What happened: The Huskies (3-1) lost to the Arkansas Razorbacks (3-1), 52-14, Saturday at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark.

How it happened: Arkansas’ Korliss Marshall returned the opening kickoff 97 yards, and the Huskies fell into a hole, 7-0, that they couldn’t climb out of. The Razorbacks were up 21-0 at the end of the first quarter as Darius Philon returned a fumble, forced by Trey Flowers, 14 yards for a touchdown and Jonathan Williams rushed into the end zone from 15 yards out.

The Huskies got on the board when Drew Hare found Aregeros Turner for an 11-yard touchdown on a screen pass with 3:29 to play in the first half. Arkansas added a touchdown on a 10-yard strike from Brandon Allen to Jared Cornelius with 0:49 left to take a 28-7 lead into the half.

After a combined three 3 & outs to open the second half, Allen rushed into the end zone untouched from 2 yards out to put Arkansas up 35-7 late in the third quarter.

Kicker John Henson hit a 21-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, but NIU cut the deficit to 38-14 as Hare found Joel Bouagnon for a 15-yard touchdown on a screen pass. After a failed onside kick attempt by NIU, Allen found a wide open Keon Hatcher in the end zone on the next play to put the Razorbacks up 45-14. The Razorbacks tacked on another score as Marshall rushed into the end zone from 27 yards out to close the scoring, 52-14.

What it means: The Huskies close non-conference play with a 3-1 record. Their streaks of 26 straight regular season wins, 17 consecutive wins in true road games and three straight wins against Power 5 teams all came to an end.

Three stars:

3. Arkansas defensive end Trey Flowers: nine total tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble

2. Arkansas running back Korliss Marshall: 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown; six rushes for 40 yards and one touchdown

1. Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen: 15-of-22 for 199 yards and two touchdowns; four rushes for one yard and one touchdown

Up next: The Huskies have an open date Saturday before beginning conference play against the Kent State Golden Flashes Oct. 4 at Huskie Stadium. It will be their first home game since they beat the Presbyterian Blue Hose, 55-3, Aug. 28 to open the season.