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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Clifton Robinson saw the end zone and took
off in the air. He didn't care that it was nearly 5 yards away.
|  | | Auburn running back Rudi Johnson scored a 23-yard touchdown in the second quarter to help hold off Arkansas. |
"I didn't want to be denied, so that's why I dove," said
Robinson, whose 13-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter
made the difference in No. 25 Auburn's 21-19 victory over Arkansas
Saturday.
The Tigers' defense made Robinson's acrobatic play stick,
picking off two passes in the final two minutes from hobbled backup
quarterback Zak Clark.
Auburn (7-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) also got big plays,
big days and big mistakes from quarterback Ben Leard and tailback
Rudi Johnson. Leard was 19-of-30 for 240 yards and a touchdown, but
was picked off twice.
Johnson rushed 29 times for 114 yards and a TD, but his fumble
late in the fourth was negated only by Rodney Crayton's
interception on the next play.
"We are just trying so hard to make a play," Auburn coach
Tommy Tuberville said. "It seems like sometimes at the end of the
game when you have to make a play, the ball gets a little smaller
and bad things happen."
They certainly happened to the Razorbacks (4-3, 1-3), who have
lost three of four games and eight straight SEC road contests.
Clark entered after Robby Hampton went down with a sprained
right shoulder early in the fourth quarter on a failed fourth-down
play. Hampton was 19-of-34 for 163 yards.
"There was no doubt if Hampton plays we win," Arkansas coach
Houston Nutt said. "I think Auburn was very fortunate today."
Clark, who sprained an ankle in his debut against South Carolina
two weeks ago, started off well.
His 41-yard pass to Fred Talley set up a first-and-goal from the
Auburn 9. A short run and two incompletions forced the Razorbacks
to settle for Brennan O'Donohoe's 24-yard field goal with 4:20
left. Clark finished 1-of-7.
The Tigers went three-and-out, but three plays later, Clark's
pass was picked off by Stanford Simmons.
Johnson's fumble gave them the ball right back with 1:43 left at
the Auburn 34. The next play was an interception by Crayton.
"That goes to show you've got to believe in your teammates,"
Johnson said, "and they came through."
Unable to run the clock out, Auburn took a safety on fourth down
with three seconds left.
Arkansas couldn't return the free kick to midfield despite a
handoff and lateral, and the clock ran out.
"I don't want them to put their heads down," Nutt said. "I
want them to look straight ahead."
Talley, starting for the first time at tailback, rushed for 161
yards and a TD on 26 carries. He entered the game with 160 yards on
the season.
Robinson's acrobatic TD, on a screen pass that was ruled a
lateral, polished off a 93-yard drive with 1:39 left in the third
quarter.
The teams both scored two TDs in the second quarter.
Leard hit Tim Carter with a 37-yard scoring pass on
fourth-and-2. Carter stepped out of a defensive back's grasp and
spun away from another would-be tackler downfield, diving into the
end zone.
"A couple of defensive backs missed tackles," Carter said. "I
could see the end zone and there was no way that I wasn't going to
get in there."
On the next play, Talley busted up the middle for an 80-yard TD
run, the Razorbacks' longest of the season. Talley was the third
tailback Nutt has turned to since Cedric Cobbs went down with a
season-ending injury.
Johnson would answer late in the quarter for Auburn. His
spinning, tackle-breaking 23-yarder capped a nine-play, 95-yard
drive with 2:26 left.
The Razorbacks tied it up with Brandon Holmes' 3-yard TD run
with 29 seconds left.
The Tigers, whose first open date is next week, improved to 6-0
at home.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Arkansas Clubhouse
Auburn Clubhouse
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