HOOVER, Ala. -- Arkansas' fourth-and-25 conversion during overtime in its 53-52 victory at No. 19 Mississippi last season was a common topic during the Razorbacks' appearance at SEC media days Wednesday.
Coach Bret Bielema and Arkansas players Brooks Ellis, Jeremy Sprinkle and Deatrich Wise all fielded questions about the play and the game.
Razorbacks at a glance
SCHEDULE
Sept. 3 Louisiana Tech 3 p.m. (SECN)
Sept. 10 at TCU 6 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
Sept. 17 Texas State 6:30 p.m. (SECN)
Sept 24 vs. Texas A&M * # TBA
Oct. 1 Alcorn State^ TBA
Oct. 8 Alabama * TBA
Oct. 15 Ole Miss * TBA
Oct. 22 at Auburn * TBA
Nov. 5 Florida* TBA
Nov. 12 LSU * TBA
Nov. 19 at Mississippi State * TBA
Nov. 25 at Missouri * 1:30 p.m. (CBS)
*SEC game #AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas ^War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock
LAST SEASON 8-5, 5-3 (third in SEC West)
COACH Bret Bielema (18-20 in fourth year at Arkansas; 86-44 in 11th year overall)
RETURNING STARTERS 16 (offense 5, defense 9, special teams 2)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS LB Brooks Ellis, DL Taiwan Johnson, LB Dre Greenlaw, WR Keon Hatcher, WR Drew Morgan, OL Frank Ragnow, WR Dominique Reed, OT Dan Skipper, TE Jeremy Sprinkle, RB Kody Walker, DE Deatrich Wise
SEC TITLE SCENARIO Arkansas must establish a running game with a mostly new combination at feature back and three new offensive line starters, and balance that with a respectable passing game with new starting quarterback Austin Allen. The defense is expected to be substantially better, and it might have to be to help support the restocked offense.
"That was like one of those movie-type things, where you picture a football-movie ending," Wise said.
On the play, tight end Hunter Henry caught a pass from Brandon Allen 11 yards short of the first down on the Ole Miss sideline, heaved a lateral about 21 yards to the middle of the field, which was tipped by 6-10 Dan Skipper and picked up on one bounce by running back Alex Collins, who skirted around left end to pick up the first down before his intentional backward fumble was recovered by Dominique Reed at the 11-yard line.
Arkansas scored on Drew Morgan's 9-yard touchdown catch two plays later, and Allen ran in the winning two-point conversion after the Rebels were flagged for a face mask penalty on Arkansas' first conversion try.
Sprinkle threw a key block after Collins scooped up the lateral.
"It was a crazy play. Just one of those plays that happen once in a lifetime," Sprinkle said.
"It's still a shock that it happened," Ellis said. "Just the chain of events to make that play happen to win that game was incredible and just unbelievable."
They're beauties
Bret Bielema said senior Deatrich Wise was "a beautiful 6-6 defensive end" during his talk at SEC media days, and Wise found it becoming.
"He said that?" Wise responded to a reporter. "That's an honor and a compliment from him. You see his wife [Jen], she's beautiful, so him calling me beautiful is a great thing."
Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops carried on the theme when he was asked about his buddy Bielema.
"He's a beauty," Stoops said. "I think he was in here entertaining you guys."
Headed out
Bret Bielema said receiver Eric Hawkins and defensive back Willie Sykes were looking into their transfer options.
Hawkins is a graduate transfer who wants to run track and field, Bielema said, and Sykes' departure "is a mutually agreed-upon issue, or issues. Nothing bad. He hasn't done anything."
Wise saying
Defensive end Deatrich Wise, asked by a reporter whether he could come close to matching his 13 career sacks this season, made a prediction.
"I told him 100 percent," Wise said. "I'm not retracting that statement in any sense, but that is my goal. I'd like to reach that and pass that. That's what that 100 percent meant."
Gigging Bret
Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops, joking around with Arkansas beat reporters outside the media suite at the Wynfrey Hyatt Hotel, said he was happy to be following Bret Bielema in the main ballroom so he could get in a couple of digs at his good friend without fear of immediate retribution.
"Don't get into a p***ing contest with a skunk, right," Stoops said.
Asked about Bielema at the dais, Stoops said, "You've got Bret, a big strong guy, and I've got to bust his chops about those tiny dogs. I've got more stories than that, but I better not tell them. We all know he'll come back."
Key dates
The Razorbacks will report for camp Aug. 3, and the first practice will be Aug. 4, Bret Bielema said.
Sexy Hogs
Bret Bielema found out about Michigan canceling its two-game series against Arkansas in 2018-19 while traveling on a train in Europe last week.
Bielema said his wife, Jen, read out a headline on the Internet that said a Big Ten team had canceled its series with an SEC team, to which he replied he didn't know anything about it.
"She said, 'Really? Your picture's right here,' " Bielema said, prompting laughter from the media.
"I'm sorry, the Michigan-Notre Dame thing sounds sexy to everybody else, but I think Michigan and Arkansas sounds sexy. I was very excited about Big Ten vs. SEC."
Sports on 07/14/2016