No. 22 Tennessee hog-ties Arkansas, 34-13

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Erik Ainge threw for two touchdowns and Arian Foster ran for another as No. 22 Tennessee beat Arkansas 34-13 on Saturday.

The Volunteers (7-3, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) kept their drive for an SEC Eastern Division title alive and again silenced critics of coach Phillip Fulmer with a balanced offensive attack and one of their best defensive performances of the season.

The Razorbacks (6-4, 2-4) struggled all day in the red zone and continually hurt themselves with penalties. They gained 10 more yards than the Vols, but held the ball for seven fewer minutes.

Arkansas' Darren McFadden, the SEC's top rusher, finished with 117 yards on 22 carries, and Casey Dick completed 12 of 22 passes for 140 yards and two interceptions. Last week, McFadden tied the SEC single-game rushing record with 321 yards against South Carolina.

The Vols started and ended the first half with a bang. Tennessee drove 64 yards on the game's first possession, aided by three Arkansas penalties, and Ainge threw a 16-yard TD pass to Austin Rogers across the middle with 10:15 left in the first quarter.

Tennessee also marched down the field with about a minute left in the half and scored on a 14-yard pass from Ainge to Josh Briscoe with 10 seconds left to give the Vols a 20-3 halftime lead. Ainge finished 12-for-25 for 128 yards.

Arkansas narrowed the lead to 27-13 with 8:27 left in the game on Michael Smith's 9-yard touchdown run after a handoff from McFadden out of the Razorbacks' ``WildHog'' formation. It was as close as the Hogs would get.

McFadden carried the Arkansas offense in the second half after only gaining 25 yards rushing in the first half. Felix Jones, the SEC's second-best rusher, left the game in the first half with a deep thigh bruise after rushing for just 3 yards.

The Razorbacks' only first-half points came on a 31-yard Alex Tejada field goal after the Vols came up with a big stop on third-and-6. Tejada also kicked a 42-yarder in the third quarter.

Arkansas went three-and-out in their first possession of the third quarter, and Tennessee responded with Foster's 59-yard touchdown run, the Vols' longest rushing play of the season that put them ahead 27-3.

Daniel Lincoln added field goals of 25 yards and 28 yards in the first half. The second field goal set a record for most field goals by a freshman, breaking James Wilhoit's mark of 17 set in 2003.

Tennessee linebacker Jerod Mayo ran 33 yards for a touchdown after intercepting a pass by backup quarterback Nathan Emert with 2:46 left in the game.

Source: ncaafootball.com; Photo Credit: SEC Sports Media