Hogs fall short against Nutt's Rebels
Derek Oxford
Issue date: 10/27/08 Section: Sports
Houston Nutt's return to Reynolds Razorback Stadium was greeted with a chorus of boos from the Razorback faithful, and he was booed the same way three hours and 12 minutes later.
During that time span, a football game was played that took every last second of those three hours and 12 minutes.
It concluded with Casey Dick's final pass falling incomplete after the Razorbacks recovered an onside kick with 1:07 remaining.
With Ole Miss leading 20-7 for most of the fourth quarter, an Arkansas offense that was virtually stagnant for most of the second half sprung to life with eight minutes left in the game.
It started with Dick's eight-yard touchdown pass to Lucas Miller with 4:28 remaining, cutting the Rebel lead to 20-14.
Ole Miss drove the field and kicked a 28-yard field goal, but the Razorbacks answered with long passes to D.J. Williams and Michael Smith, and a touchdown to Greg Childs to bring Arkansas within two.
The Razorbacks were then awarded the ball after a successful onside kick that briefly underwent official review, and with under a minute remaining, Dick completed what would have been a 32-yard bomb to London Crawford at the Ole Miss 21.
But the officials didn't agree with Crawford's catch, ruling offensive pass interference on the completion. That put Arkansas back to its own 32-yard line with no timeouts.
"Unfortunately, one person saw the play differently than everyone else," Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said.
His brother and head coach Bobby Petrino didn't like the call either.
"I was watching him all the way," Petrino said. "I thought London [Crawford] did a great job of elevating and going up and catching the ball with two hands. That's all I can say about it.
"You know how this world is, and there's a thing called freedom of speech unless you're a football coach talking about officials."
His body language indicated to reporters he didn't agree with the call one bit, but he wasn't going to say anything to jeopardize himself and draw a fine.
During that time span, a football game was played that took every last second of those three hours and 12 minutes.
It concluded with Casey Dick's final pass falling incomplete after the Razorbacks recovered an onside kick with 1:07 remaining.
With Ole Miss leading 20-7 for most of the fourth quarter, an Arkansas offense that was virtually stagnant for most of the second half sprung to life with eight minutes left in the game.
It started with Dick's eight-yard touchdown pass to Lucas Miller with 4:28 remaining, cutting the Rebel lead to 20-14.
Ole Miss drove the field and kicked a 28-yard field goal, but the Razorbacks answered with long passes to D.J. Williams and Michael Smith, and a touchdown to Greg Childs to bring Arkansas within two.
The Razorbacks were then awarded the ball after a successful onside kick that briefly underwent official review, and with under a minute remaining, Dick completed what would have been a 32-yard bomb to London Crawford at the Ole Miss 21.
But the officials didn't agree with Crawford's catch, ruling offensive pass interference on the completion. That put Arkansas back to its own 32-yard line with no timeouts.
"Unfortunately, one person saw the play differently than everyone else," Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said.
His brother and head coach Bobby Petrino didn't like the call either.
"I was watching him all the way," Petrino said. "I thought London [Crawford] did a great job of elevating and going up and catching the ball with two hands. That's all I can say about it.
"You know how this world is, and there's a thing called freedom of speech unless you're a football coach talking about officials."
His body language indicated to reporters he didn't agree with the call one bit, but he wasn't going to say anything to jeopardize himself and draw a fine.
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