Entering the Fourth....Cats continue to trail

Arkansas 17, Kentucky 7

3^rd Quarter

Kentucky continued to struggle out of the half as Arkansas was able to do as they pleased on offense. Casey Dick connected to receivers for gains of 13, 11, and shorter yards. With the passing game beginning to click, the safeties and linebackers began to back up and that gave Michael Smith room to run. The struggles out of the box for the Cats were fixed after a few first downs as Arkansas offense eventually stalled and were forced to punt.

BUT, on the punt, a PEE WEE football special teams mistake was made as the punt hit the returner putting the ball in play and was scooped up by the Razorbacks. With the ball on the 7, Arkansas was not able to score a touchdown and had to settle for a field goal. Holding the Razorbacks to just three was an emotional stop but still; points were given up as the Wildcats trailed by 17 mid way through the 3^rd quarter.

However, on the ensuing drive, Mike Hartline threw a screen pass to Alfonso Smith out of the backfield. Smith refused to go down as he threw a vicious stiff arm to a Razorback defender and sped down the right side line for a 71 yard touchdown. The Cats now trailed by just ten and proved they could muster a little fight on the offensive side of the ball.

Following the initial surge, the quarer remained a punting and field position battle. Nooone scored or had much success at moving the ball…And so we enter the fourth with the Cats needing some kind of spark to overcome the 10 point deficit.