By Harry King
OXFORD, Miss. — Clever editing of a promotion from Houston Nutt’s days at Arkansas was going to be the lead to the column.
That was prior to a balloon pass that produced an Ole Miss touchdown and an onside kick that was recovered by the Rebels. At that point, for the first time all day, I thought Ole Miss might win and squelch all that speculation about the 10-1 Razorbacks and what they had to do to get to a BCS bowl game or even the Southeastern Conference championship game.
Eric Bennett restored order with an interception and provided the go-ahead to quote the poster displayed by a young man long before kickoff. On display, “It’s Nuttin But Fun” was intertwined with Arkansas football. Added, in big letters, was “With coach Petrino.”
More innovative on offense than they have been all year, the Rebels had 17 plays of eight yards or more in the first half and opened a 17-0 lead. Most of the productive plays were sweeps with a motion man or short passes to open receivers and the consistent production enabled the Rebels to play keep away.
Ole Miss kept making first downs, Wilson kept throwing incomplete, and the Rebels had the ball more than 22 minutes in the first half. Only Dennis Johnson’s 52-yard run had Arkansas within 10 points. It is ironic that Johnson scored on third-and-14 on a draw play — the same call that Nutt caught flak over during his final years in Fayetteville.
On the visitors’ side, there was no panic. Such an attitude starts at the top with Petrino and filters down. He knew the Razorbacks were better and would prevail if they performed to their capabilities.
In the third quarter, Mississippi’s play-calling did not seem as aggressive. For sure, it was not as effective — in the third quarter, the Rebels had one play of more than six yards.
At 17-17, Arkansas got breaks on consecutive plays. First, Mississippi wide receiver Donte Moncrief, running free behind the secondary, couldn’t secure a deep throw. On the following punt, Joe Adams dropped the ball, but it bounced right back to him. Adams immediately redeemed himself, taking a short pass and making 67 yards on one of those across-the-field runs that are his specialty. The five-play drive ended with Wilson’s sneak.
Johnson’s lost fumble at the lip of the goal on the next possession and Wilson’s overthrow of an open Adams in the end zone resulted in a safety and a field goal and 29-17 instead of two touchdowns and 38-17.
Even at 29-17, Arkansas fans were back to their topic from three hours earlier. Randall Mackey’s 4-yard floater to Moncrief and the onside kick gave them pause. But, Trey Flowers sacked Mackey and the Rebels wasted precious seconds before Mackey threw long up the left sideline and Bennett interceded.
What a difference from two years ago when Razorback fans arrived in Oxford, hoping for a victory, an eight-win season, and a pretty good bowl game. Instead, Ole Miss won and a 7-5 Arkansas fell all the way to the Liberty Bowl.
On Saturday, Arkansas fans in Oxford were confident the Razorbacks would beat the Rebels and their next four opponents, and spent time discussing the procedure to break a three-way for the championship in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference.
Four weeks from now, that might be relevant.
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Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.
