That’s 7, ain’t heaven
Hogs near record of 8 losses
OXFORD, Miss. — Arkansas still had a chance, albeit a slight one, with less than a minute to play on Saturday.
But when Zach Hocker’s 58yard field-goal attempt drifted wide, eliminating Arkansas’ faint hope of recovering an onside kick and scoring a touchdown to tie the game, the Razorbacks’ result at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium wound up in the same column as its past 10 SEC games — a loss.
The Razorbacks (3-7, 0-6 SEC) lost their seventh consecutive game and their 10th in a row in league play dating to last season with a 34-24 setback against Ole Miss before a crowd of 60,856.
“Obviously getting very frustrated,” said Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema, whose Razorbacks were eliminated from postseason consideration.
Arkansas’ losing skid matches the longest in-season streak in school history, tied with the 1990 team.
“It’s crazy to think about that,” said Arkansas receiver Julian Horton, who had a 20yard touchdown catch with 4:57 remaining to pull the Razorbacks within 34-24.
Ole Miss (6-3, 3-3 SEC) won its second in a row in the series, fueled by a two-minute touchdown drive late in the first half and touchdown passes of 75 and 52 yards from Bo Wallace to Ja-Mes Logan and Donte Moncrief in the third quarter.
“We’re excited to be bowl eligible and get that out of the way,” Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze said. “I knew this would be a tough football game for us. … It’s a great sign for our program in Year 2 that we’re able to win an SEC football game when we may not play our best.”
Arkansas safety Eric Bennett’s interception on a fourth-down pass at his goal line with 2:05 remaining and the Razorbacks trailing by 10 points could have been a game-changer, as he returned the ball to the Ole Miss 23. But the officials called a block in the back on linebacker Brooks Ellis, forcing Arkansas to start at its 7.
“We’ve got the ball on the 20-yard line with a minute and whatever it was, 48 or 50 seconds, but again, a critical penalty with a block in the back,” Bielema said. “That’s momentum, that’s what it is.”
The Razorbacks worked the ball out to the Ole Miss 41 with less than a minute remaining, but Zach Hocker’s 58-yard field goal try went wide right and the Rebels killed out the clock.
Wallace passed for 407 yards and 3 touchdowns, helping Ole Miss amass 531 total yards to 389 for the Razorbacks. But Wallace threw two interceptions, helping Arkansas win the turnover battle 2-1 for its first victory in that department in conference
“Obviously just a couple of things here and there that are killing our drives.” — Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen
play.
The Rebels drove 60 yards late in the first half, triggered by Jeremy Sprinkle’s personal foul penalty on a kickoff in the end zone, to score on Wallace’s 14-yard pass to Laquon Treadwell with 45 seconds left for a 20-10 lead.
Alan Turner picked off a Wallace pass at the Ole Miss 46 on the third play of the second half and Arkansas came to life. Brandon Allen completed a pass to Javontee Herndon on third and 6 and Herndon carried defenders to the Ole Miss 1 for a 31-yard play. Kiero Small, wearing Robert Thomas’ honorary No. 98 jersey, slammed in on the next play to pull Arkansas within 20-17.
The Razorbacks’ defense, which gave up scores on four of five Ole Miss drives in the first half, got a stop. When Herndon returned Tyler Campbell’s punt 31 yards to the Arkansas 47, the Hogs were within sniffing distance of their first second-half lead in SEC play this season.
An 11-yard Alex Collins run to the Ole Miss 39 gave Arkansas momentum, but that’s where the series met its end. The Rebels foiled a halfback pass call on the next snap, throwing Jonathan Williams for a 9-yard loss and Arkansas was forced to punt.
Wallace made his big-play strikes within Ole Miss’ next nine plays to put the Rebels up 34-17 with 1:05 left in the third quarter and give Arkansas a steep climb.
“Those two pass plays absolutely, positively killed us,” Bielema said.
Logan’s double-move got him past Bennett for a key touchdown at the 4:11 mark of the third quarter. Moncrief eluded a Tevin Mitchel tackle try on a second-and-9 hitch at the right sideline, and Moncrief, who had seven receptions for 149 yards, broke free for a back-breaking score.
Arkansas was as balanced offensively as it has been all season, rushing for 196 and passing for 193. Allen, 18 of 32, completed more than 50 percent of his throws for the first time in SEC play.
“Definitely a lot of positive there for us offensively,” Allen said. “We did a few things better than we had been. Obviously just a couple of things here and there that are killing our drives.”
Williams rushed 14 times for 67 yards to lead Arkansas, while Collins added 57 yards on 10 runs and fellow freshman Korliss Marshall had 42 yards on three attempts before suffering a left shoulder injury.
Ole Miss scored on its first three possessions, but Arkansas got a goal-line stand and a ground-based drive to get back in contention in the second quarter.
The Rebels had first-andgoal at the Arkansas 2 after driving from their 5. Bennett and Ellis teamed up to stop Wallace at the 1 on first down. Trey Flowers and DeMarcus Hodge stuffed Jaylen Walton on second down, then Flowers and Rohan Gaines dropped Wallace for a 1-yard loss on third down to hold the Rebels to a 19-yard field goal by Andrew Ritter and a 13-3 lead.
Marshall ran 30 yards over the right edge on a toss play to ignite an Arkansas drive. Collins made 13 yards around left end, then Williams picked up 17 yards over the right side to put the Hogs in the red zone. After a penalty, Allen threw a strike to uncovered Hunter Henry for a 17-yard touchdown.
But breakdowns proved costly when it appeared the Hogs were ready to make a game of it. The Rebels’ D.T. Shackleford goaded the freshman Sprinkle into a personal-foul penalty on a dead ball after Zach Hocker’s touchback on the kickoff.
Wallace went 6 for 7 for 70 yards in the two-minute offense, pushing Ole Miss’ advantage to 20-10 on his 14-yard scoring strike to Treadwell.
“I think right before the end of the half to give up that touchdown after the penalty was enforced on the kickoff return ... just you know, so many things that can be easily corrected,” Bielema said.