Arkansas Beats Baylor on a 50-Yard Pass Play

Arkansas tight end Luther Franklin did a double take when he heard the play called, 117-pass. The 12th-ranked Razorbacks were at midfield with more than six minutes to go and trailed 11th-ranked Baylor, 14-12, at the time.

“I just fake like I’m blocking the corner and then take off on a streak,” said Franklin, who had caught only one pass in two years. “All week long I had rushed the fake. I said to myself I’d get it right and I did.”

Franklin’s 50-yard reception--Greg Thomas’ only completion in four attempts--lifted Arkansas to a 20-14 victory and scrambled the Southwest Conference race.

Franklin said the Razorbacks put in the play for Baylor.

“I wasn’t surprised he was open,” Thomas said. “The cornerback had been biting on some fakes. We worked on it all week, and it was supposed to work.”

Franklin caught Thomas’ pass inside the Baylor 20 and eluded a last defender inside the 10. It was only the fourth pass attempt of the day for Thomas, who had rallied the Razorbacks from a 14-0 third-quarter deficit.

Thomas shared time in the first half with Mark Calcagni and looked shaky at times. He was injured two weeks ago and was held out last week.

Arkansas and Baylor are 5-1 in the SWC. Texas A&M; and Texas are 4-1.

Tom Muecke combined with Matt Clark on an 88-yard scoring pass play that put the Bears ahead, 14-0, with 9:02 left in the third quarter. It was the second-longest pass play in Baylor history and the longest ever allowed by Arkansas.

The pass came two plays after Ray Berry and Johnny Subia dropped Thomas for a two-yard loss on fourth and one at the Baylor 18.

When the Razorbacks came up short, it was the 16th time this season that an opponent had failed to score when inside the Baylor 20. Arkansas couldn’t do anything the next time it got the ball but got a needed break when Calvin Williams forced Baylor’s Robert Williams to fumble and David Dudley recovered. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Bears put the ball on the Baylor 29. Six plays later, Carl Miller scored from the four.

Arkansas’ Kendall Trainor came up short on a 44-yard field-goal attempt early in the fourth quarter, but Richard Brothers--burned earlier on Clark’s touchdown--intercepted a Muecke pass and returned it 21 yards to the Baylor 25. On fourth-and-inches from just outside the five, Marshall Foreman sliced into the end zone to make it 14-12 with 10:21 left. Thomas’ two-point conversion pass was incomplete.

Baylor moved to the Arkansas 33, but Jim Mueller was wide right on a 49-yard field-goal attempt. On first down, James Rouse dipped in and back out for 17 and on the next play Thomas hit Franklin.