Instant replay

Vanderbilt kicker Carey Spear (right) and holder Richard Kent take a moment on the field after Spear missed on a 27-yard field goal attempt that would have tied Saturday’s game against Arkansas with 8 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Vanderbilt kicker Carey Spear (right) and holder Richard Kent take a moment on the field after Spear missed on a 27-yard field goal attempt that would have tied Saturday’s game against Arkansas with 8 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

— Vandy repeats FG miss

The field-goal attempt by Vanderbilt was longer this time, but it had the same happy ending for the Razorbacks.

Arkansas held on to beat Vanderbilt 31-28 on Saturday after Carey Spear missed a 27-yard field-goal attempt wide right with eight seconds left that would have sent the game into overtime barring a touchdown kickoff return by the Razorbacks.

The Razorbacks also won their previous visit to Vanderbilt, 21-19 in 2006, when Commodores kicker Bryant Hahnfeldt missed a 48-yard attempt with 55 seconds left in that game.

Arkansas sophomore Zach Hocker, whose 42-yard field goal with 6:53 left put the Razorbacks ahead 31-28, said he felt empathy for Spear.

Hocker recalled missing a 39-yard field goal attempt at Mississippi State last year that would have given Arkansas a victory in the first overtime. The Razorbacks wound up winning 38-31 in double overtime.

Spear came into the game 4 of 6 on field goal attempts with a long of 37 yards.

“I know exactly how he feels,” Hocker said. “It will be rough for him for a little bit, but he’ll bounce back. He’ll be OK.”

Hocker was 3 for 3 on field-goal attempts Saturday, including a 50-yarder that pulled Arkansas within 28-20.

MIA

Arkansas senior receiver Greg Childs and freshman offensive lineman Mitch Smothers didn’t travel with the team because of injuries.

Team officials said Childs “tweaked a knee” during practice this week. Smothers had an undisclosed injury.

Childs complimented his teammates for hanging in for the victory, posting on Twitter “[Shout out] to my team for holding it down.” Wade ejected

Arkansas freshman Marquel Wade was called for a flagrant personal foul and ejected with 9:32 left in the third quarter after leveling Vanderbilt punt returner Jonathan Krause before Krause was able to field the ball.

After lowering his shoulder to crash into Krause, Wade then celebrated by jumping around on the field as Krause continued to lay on the field before trainers arrived to attend to him.

The ejection was for what officials considered a flagrant hit, not Wade’s celebration.

“The ball wasn’t even close to the returner,” Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said. “We have to be able to look up and recognize where the ball is and get away from him.”

Vanderbilt Coach James Franklin said the play was handled properly by officials.

“Those things happen,” Franklin said. “Let’s not make this more than what it is.

Ball security issues

When Arkansas running back Dennis Johnson lost a fumble just short of the Ole Miss end zone last week, Coach Bobby Petrino had him back on the field the next series, and Johnson had some more big runs and finished with a career-high 160 rushing yards in the Razorbacks’ 29-24 victory.

But when Johnson lost another fumble at the Vanderbilt 24 in the third quarter with Arkansas driving for a go-ahead touchdown, he didn’t get another carry the rest of the game as Ronnie Wingo took the remaining snaps at tailback.

“I really felt like Ronnie was running the ball well and was the faster back,” Petrino said. “I didn’t feel Dennis was like the same person he was last week after that one hit. Then the ball came out and we decided to go with Ronnie.

“We were going to go with him anyway the next series.

It was ‘Let’s see how Dennis does and then get Ronnie cranked up and ready to go.’ ”

Rough kickoffs

Arkansas drew personal foul penalties on kickoffs to open both the game and the third quarter.

Defensive back Jerry Mitchell was called for a personal foul while blocking for Dennis Johnson on Arkansas’ return to open the game, then kicker Zach Hocker was penalized for a late hit on Vanderbilt’s Andre Hal.

“I was just focusing on his eyes,” Hocker said. “I thought he was breaking around the corner. I had no idea he was out of bounds. It was stupid on my part.”

Bears & Packers

With Green Bay and Chicago both having an open date this weekend, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Bears quarterback Jay Cutler attended Saturday’s game.

Both were rooting for Vanderbilt, too.

Cutler played for the Commodores - leading them a victory at Arkansas in 2005 as a senior - while Rodgers’ younger brother, Jordan, is Vanderbilt’s starting quarterback.

While Aaron Rodgers and Cutler play in arguably the NFL’s fiercest rivalry, they were seen chatting before the game.

Morning sickness

In the three Arkansas games this season kicking off before noon, the Razorbacks were outscored a combined 73-38 in the first half. They trailed Texas A&M 35-17, Ole Miss 17-7 and Vanderbilt 21-14.

For starters

Junior outside linebacker Ross Rasner made his first career start, in place of senior captain Jerico Nelson, who was in for the second defensive snap and played much of the game.

Freshman cornerback Tevin Mitchell made his second start of the season in place of junior Darius Winston. Mitchel also started against Auburn. Freshman defensive end Trey Flowers made his second consecutive start.

Sports, Pages 36 on 10/30/2011

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