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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Missed opportunities spelled doom for Louisiana Tech (0-1) in the season opener as Arkansas (1-0) edged the Bulldogs, 21-20, Saturday afternoon in front of 69,132 in attendance at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

LA Tech was hanging on to a 20-14 lead with under seven minutes remaining in the game when Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen orchestrated a 13-play, 77-yard scoring drive that ended with a four-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Sprinkle to give Arkansas a one point lead.

Louisiana Tech had an opportunity to stop the Razorbacks with 3:35 left in the fourth, but a fourth-down conversion with a minute and a half allowed Arkansas to run out the clock and clinch the victory over the Bulldogs.

"I certainly do not want the pain and the hurt of the loss to take away with how proud I am of the guys in that locker room," head coach Skip Holtz said. "This is a team that lost seven players who are in an NFL camp. We are very young. For the guys to step up and compete the way that they did, to play with the physical nature that they did, I am just really proud of them. I think we have a lot of positive things to build on. This was a game we did not want to be close. We wanted to win. We were able to come in here as a 26-point underdog and stand toe-to-toe. It was not a fluke. It was a hell of a football game between two good football teams. I felt like we just ran out of time."

In his first career start, redshirt freshman J'mar Smith was 19-for-31 passing for 212 yards and a rushing touchdown. Smith became the first freshman quarterback to open the season for LA Tech since 2011.

On the ground, LA Tech was led by Jarred Craft, who rushed for 68 yards on 12 attempts and a touchdown against the Razorbacks. Both Trent Taylor and Carlos Henderson combined for 14 catches and 149 receiving yards on the afternoon.

Defensively, the Bulldogs held Arkansas to 297 total offensive yards and had four sacks in the game, which marks the first time since Oct. 11, 2014 that Arkansas has allowed four sacks in a game. Jordan Harris had a team-high 11 tackles in the game, including 1.5 tackles for loss. Xavier Woods tied a career-high with 10 total tackles (1.0 TFL), while also recording a sack and an interception against the Razorbacks.

The Bulldogs got off to a hot start in the first quarter when Xavier Woods quickly ended Arkansas' opening drive with his 10th career interception on third and long to give LA Tech the ball on its own 38.

Redshirt freshman quarterback J'mar Smith's first career start included six straight passes to start the possession for the Bulldogs with the quarterback 4-for-6 for 62 yards, but it was the final carry of the drive, a 9-yard keeper by Smith that put the Bulldogs ahead 7-0 with just over nine minutes remaining in the first.

Arkansas' second drive of the afternoon ate up 6:19 off the clock and was more efficient, going for 11 plays and 75 yards before resulting in a game-tying six-yard rushing touchdown by Rawleigh Williams to tie the game at 7-7.

After Arkansas took a 14-7 lead in the second quarter, both teams traded interceptions on the next two drives with Prince Sam coming through for the Bulldogs with his first career interception returned 34 yards into Razorback territory with under five minutes to go in the first half.

From there, J'mar Smith led the Bulldogs on a 7-play, 48-yard scoring drive that included a 24-yard reception by Marcus Gaines at the one-yard line before Craft punched it in from there to knot the game, 14-14, with under two minutes to play in the first half.

The Bulldogs had an opportunity to go into the half with a three-point lead after an Arkansas punt and 31-yard rush by Craft set up Jonathan Barnes' 54-yard field goal attempt, but the kick sailed wide right to keep the game tied, 14-14, entering halftime.

Barnes was able to redeem himself early in the second half after capping off an 8-play, 38-yard drive by connecting on a 43-yard field to put the Bulldogs up, 17-14, with 11:15 remaining in the third quarter. Barnes helped the Bulldogs extend the lead to six in the third quarter thanks to a 20-yard field goal following a 9-play, 63-yard drive by J'mar Smith and the offense.

With 6:37 remaining in regulation, Arkansas put together a 13-play, 77-yard touchdown drive that ended with Austin Allen's four-yard pass to Jeremy Sprinkle to give the Razorbacks a 21-20 lead.

The Bulldogs return home to host South Carolina State at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10 at Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston.

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