The Razorbacks overcame a 14-point deficit before halftime and defeated Alabama-Birmingham 37-27 in front of an announced crowd of 75,021 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. The attendance was based on tickets sold, but swaths of the stadium were empty by the time the home team held on to beat the 24 1/2-point underdogs from the American Athletic Conference.

Arkansas improved to 2-1 and faces plenty of questions going into next week’s SEC opener at Auburn. For as prepared as the Razorbacks looked last week in a 39-31 double-overtime loss at No. 13 Oklahoma State, they looked unprepared early for the Blazers (1-2), a 26-point loser the week before at Louisiana-Monroe.

UAB led 17-3 early in the second quarter and held a 146-36 advantage in total offense.

Momentum began to turn in the second quarter when the Razorbacks scored on every offensive possession. Braylen Russell’s 2-yard touchdown run cut the lead to 17-10 and Arkansas tied the game 17-17 following Taylen Green’s 14-yard quarterback keeper with 4:48 to play before halftime.

UAB regained the lead, 20-17, on Jonah Delange’s 23-yard field goal with 1:53 left in the second quarter. Arkansas’ Kyle Ramsey answered with a 51-yard field goal with 1:03 left in the half to send the game to the locker room tied at 20-20.

The Razorbacks took the lead for good with an 11-play, 84-yard drive to open the second half. Ja’Quinden Jackson’s 16-yard touchdown run with 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter gave Arkansas its first lead.

Much like the week before, the Razorbacks moved the ball well but had trouble capitalizing with touchdowns. Ramsey missed a 45-yard field goal attempt wide right late in the third quarter, and Arkansas had to settle for a 40-yard field goal by Ramsey early in the fourth to go ahead 30-20.

Ramsey finished 3 of 4 on his field goal attempts after he made 1 of 3 at Oklahoma State.

UAB converted a fourth down as part of a 12-play, 83-yard touchdown drive that answered Ramsey’s third make. Jacob Zeno’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Payne cut Arkansas’ lead to 30-27 with 6:55 remaining.

The Razorbacks iced the game with a 7-play, 75-yard march that ended with a 9-yard touchdown run by Green on third-and-goal. Green also had runs of 11 and 13 yards, and a 16-yard completion to Andrew Armstrong on the drive, but he dropped a snap on second-and-goal that resulted in a 5-yard loss.

The game was a mixed bag for Green. He ran the ball well and finished with 109 yards on 14 carries when adjusted for sacks, but he only completed 11 of 26 passes for 161 yards and did not throw a touchdown pass. He missed open receivers in the end zone on drives in the second and third quarters, and his second pass of the game resulted in an interception that Michael Moore returned 40 yards to set up UAB’s first touchdown.

Moore returned the interception to the Arkansas 15. Kam Shanks scored on a 15-yard push pass from Zeno two plays later. That gave the Blazers a 10-0 lead.

Ramsey’s first field goal, from 28 yards, cut the UAB lead to 10-3 with 4 minutes left in the first quarter, but Zeno found Amare Thomas for a 34-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing drive to increase the lead to 17-3 on the first play of the second quarter.

Zeno, who transferred from Baylor before last season, completed 23 of 32 passes for 235 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. TJ Metcalf intercepted Zeno’s final pass attempt with just more than a minute remaining in the game.

Arkansas found its footing behind Green and Jackson in the running game. Jackson finished with 147 yards on 15 attempts for an average of 9.8 yards per carry.

The Razorbacks had 38 rushing attempts for 266 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Armstrong led Arkansas’ receivers with 8 catches for 137 yards. Isaiah Sategna (2 catches for 16 yards) and Jackson (1 for 8) had the team’s only other receptions.

Arkansas out-gained UAB 427-354, including 235-142 after halftime. The Razorbacks entered the game averaging 667.5 yards per game on offense.

Both teams struggled with penalties. UAB was flagged 10 times for 109 yards, and Arkansas had 6 penalties for 65 yards.