Arkansas started their game against Northern Illinois with a 97 yard kickoff return from Korliss Marshall and never looked back. Their balanced attack shredded the Huskies defense on their way to a 52-14 win.
In fact, Arkansas' special teams and defense got on the board before the offense did. On NIU's second possession, Darius Philon recovered a fumble and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown and Arkansas led 14-0.
The offense did finally get on the board on their second drive of the game with Josh Williams running the ball in from 15 yards out and Arkansas was up 21-0.
After Arkansas' John Henson missed a 43 yard field goal, the Huskies got a touchdown when Drew Hare hit an 11 yard touchdown pass to Aregeros Turner to make it 21-7. However, Arkansas restored their 21 point lead before halftime with Brandon Allen finding Jared Cornelius for a 10 yard touchdown.
Arkansas struggled a bit in the third quarter with only one touchdown. Allen ran in for a 2 yard touchdown to make it 35-7 late in the third quarter. NIU decided to try their luck on fourth and 2 from their own 33 with a fake punt, but Tyler Wedel was stopped and Arkansas took over at the NIU 34. That led to a 21 yard field goal to give Arkansas the 38-7 lead.
Hare threw a consolation touchdown to Joel Bouagnon from 15 yards out on a screen pass to make it 38-14, but Arkansas added a touchdown on their next offensive play. Allen hit a wide open Keon Hatcher in the end zone for a 44 yard touchdown. Korliss Marshall added his second touchdown of the night to complete the scoring at 52-14.
Drew Hare finished 18 of 29 for 179 yards and 2 touchdowns. Cameron Stingily had 10 rushes for 49 yards. Joel Bouagnon had 8 carries for 25 yards, but his biggest contribution was in the receiving department. He caught 5 passes for 71 yards and a touchdown. Da'Ron Brown was the second leading receiver with 5 catches for 29 yards.
Arkansas' Brandon Allen went 15 of 22 for 199 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had a rushing touchdown. Keon Hatcher led the Razorbacks in receiving with 6 catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.
Alex Collins ran for 79 yards on 15 carries while Josh Williams had 15 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown. Korliss Marshall finished the game with 6 rushes for 40 yards and a touchdown. Marshall also had the opening 97 yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
The Razorbacks had 427 yards of total offense. They passed for 215 yards and ran for 212.
Northern Illinois (3-1) has finished their non-conference schedule and will start MAC play on October 4 with a home game versus Kent State (0-3).
Arkansas (3-1, 0-1) has a huge matchup against #6 Texas A&M (4-0) next week at home.