Cam Settles ran for two touchdowns Saturday night and KJ Jackson threw for 251 yards as visiting Arkansas won its first Southeastern Conference game since 2024, knocking off Vanderbilt 31-21 Saturday night in Nashville, Tenn.
Settles’ 3-yard run with nine seconds left in the third quarter snapped a 21-21 tie, putting the Razorbacks (3-4, 1-3 SEC) ahead for good. Jackson helped seal the outcome on the team’s final drive, hitting Jamari Hawkins for a 31-yard completion that led to Max Gilbert’s 39-yard field goal with 24 seconds remaining.
Arkansas snapped a 14-game losing streak in conference play as Jackson completed 21 of 31 passes while rushing for a team-high 58 yards and a touchdown. The Razorbacks finished with a 438-390 advantage in total yardage.
Freshman quarterback Jared Curtis hit 19 of 31 passes for 274 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for the Commodores (3-4, 0-4). His second interception ended the team’s next-to-last possession at the Razorbacks’ 29 with 3:46 left when Miguel Mitchell dove to snag an ill-advised shovel pass as Curtis tried to avoid a sack.
Making its first visit to Vanderbilt since 2011 and playing the Commodores for just the second time since then, Arkansas got off to a slow start.
Sedrick Alexander initiated scoring on a 4-yard run with 13 seconds left in the first quarter, capping a 76-yard drive that lasted 3 1/2 minutes. But Curtis gave the score right back at the 6:16 mark of the second quarter when he threw an interception that Joker Jackson lugged back 25 yards for the tying touchdown.
Curtis redeemed himself on Vanderbilt’s next drive, tossing a 24-yard scoring strike to Junior Sherrill on the first play after the two-minute timeout. However, the Razorbacks equalized 38 seconds before halftime with the first of Settles’ two touchdowns, an 11-yard run.
Jackson gave Arkansas its first lead with an 8-yard touchdown run at the 11:17 mark of the third quarter. The Commodores drew even on Makhilyn Young’s 3-yard scoring jaunt with 5:42 left in the period.
–Field Level Media
