'We stopped them on 1 play in the second half': Ole Miss wins high-scoring thriller over Arkansas

Oct. 9—OXFORD — In a game where Ole Miss and Arkansas combined for 1,287 yards of offense, it was naturally a defensive play that made the difference for the No. 17 Rebels in what could very well go down as the game of the year in the SEC.

Trailing 52-45, the Razorbacks had 1 second on the clock. They used it wisely as quarterback K.J. Jefferson threw a touchdown to receiver Warren Thompson.

Arkansas then rolled the dice and went for two and the win, and Jefferson's pass to superstar Treylon Burks in the corner of the end zone sailed incomplete as the No. 17 Rebels won a 52-51 thriller over No. 13 Arkansas in front of 60,000 rowdy, anxious fans at Ole Miss homecoming. Five of the last seven matchups between the Rebels and Razorbacks have been decided by four points or less.

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It was Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin's second win over a ranked team as the Rebels' head coach.

The teams combined for 61 first downs in a game where, for large portions of it, defense was entirely optional. Jefferson finished with 411 total yards and six total touchdowns.

But the Rebels came through when it mattered most.

"Great outcome that we won, but I also tell it like it is, like you guys know, good, bad and indifferent. There is a process that you want to play well, and we did not, obviously, in certain areas," Kiffin said. "They went for two, and we stopped them on that. So, we stopped them on one play in the second half. So, that's a good thing at the right time. But we have a lot of work to do."

Redshirt junior quarterback Matt Corral was stellar, accounting for 381 total yards and four total touchdowns. He threw a 68-yard go-ahead score to senior wide receiver Braylon Sanders with 1:07 left in regulation, which contributed to the late-game theatrics.

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There were 41 points scored in the fourth quarter.

Not even Corral could stomach watching the final play of the game.

"I didn't watch it," Corral said with a smile. "I had my face in Coach Smith's chest. I did not watch that."

Ole Miss (4-1, 1-1 SEC) ran for 324 yards and five touchdowns in the game, three of which came from junior running back Snoop Conner, who rushed for 110 yards. He scored all three of his touchdowns in the second half, including a 51-yard burst and another from 34 yards out. Sophomore Henry Parrish Jr. had a career-high 111 yards on the ground in a game where the Rebels were without the services of starting guard Caleb Warren and running back Jerrion Ealy.

Ole Miss had eight rushes of at least 10 yards.

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Success in the run game wasn't a huge surprise for Corral, who said he expected running lanes to be there against Arkansas' drop-eight defense. That same defense forced Corral into six interceptions in the matchup a season ago.

But on Saturday, Corral remained composed and took what the defense gave him, taking off on several key scrambles en route to 94 rushing yards. And when the big shots down the field were there, Corral made the Razorbacks pay.

"I didn't expect to honestly have any passing touchdowns," Corral said. "We put those (quarterback runs) in all week for this game.

"(The running game) is why we got those shots up. It's exactly why we go those shots up. Their safeties stayed tight, they were jumping everything because we were running, running, running."

Arkansas (4-2, 1-2) did to Ole Miss what it's done all season to its opponents — ran the ball right down the teeth of the defense. The Razorbacks totaled 350 yards on the ground, including 139 from freshman Raheim Sanders and another 85 from Jefferson.

The Rebels led by as many as 10 points early on but were counterpunched by the Razorbacks all afternoon, particularly in the second half of the game, leading to a 31-all tie after three quarters.

The fourth quarter saw Ole Miss retake the lead on three separate occasions, just to have the Razorbacks answer, tying up the game at 38 and 45 and coming up just short of taking the lead at the end.

Ole Miss took the lead for good 15 seconds after Arkansas tied the game, when Corral found Sanders uncovered following a stutter-and-go down the home sideline. The play caused Kiffin to throw his clipboard in celebration. Ole Miss scored 21 points in both the second and fourth quarters.

As was the case all game, however, Arkansas responded, driving 75 yards in nine plays, ultimately resulting in Jefferson's scoring toss to Thompson.

"We have to make plays in those situations against a younger quarterback like that," Kiffin said. "It was almost like everything just kept happening. We get a tackle, we get a horse collar. ... I'm usually a positive guy, but it was like, 'What else could go wrong?"

It then came down to one final play, a two-point try that seemed likely to be successful given how the Ole Miss defense had played to that point.

But the Rebels had one final trick up their sleeve.

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Senior defensive tackle Tavius Robinson and senior end Sam Williams pressured Jefferson into throwing an off-balance ball toward the back right pylon that sailed out the back of the end zone.

A flag was thrown on the play, though it was on the offense. And the celebration was officially underway.

"We had practiced that before. We practice two-minute. I think we would love to have executed that a bit better. We've also practiced a lot of two-point plays," senior linebacker Chance Campbell said. "We (practice) critical downs like that. And that was as critical as it gets."

Corral finished 14 of 21 passing for 287 yards and two touchdowns to go along with his 94 rushing yards and pair of scores. He leads the team with eight rushing touchdowns and had three passing plays of at least 59 yards.

"Our theme was 'Put everything you have into each play.' And he did that. He led by example," Kiffin said. "Because the guy put everything into every time he had the ball in his hands."