By John Nestor

Nashville, TN

Jerry Franklin returned a fumble for a touchdown to help lift eighth-ranked Arkansas to a 31-28 victory over Vanderbilt in a Southeastern Conference matchup Saturday.

With Vanderbilt about to go in for a score and pad its lead, Franklin returned a fumble 94 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-26.

Franklin recovered a fumble by Zac Stacy at the Arkansas 6 and went the distance and Tyler Wilson hit Jarius Wright for the two-point conversion pass, tying the game at 28-28. with 13:20 to play.

The game marked the fourth consecutive week the Razorbacks (7-1, 3-1 SEC) trailed at halftime but rallied to win.

Zach Hocker provided Arkansas with the winning points as he banged home a 42-yard field goal with 6:53 to play. Vanderbilt drove to the Arkansas 10 in the final minute, but Carey Spear pushed a 27-yard field-goal attempt to the right.

Vanderbilt (4-4, 1-4) used a 21-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Rodgers to Jordan Matthews, and a pair of Rodgers rushing touchdowns to take a 21-7 lead in the second quarter.

Wilson hit Wright for an 11-yard TD just before the half to pull the Razorbacks within 21-14 and they outscored the Commodores 17-7 in the second half.

 

 

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