OXFORD, Miss. — Arkansas flirted with disaster virtually all afternoon against Mississippi on Saturday.
The BCS No. 9 Razorbacks eluded the Rebels’ upset bid, but needed a career day by tailback Dennis Johnson, a spark by open-field ace Joe Adams, 310 second-half offensive yards and a late interception by Eric Bennett after Ole Miss recovered an onside kick to escape with a 29-24 victory.
“We were lucky to win,” said Arkansas defensive end Jake Bequette,who described the Razorbacks’ 17-0 second-quarter deficit as unacceptable.
“That’s about the 10th deep breath I’ve taken,” Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said, a few minutes after Bennett’s interception sealed the victory before a crowd of 57,951 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium that was about one-third Arkansas fans.
Arkansas (6-1, 2-1 SEC)won an SEC road game for the first time this season and stayed one loss behind the SEC West’s leaders, BCS No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama. Ole Miss (2-5, 0-4) lost a 10th consecutive SEC game for the first time.
“I thought our team showed a lot of heart, a lot of character, a lot of toughness,” said Petrino, who is 2-2 against Ole Miss Coach Houston Nutt.
“We had some really good effort and attitude out there against a team ranked 10th,” said Nutt, a former Arkansas player and coach who is facing increasing pressure in his fourth season. “We do not need to ever give up, never quit, and fight, no matter what people say.”
The Razorbacks were seemingly in control after Jerry Franklin brought down Ole Miss tailback Jeff Scott for a safety late in the third quarter, then the Hogs took the free kick and drove for a 23-yard Zach Hocker field goal for a 29-17 lead with 11:31 remaining.
“I thought after the safety and the field goal we were very capable of really blowing them out,” Bequette said. “We didn’t finish the right way. But we got the win, and that’s all that matters.”
Ole Miss quarterback Randall Mackey scrambled to convert two fourth-down plays late, then floated a 4-yard fade pass to Donte Moncrief for a touchdown with 1:23 left, and the Rebels’ Jamal Mosley recovered a onside kick from Andrew Ritter.
The Rebels went backward from there. Freshman defensive end Trey Flowers sacked Mackey for an 11-yard loss on first down, then Bennett read Mackey’s deep throw down the left sideline for an easy interception.
“I knew they were going to go deep and I just read the quarterback’s shoulders and made the play,” Bennett said.
Johnson rushed for a career-best 160 yards and turned a third-and-long draw play into a tackle-breaking 52-yard touchdown run with 5:11 left in the second quarter to break Ole Miss’ hold on the momentum and pull the Hogs within 17-7.
“It was supposed to block like that, and it did,” said Johnson, who ran into traffic just short of the 14 yards he needed for a first down, but powered through arm tackles and broke away for the final 30 yards. “Everybody blocked the way they were supposed to block.”
Ole Miss put last week’s 45-point blowout by Alabama behind it with a game plan of ball control on offense and two-deep zone on defense to help protect its vulnerable cornerbacks. The Rebels ruled the first half, out gaining Arkansas, the SEC’s total offense leader, 250-128, and owning a time-of-possession edge of 14:24 to lead 17-7 at the break.
“I think their game plan, to run the ball, to keep us off the field on offense and sit back and play zone and try not to give up big plays, I think it was a good plan,” Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick McGee said.
“It was frustrating, especially when your offense is explosive and you want to get in a rhythm,” said Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson, who was 7 of 15 for 72 yards at halftime. “We were trying to feel our way through it, didn’t have many possessions in the first half.”
But Ole Miss couldn’t keep the Hogs down.
Wilson passed to Chris Gragg for a 19-yard gain on a fourth-and-7 gamble from the Ole Miss 37 to set up Hocker’s 33-yard field goal on Arkansas’ opening drive of the second half.
Then Joe Adams went to work, his 37-yard catch on a deep route and his 67-yard, cross-the-field breakaway after a short reception setting up two 1-yard touchdown runs by Wilson to give Arkansas a 24-17 lead with 3:22 left in the third quarter.
“I’m not trying to get a first down,” said Adams, who had 124 yards on four catches. “I’m trying to score or get us close to the goal. I didn’t score today, but I put us in position to score twice.”
The Razorbacks piled up 251 yards in the third quarter while outscoring Ole Miss 19-0.
“I wish we had the third quarter back,” Nutt said. “We had them off balance the first half. They came out the second half and took that away.”
Sports, Pages 25 on 10/23/2011