Razorbacks earn elusive bowl victory

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Alex Tejada kicked the ball through the uprights, turned around and ran toward the opposite end of the field. His Arkansas teammates chased him all the way to the end zone amid a wild scene of celebration and relief.

Tejada’s 37-yard field goal in overtime gave Arkansas a 20-17 win in the Liberty Bowl on Saturday night after East Carolina’s Ben Hartman missed two field-goal attempts late in regulation and another in the extra session. Tejada, who missed an overtime kick in a loss to LSU to end the regular season, redeemed himself by helping the Razorbacks overcome the upset-minded Pirates.

“I was pretty confident,” Tejada said. “I felt like the wind was blowing really favorably that way, so going into overtime I felt good about our chances to win the game. Once I stepped up, I had all the confidence that it was going to go through.”

Tejada missed a crucial kick in a loss to Florida in October, and his miss against LSU prevented the Razorbacks from forcing a second overtime.

“He took a lot of heat all year, and he stepped up and made a play in a big game,” Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett said. “The team stuck behind him during the whole season when all you guys were yapping at him. We’re a team, and we stuck behind him.”

Tejada missed from 43 yards in the fourth quarter, but his struggles were nothing compared with Hartman’s. The East Carolina (9-5) senior missed four attempts in all, each at the same end of the field. He was short from 45 yards in the first quarter, then hit the left upright from 39 yards with 1:03 remaining in regulation with the score tied.

He missed from 39 yards again on the final play of the fourth quarter, then missed from 35 in overtime.

Arkansas (8-5) had won only two of its previous 14 bowls, and the Razorbacks insisted they were unusually focused on this one. It didn’t show. Arkansas’ vaunted offense had the ball for only 22:05. Mallett was named most valuable player, but he went only 15 of 36 for 202 yards and a touchdown.

Arkansas won despite going 0 of 13 on third down.