Casey Dick scored on a 4-yard run with 1:49 remaining, and Arkansas avoided disaster in Bobby Petrino's first game as coach, rallying to beat Western Illinois 28-24 tonight.
The Razorbacks trailed 24-14 in the fourth quarter, but Dick found Greg Childs over the middle for a 26-yard touchdown, then led an 83-yard drive for the winning score. Arkansas faced fourth-and-10 at the Western Illinois 33, but rather than attempt a field goal with strong-legged Alex Tejada, Petrino decided to go for it.
Dick completed a pass to Carlton Salters, who just barely picked up the first down. The Razorbacks moved all the way to the 4, where Dick took a shotgun snap and ran left into the end zone.
Matt Barr threw incomplete on fourth down to end the Leathernecks' final drive.
Arkansas was playing its first game under Petrino, who was hired last December to replace Houston Nutt. The new era was off to a bad start before the game even began when the school announced running back Michael Smith's one-game suspension for improper use of scholarship textbooks.
