By Scott Faldon
Times Record • sfaldon@swtimes.com

OXFORD, Miss. — For the fourth consecutive game, the Arkansas defense struggled early. But for the third time in a row, the Razorback defenders regrouped as No. 10 Arkansas posted a 29-24 win over Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Against Alabama, Arkansas trailed 17-7 at the half as the Crimson Tide posted a 38-14 win.

Against Texas A&M, the Razorbacks trailed 35-17 after two quarters but the offense spurred Arkansas to a 42-38 win. Two weeks ago, Auburn led 14-7 after the first quarter but didn’t score again in a 38-14 Arkansas victory.

Saturday in Oxford, Arkansas was ineffective against the Rebels’ offense. Ole Miss posted 250 yards of offense in the first half. The Rebels ran for 128, while quarterback Randall Mackey threw for 122 on an efficient 10-of-12 passing. The Rebels were gaining an average of 6.41 yards per snap in the first half and led 17-0 midway through the second quarter before settling for a 17-7 lead at the break.

Mark Buffalo • Arkansas News Bureau

“They had those motions, and the thing about those motions is you better have it caged right away,” Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said. “The thing is, off that, they had the ability to bring it off that motion, and bring it back off that motion. We had to be really disciplined with our eyes and our fits, we didn’t do that in the first half.”

Arkansas defensive end Jake Bequette said the defense knew it had to play better.

“Yeah, very frustrated (at halftime),” Bequette said. “That’s the third or fourth week in a row we’ve started very poorly, We’ve got to address that. On defense, we just weren’t making enough plays. In the end, we made enough plays to win.”

In the second half, Arkansas shut down the Rebels.

Ole Miss gained just 120 total yards after intermission. The Rebels managed just 23 rushing yards and 97 passing yards. The average gain per play for Ole Miss dropped to 3.24 yards per play in the second half.

“I feel like we needed one score to get our confidence up and make us think we were going to win,” Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said. “The biggest thing was the changes they made on our motions; the wide plays.”

While the defense was stopping Ole Miss, the Arkansas offense scored 22 consecutive points for a 29-17 lead. The Rebels scored a late TD to cut the Arkansas lead to 29-24, then recovered an onside kick. But Eric Bennett intercepted a Mackey pass with 32 seconds left and sealed the win.

Robinson said the bye week for Arkansas might have played a role in the first-half problems against Ole Miss.

“I don’t think it’s anything other than the fact that I probably didn’t gameplan them (well in the first half),” Robinson said. “I put that on me, I don’t think it’s on (the players) at all. I wish I had a different way of looking at them. OK, two weeks, we probably had too much information.”

Robinson said his squad quickly figured out what Ole Miss was trying to do offensively and adjusted to it during halftime.

“We got a very good handle on what they were doing formation-wise and what their run tendencies were,” Robinson said. “I think the kids really responded to it. They really had a burning desire to get back into that game.”

Tramain Thomas led Arkansas with 11 tackles, seven solo. Isaac Madison and Jerico Nelson each had nine for the Razorbacks. Arkansas posted 10 tackles for losses — including a safety by Jerry Franklin — and three sacks. Jake Bequette, who finished with six tackles and one sack, was disappointed he couldn’t get to the Ole Miss quarterback more often.

“I had a really good one-on-one matchup with the left tackle and I was getting back there, but I wasn’t getting him down and that’s my fault,” Bequette said. “He’s a very talented, very quick quarterback. I don’t know how many sacks or almost-sacks I had, but it wasn’t enough.”

With a game at Vanderbilt on Saturday, Arkansas will try to end the trend of poor first-half defensive performances.

“I kind of need to flip the second half gameplan over to the first half, don’t I?” Robinson said. My gosh, I wish I could figure these kids out sometimes. … We’ve grown up the last three games in the second half. You’d like to see them grow up in the first half so we can play a little bit better. We’re not disappointed in what we did.

“We’re proud of the way they fought more than anything.”