BYU (3-0) rallied, not once, but twice to beat Arkansas (2-1) Saturday night at Razorback Stadium in a thrilling back and forth game between both teams.
BYU QB Kedon Slovis threw for 167 yards and two touchdowns, including one to Chase Roberts who made an incredible one-handed catch with eight minutes left, to give BYU a 38-31 win against Arkansas on the road.
Chase Roberts — are you kidding me?! pic.twitter.com/eJjTZm8VOj
— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) September 17, 2023
The Cougars nearly put the game away with just two minutes left in the fourth quarter, however, a 50-yard field goal attempt by Will Ferrin just missed to give Arkansas one last chance.
Without any timeouts, the Razorbacks got into the red zone with under 30 seconds to play, however, the BYU defense stood tall and stepped up to give the Cougars a big SEC win before starting Big 12 play next week.
BYU freshman running back LJ Martin — who made hsi first career start — ran for 77 yards on 23 carries to go with two touchdowns for BYU.
The game looked like a blowout in the early going as Arkansas got out to a 14-0 lead early in the first quarter when AJ Green ran 55 yards for a touchdown and Isaiah Sategna returned a punt 88 yards immediately after BYU’s first possession. But the Cougars weathered the storm and scored touchdowns on three of their next four drives to take a 21-14 lead.
The game felt more like a basketball contest as each team went on a 17-0 run in the second half. In the end, it wan another fantastic down-to-the wire SEC road win for Kalani Sitake.
Here’s how the media, fans and players reacted after the win:
so… @BYUfootball travels well 👀
Painting Fayetteville blue in a back-and-forth battle with the Razorbacks. pic.twitter.com/QBxYuM97WZ
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) September 17, 2023
— Boney Fuller (@boneyfuller) September 17, 2023
Huge road win for BYU!
— Tyson Whiting (@TysonOnSports) September 17, 2023
Good teams beat the SEC at home. Great teams beat the SEC on the road.
— Boney Fuller (@boneyfuller) September 17, 2023
Imagine not putting up 38 on an SEC defense 😉
— Sporty (@SportyMcSports) September 17, 2023
Final: BYU 38, Arkansas 31.
Best win by a Utah team over an SEC team this year!
— Jody Genessy (@DJJazzyJody) September 17, 2023
Those ridiculous schedules of the past few years definitely got this BYU team prepared for Big 12 play — but this is a special kind of victory for the Cougars tonight. https://t.co/llmtRsWZnU
— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) September 17, 2023
We never doubted!! Love this team!!! Cougar nation in attendance and at home, we heard and felt you!!! Best fans in the nation!! #GoCougs 🤙🏽
— Fesi Sitake (@fsitake) September 17, 2023
A wins a win! Shout out to all my teammates, coaches, and all of COUGAR NATION for the support!🤟🏾 https://t.co/B02VNlscdr
— Jakob Robinson (@jakobrobinson87) September 17, 2023
Big 12 Power Rankings: BYU, UCF Up, Kansas State, Oklahoma State Down
BYU QB Kedon Slovis after his win against Arkansas.
“I’ll be a Cougar for life.”— Hans Olsen (@975Hans) September 17, 2023
Okkkayyy Brigham! Good dub!! 3-0 !!!
— Kyle Van Noy (@KVN_03) September 17, 2023
Down 14 early
Down 10 late
And the Defense wins it at the end?!?!?
What a GUTSY win!!! #thisisY #GoCougs
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥— Bryan Kehl (@thekehlzone) September 17, 2023
Go cougs!!!!@BYUfootball
— Brady Poppinga (@BradyPoppinga) September 17, 2023
Congratulations @BYUfootball! Massive win over Arkansas! SEC pic.twitter.com/5F17NZ2avf
— Dr. Derwin L. Gray (@DerwinLGray) September 17, 2023
Feels like @BYUfootball of old. #GoCougs
— Dr. Derwin L. Gray (@DerwinLGray) September 17, 2023
What, this old thing? https://t.co/bajPzIAP3G pic.twitter.com/vrC1TX4zR9
— BYU Museum of Art (@BYUMOA) September 17, 2023
You can’t hate this program. BYU has become my second team. https://t.co/hZCQC9zT61
— Jimmy Henderson (@TheBigRedHog) September 16, 2023
Hot take. BYU doesn’t score 38 points with a Tuiaki defense. Disruptive defense leads to short fields and points on offense.
— Jake Edmonds (@JakeKUTV) September 17, 2023
BYU scored 38 points on only 281 yards of offense. They haven't scored at least 38 points on 281 or fewer yards this century.
For the rest of the FBS, it's been done 45 times.
Missouri somehow squeezed an amazing 42 points on just 119 yards vs Florida in 2014.…
— CougarStats (@CougarStats) September 17, 2023
Win or lose I have a lot more respect for the Cougars and what they can accomplish this season in the big 12 than I did two weeks ago
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) September 17, 2023
BYU takes down Arkansas. pic.twitter.com/jQitQvtRCK
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) September 17, 2023
Go Cougs! pic.twitter.com/XjVZP1sMw5
— Andrew George (@AGeorg88) September 17, 2023
Final
BYU 38
Arkansas 31 https://t.co/Qt6VdE469t— CFB Home (@CFBHome) September 17, 2023
I just watched a BYU football team get pressure with 4 guys on defense.
I’m still not sure it was real. It was like seeing Sasquatch eat hotdogs on my back porch.
— Jake Welch (@BYUAllBlue) September 17, 2023
There isn’t enough balls in the stadium to give them out for key players today. So many dudes BALLED. HUGE win! My thumbnail is bleeding, I’m sweating and need a shower, my wife is filing for divorce because of my behavior in front of the TV, BUT my heart is FULL!! #GoCougs 🤙
— Jonny Linehan (@jlinehan9) September 17, 2023
Oh there it is! #gocougs pic.twitter.com/gEMrifjNob
— Joe Wheat (@joewheat27) September 17, 2023
. @PatMcAfeeShow good call https://t.co/MHPQ96lanK
— The ROC (@byuROC) September 17, 2023
BYU wins to continue the worst SEC non-conference performance in years.
SEC 5-7 in P5 games:
-UT over UF
-UNC over SC
-FSU over LSU
-Miami over A&M
-BYU over Ark
-Texas over Bama
-Wake over Vandy
—
-MSU over Arizona
-Mizzou over KSU
-Ole Miss over GT
-AU over Cal
-UT over UVA— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) September 17, 2023
You can hear the BYU chant coming through the TV! Keep it up BYU fans at the game!
— Ys Guide (@YsGuide) September 17, 2023
3-0 going into conference play is all that matters. Big game vs Kansas in a week
— Ys Guide (@YsGuide) September 17, 2023
After the terrible start, that’s a great road win for BYU. I remember Max Tooley at Bountiful!
— Tom Wharton (@TribTomWharton) September 17, 2023
It’s time to rank BYU, you cowards.
— Sporty (@SportyMcSports) September 17, 2023
BYU travels better than any fanbase I’ve seen at DWR and I’m not even slightly surprised https://t.co/plESsCcHDp
— The Hogs Probs🐗 (@TheHogsProbs) September 17, 2023
W tweet. Cougs’ really showed up as a fanbase tonight, and as a football team. Can’t hate too much! https://t.co/wFis4FnPNc
— The Hogs Probs🐗 (@TheHogsProbs) September 17, 2023
Let this be known to Hog Nation. I have no met a more warm friendly fan base and place in all my aways games. I will root for the Hogs to win the SEC from my experience here in Fayetteville. #woopigsooie
— Jordan Huey (@shengjiao) September 17, 2023
Follow Fan Insider on Facebook and on Twitter.
Big 12 Power Rankings: BYU, UCF Up, Kansas State, Oklahoma State Down
