always good to get tested a little bit to get the rust off."

"The five interceptions tonight were big time," Nutt said. "Michael Grant did a great job and Matterral Richardson (one interception) caught the ball extremely well."