FORT WORTH, Texas -- For all of three quarters and five minutes of the final one, it looked like it was going to be a Hog Wild night in the Lone Star State.
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Then the purple nightmare erupted and TCU scored three unanswered touchdowns to take a 28-20 lead.
Only for Arkansas' Austin Allen to lead the Razorbacks on a 58-yard touchdown drive that saw him catch a two-point conversion pass from Keon Hatcher after Drew Morgan pitched to him.
It still took the Hogs blocking a 28-yard field goal, but they did and ended up in overtime.
Arkansas scored first, TCU tied it.
Arkansas opted to go on defense and forced the Frogs to settle for a field goal in the second overtime.
Then, Allen kept on third and goal from the 5, was almost stopped at the 1 but every Razorback on the field seemed to converge and at just after 10 p.m. Saturday the Hogs had overcome a horrible fourth quarter to beat No. 15 TCU 41-38 in double overtime.
After winning the scoreboard for three quarters, and a good portion of the final quarter, it looked like the Hogs had left Fort Worth too early.
A 22-yard field goal attempt that would have given Arkansas a 23-7 lead started with a bad snap and ended when the ball hit the goal posts, and Amon G. Carter Stadium erupted like TCU had won the bonus round on Wheel of Fortune.
TCU quarterback Kenny Hill passed 57 yards to the Arkansas 5 and the 20-7 score was looking anything but big enough. When Hill trotted into the end zone to end an 80-yard drive that took 1:48, the Frogs Nation was sure it had seen this result before.
It was wrong.
TCU's high-scoring offense finally ran out of gas in the second overtime, and all that speed was tripped and stripped by the bulk of the Razorbacks.
Arkansas' offense had been good but not great, but its defense had a fumble recovery and Brooks Ellis yanked an interception and returned it for a touchdown to help build that 20-7 lead.
There was still 4:27 to play in the third quarter when the offense completed a 63-yard drive to go ahead by 13, and there was no way anyone could have predicted one team would be so dominant in the final quarter of a game that had been so competitive until then.
Allen was 3-3 for 62 yards in the drive and the Hogs seemed to gain all the emotion when true freshman defensive lineman McTelvin Agim body slammed Hill for an 8-yard loss on TCU's ensuing possession.
Getting the Frogs off the field on third down had been a problem all night, but that one looked to come at the right time.
Looks can be deceiving.
TCU got hit with its sixth penalty on the punt, and the Hogs started at the Frogs 49. And Arkansas was looking better than ever when Rawleigh Williams got a 22-yard run on third and 5 to give the Razorbacks first and goal from the 2.
Only a bad snap and missed field goal took all the momentum, at least for most of the fourth quarter, and swung it until it was purple and white and ready to fight.
TCU pulled to within 20-14 after the missed field goal, and the Hogs went three and out when Allen got hit on third down and the pass was incomplete.
The Frogs got a 34-yard punt return to midfield. From there, it took the Frogs 32 seconds to run two plays -- the key one being a 43-yard pass completion from Hill -- and take a 21-20 lead.
Then it was 28-20 and the game seemed over. Instead, it was overtime and the Arkansas Razorbacks found a way to win.
Sports on 09/11/2016