LITTLE ROCK - No. 12 Arkansas won a thrilling 31-23 game over No. 5 LSU late Saturday afternoon thanks to gutsy play-calling on offense and a defense that refused to give up touchdowns in the face of bad field position the entire second half.[details]
2010 (Senior): Tejada handled kicking duties for the White team in the Red-White Spring Game where he made a 38-yard field goal and was two of three on PATs. In the spring game and the three spring scrimmages combined, he was 18-19 on PATs and five of eight on field goals. He made field goals of 28, 26, 30, and 39 yards in the April 16 scrimmage.
2009 (Sophomore): Tejada handled most of the kicking duties for the Razorbacks in 2008. He was 20-of-21 on extra points and 4-of-9 on field goals. He also had 29 kickoffs for 1,750 yards and averaged 60.3 yards per kick. He was a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals in the 30-23 win over No. 19 Tulsa. During the game, he hit a season-long 30-yard kick. He was also 1-for-1 on field goals and provided the winning extra point in Arkansas’ 31-30 win over LSU. He is the Razorback’s active leader in career points (141). Tejada is currently 10th in school history in career field goals made (21) and ninth in extra points (78).
2009 (Junior): He ranked tied for 40th in the nation in field goals (1.23) and tied for 29th in scoring (8.15). He was seventh in the SEC in field goals and third in scoring. He hit 16-of-22 field goals he attempted as well as 58-of-59 extra point tries. Tejada set Arkansas' school record for career PATs against Mississippi State and currently has 136. His total ranked as the 10th highest in SEC history. He also owns the Razorback record for PAT attempts in a career (140) and tied the record for PATs made in a season (58). His 58 PAT kicks made in 2009 are tied for the ninth-highest single-season total in SEC history. He was perfect in PATs and field goals in games against Missouri State, No. 23 Georgia, No. 3 Alabama, No. 17 Auburn, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Troy. He was perfect on two field goals and six extra-point attempts against Missouri State, totaling 12 points. He hit field goals of 24 and 20 yards. Tejada accounted for five point after kicks and two field goals against No. 23 Georgia for 11 points. He hit two field goals of 23 yards. He made a then-season long 38-yard field goal against Texas A&M, one of two field goals made, and hit five of six extra-points for 11 points. He hit a then-season long 44-yard field goal against Ole Miss, it was his first 40-plus yard field goal since Nov. 22, 2007, at No. 22 Tennessee. It was the second longest field goal of his career (47 yards vs. Tennessee-Chattanooga, 2007; LSU, 2009). Tejada matched a career high with nine PATs against Eastern Michigan. He did miss a field goal in the game, but it was a 50-yard attempt that sailed just wide. Against No. 17 LSU, he made field goals of 47, 40 and 35 yards. He missed a 36-yarder in overtime. Tejada hit two of three field goal attempts in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl against East Carolina. The second came from 37 yards in overtime and gave the Razorbacks their first bowl victory since 2003.
2007 (Freshman): He earned the place-kicking job in his true freshman season and was outstanding. He was 17-of-23 (.739) on field goals and 58-of-60 on extra points with a long of 47 yards. He was 13-of-15 on field goals from 39 yards and closer. He was fourth in the SEC and No. 40 in the nation in scoring (8.4 ppg), and third in the SEC in kick scoring. He was also fifth in the league and 43rd nationally with 1.31 field goals per game. He led the team in scoring with 109 points, which is a school record for a kicker and the second-best season total overall to Bill Burnett’s 120 points in 1969. His extra point attempts and conversions were both school season records. His field goal percentage was ninth-best in school history, and his field goal attempts and conversions both sixth-best. His 17 field goals made were the most for a Razorback since Todd Latourette made 17-of-24 in 1998. The last Hog to make more than 17 is Todd Wright, who made 20-of-23 in 1989. He was an honorable mention freshman All-American by The Sporting News and first-team freshman All-SEC by the league’s coaches. He earned second-team All-SEC honors from Rivals and third-team from Phil Steele College Football. – Tejada made his Razorback debut a memorable one. Connecting on four field goals and four-of-five PATs, he was nearly perfect. Tejada opened up the Razorbacks’ scoring with a made field goal early in the first quarter. He went on to make three more, including a 35-yarder. With four successful attempts, Tejada became the first Arkansas kicker with four field goals in a game since Chris Balseiro’s performance in the 2003 Independence Bowl. Tejada’s only miss of the night came when an extra-point attempt hit off the upright. Against Alabama, Tejada connected on his only field goal attempt. He also went five-for-five on PATs against the Tide. In the Kentucky game, Tejada added two made field goals to his resume and connected on three PATs. He connected on nine PATS, a perfect mark, in the North Texas game. His first miss of the night was on a 44-yard field goal attempt. Tejada tied the school record for PATs made and attempted in a game against UNT. Jeremy Davis (SE Missouri State, 2005), Chris Balseiro (New Mexico State, 2004), Kendall Trainor (Pacific, 1988) and Elvin Geiser (Hendrix, 1933) have all hit nine PATs in a single game. In the Chattanooga game, Tejada went two-for-two on field goals and four-of-four on PATs. Tejada’s 47-yard field goal was a career long and the longest for any Razorback since David Carlton hit from 47 against Tennessee on Oct. 5, 2002. The last field goal longer than Tejada’s 47-yarder was Matt Swartz’s 49-yarder against Southwest Missouri State on Sept. 2, 2000. With limited action against Auburn, Tejada missed a 41-yard field goal (wide right) half way through the second quarter. Late in the fourth quarter he made a PAT after Arkansas scored its only TD of the game. Against Ole Miss, Tejada was five-of-six on PATs, missing after an Andrew Davie TD half way through the fourth quarter. He was also one-for-two on field goals, missing a 42-yarder early in the third and making a 32-yarder early in the fourth. Back to perfect against FIU, Tejada was three-of-three on field goals (32, 43, 20) and seven-of-seven on PATs, scoring 16 of Arkansas’ 58 points. Tejada was good for six made PATs against South Carolina. He attempted one field goal, a 50-yarder and missed it (wide left). He converted on both of his field goal attempts and one PAT, tallying seven points, at No. 22 Tennessee. He nailed field goals of 31 and 42 yards against the Volunteers. Against Mississippi State, he turned in a perfect outing, making six-of-six PATs and his only field goal attempt at 39 yards. Against No. 1 LSU, Tejada was once again on point, going six-of-six on PATs. He did not attempt a field goal. Against Missouri in the Cotton Bowl, he made his only PAT attempt, but missed a pair of field goals from 35 and 37 yards. An honorable mention freshman All-American and a second-team All-SEC selection, he led the team in scoring with 109 points, which is a school record for a kicker. He was fourth in the SEC and No. 40 in the nation in scoring (8.4 ppg), and third in the SEC in kick scoring. He was also fifth in the league and 43rd nationally with 1.31 field goals per game.
Personal: Born Feb. 2, 1989, he is the son of Samuel and Milagro Tejada. He is majoring in kinesiology. He was named to the Lon Farrell Academic Honor Roll for Spring 2008.
High School: He capped a brilliant high school career as the state record holder with 174 converted PATs at Springdale High. He was a three-year starter on teams going a combined 32-5. He landed 80 percent of his career kickoffs in the end zone. As a senior, he was a member of the AP Arkansas Super Team and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas team at placekicker for Coach Kevin Johnson. The Morning News All-Area selection made seven-of-17 field goals, including a school-record 55-yarder. Seven of his 10 misses came from 47 yards or beyond, including six from 56 yards or more. He set a school record by converting eight extra points in a game. He was 174-of-184 on PAT attempts for his career. As a junior, he was 84-of-89 on PATs and two-of-three on field goals, including a 55-yarder. He was seven-of-14 on field goals with a long of 47 yards as a sophomore. He was perfect on 66 PATs and landed 75 percent of his kickoffs in the end zone. He also played soccer. He suffered dislocations to his left kneecap while playing soccer as a sophomore and a junior. He began playing football and place-kicking in the ninth grade. Hawgs Illustrated rated him the No. 10 prospect in Arkansas. Rivals ranked him the No. 20 kicker in the nation and the No. 20 prospect in the state. HawgSports.com listed him at No. 10 on its Natural 21 list. He chose Arkansas over LSU, Ole Miss, Nebraska and Vanderbilt.