LIKE IT IS: Petrino lulls Rebels with run, then strikes

— For much of the second half Saturday, Bobby Petrino’s play-calling appeared conservative.

One might have thought he had found an old Arkansas playbook from a previous head coach.

Keep in mind, though, receivers Joe Adams and Greg Childs were on the sideline injured.

Quarterback Ryan Mallett was out, too. He fell on his shoulder and struggled with his fastball after that.

Also remember that sophomore running back Knile Davis was a stud and Petrino’s mantra is feed the stud. Davis, who eclipsed his career high for the third consecutive week, had 176 yards on 22 carries and 3 touchdowns against OleMiss, including the final two touchdowns that set the final score at 38-24.

Davis came into Saturday averaging 49 yards per game, but the Rebels had no answer for him as he bulled for tough yards and sped away when necessary.

So it was no surprise that late in the fourth quarter, on third-and-8 from the Razorbacks’ 6, the Rebels’ defense was looking for the guy who had carried on five of the previous six plays.

Only Petrino called a pass: a deep sideline pattern in fact. Quarterback Tyler Wilson, who threw only five passes (and completed three) heaved it, and Cobi Hamilton made an over-the-shoulder catch with one foot inbounds to keep the drive alive and put the Rebels on a long road home.

Then, and only then, could the crowd that had started out 73,619 strong but was reduced to about 15,000 breathe a sigh of relief.

For the longest it appeared the game might set up for Ole Miss, which tried to pound the ball but finally realized it would need to air it out if it wanted a shot to win the game. And that is what Jeremiah Masoli did, completing 21 of 36 passes for 327 yards and 3 touchdowns, including 2 in the final quarter.

That was when a slow, almost dull, game became wild and crazy.

Arkansas led 24-10 less than two minutes into the fourth quarter and had Ole Miss stopped. Jake Bequette and Tenarius Wright had sacked Masoli for an 8-yard loss making it fourth-and-14 from the Rebels’ 41.

Oh, wait.

Petrino had decided he wanted a review of the previous play when there were off-setting penalties on a third-down incompletion. He felt Jerico Nelson had touched the ball before Isaac Madison was called for interference.

Why he would trust the review official is curious, but it went to the booth and came back that Nelson touched the ball after Madison interfered.So the Rebels were back at third-and-6 and they got the first down after a 5-yard pass and 2-yard run.

Three plays later, Masoli passed 43 yards to Markeith Summers, who was wide open for a touchdown, and the deficit was 24-17. But 38 seconds later, Davis was in the end zone after a 71-yard run. It started with Davis going up the gut, where he broke a tackle, cut to the left and hit another gear at the 50 to make it 31-17 with 11:11 to play.

It appeared all was well in Hog Heaven, until Masoli drove the Rebels 74 yards, capped by a 22-yard touchdown pass to Summers to make it 31-24 with 9:04 to play and both teams about to head to the dressing room for a second lightning delay.

At that point, themomentum seemed to belong to Ole Miss.

The teams came back 31 minutes later, cool-handed Wilson completed a 26-yard pass to Jarius Wright on a 60-yard drive and Davis did the rest, including a 22-yard run for his final score.

Ole Miss drove down the field and had third-and-goal from the 1 when Brandon Bolden fumbled the snap as the Wild Rebel quarterback and Wright recovered. Then when Ole Miss looked for Arkansas to run, Petrino called for a pass, and the two-game losing streak to the Rebels was over.

Sports, Pages 27 on 10/24/2010

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