The Arkansas football team successfully pulled off the upset against Mississippi State and become bowl-eligible for the first time since the 2016 season.
A trip to a bowl game is not the only thing Razorback fans should be celebrating.
Which Arkansas football player had a career-best game against the Bulldogs?
Dominique Johnson, the sophomore running back, is the player everyone is talking about after the huge upset over our SEC West rivals.
Johnson recorded highs in rushing yards, rushing attempts and total touchdowns this week.
The 6’1” 235 lb running back out of Crowley, Texas recorded a career-high 17 carries for the Hogs. His previous high was just six carries, something that Head Coach Sam Pittman was hellbent on rectifying this week which is one of the chief reasons he named him a starter prior to the game against Mississippi State.
“He needs more carries, that’s how it is,” Pittman said in the week leading up to the game according to Pig Trail Nation.
“If that’s starting him to get more carries then that’s what we’re going to do. He’s got to get more carries. He’s a guy that’s running over people, making people miss, and he needs to get more carries. Whatever that is, he needs a lot more carries. I thought we had that figured out, but we didn’t. I’m positive we’ve got it figured out,” Pittman said.
Dominique Johnson made Pittman and Offensive Coordinator Kendal Briles look like geniuses for scheming up ways to get him more carries. Good things had happened whenever Johnson touched the ball prior to this game. He was averaging 7.9 yards each time he touched the ball—no wonder Pittman wanted to get him more touches.
Johnson also notched a career-high 107 rushing yards this week, which is 16 yards more than his previous personal best (91 yards) against Arkansas Pine Bluff.
Finally, Johnson recorded two rushing touchdowns, which is the first time he’s ever done that in a game for the Hogs.
Prior to this week, he had only ever scored a single touchdown in a game, which he did four different times this season (Rice, Texas, Georgia Southern and Auburn).
If today was any indication, Dominique Johnson will be getting a lot more carries in the remaining games this season, no doubt about it.