Joe Adams and the Bandit got Arkansas’ run game off on the right foot, and it looks like the No. 14 Razorbacks’ offense has a new wrinkle that could be used more often as the season goes on.

Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino says he's going to continue to find multiple ways to get the ball in Joe Adams' hands.

Adams, a senior wide receiver who a week earlier had two punt returns for touchdowns, had a couple of nice runs as a tailback in a package called Bandit during the Razorbacks’ 52-3 victory over New Mexico on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

He also lined up at receiver, finishing with five catches for 72 yards, and continued to return punts – although New Mexico avoided kicking to him all but once.

“We wanted to get him touches,” Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said. “Toss him the ball, throw him the ball quick. We know how special he is running with it. We’re going to have to continue to do that, continue to use him in as many ways as we can so he gets touches.”

Adams’ first run Saturday was an 18-yard gain to the Arkansas 45, taking the pitch from Tyler Wilson down the right sideline. Three plays later, the Hogs scored for a 7-0 lead.

On the next possession, Adams caught a quick pass from Wilson and turned it into what appeared to be a 75-yard touchdown, but senior wide receiver Greg Childs was called for holding, negating the score. Five plays after that, Adams got the call at tailback again, and he took the pitch and ran 15 yards down the right sideline.

Adams said he found out earlier in the week that he would see action at tailback and would probably be getting the ball on the first play of the game. “I knew I was going to try to get the crowd screaming and try to get some excitement going,” he said.

He didn’t practice with the running backs during group drills during the week, but the Hogs did work on the Bandit package a lot during the week, players said. They also ran that package some last year against Auburn and Mississippi State.

Arkansas’ run game wasn’t effective a week earlier in a 51-7 victory over Missouri State, producing 102 yards and averaging 3.1 yards per carry. With Adams seeing action at tailback, Petrino sent a message that the Razorbacks would try to find a way to run.

It turned out that they ran the ball well against New Mexico, finishing with 259 rushing yards, led by junior Ronnie Wingo’s 12 carries for 73 yards. Wingo averaged 6.1 yards per carry against New Mexico after averaging 3.9 (11 carries for 43 yards) in a start against Missouri State. He did lose one fumble at the end of an 18-yard run Saturday, but all in all, it was a better performance.

Petrino said he was “a little bit” more satisfied with the run game and that he felt like the Hogs’ rushing attack was “getting there.”

“I thought it was still a little hard at times when they were blitzing and trying to stop the run. But I was happy to see Ronnie Wingo break tackles and just about break a long one,” he said.

Wingo said he felt better about his performance than he did a week earlier.

“I’m taking it upon myself to get better each game. This is my first time in a couple of years being the guy, getting a lot of carries, taking a lot of beatings,” he said. “So I’m just taking it game by game. I want to be at my peak by the time we play Alabama.”

And even if he loses some carries to Adams as the season progresses, Wingo said he won’t mind.

“If he’s on my team, and if he can help me out, it’s fine by me,” Wingo said.

“Every time he gets the ball, everybody on the sideline’s eyes get big. Every time you think he’s going to get tackled, he makes somebody miss or breaks a tackle. He’s just a special player.”