FAYETTEVILLE — Last year in Oxford, Miss., the Arkansas Razorbacks played Florida and Ole Miss.
Saturday in Fayetteville, the Razorbacks just played Ole Miss.
They buried the ghost of the controversially officiated Auburn gamethey lost Oct. 16 at Auburn, Ala., and focused on beating Ole Miss, 38-24, at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Last year in Oxford the ghost of the controversially officiated loss the previous week at Florida seemed tohaunt them. Ole Miss handled the Hogs, 30-17.
After Saturday’s success in Fayetteville, Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino noted the ghost-busting difference.
“The thing I am so proud of with our football team is we put last week behind us,” Petrino said.“That’s one thing I want them to make sure in life. When things don’t go your way, put it behind you and good things happen. I felt we did that all week long, which is taking a giant step from last year.”
The only other reference to the Auburn game heard after the Ole Miss game Saturday was a wryly indirect one from Petrino himself.
Petrino’s failed protest of a fourth-quarter penalty on Arkansas gave Ole Miss three third downs, voided a third-down sack of Ole Miss quarterback Jeremiah Masoli by Arkansas defensive ends Jake Bequette and Tenarius Wright and kept alive a Rebels scoring drive that cut what once was a 21-0 Arkansas lead to 24-17.
The voided sack occurred because not all the officials saw that Petrino was granted a requested timeout. Petrino requested a replay review that he believed would confirm Arkansas linebacker Jerico Nelson had touched a pass before Arkansas cornerback Isaac Madison was charged with pass interference that offset an Ole Miss chop block penalty.
“I knew I would look bad on that if they scored,” Petrino said. “The ball hit Jerico. I saw the play, and I really felt like he got the ball before the contact was made on the wide receiver. I don’t have a lot of luck on replays.
Petrino smiled wryly/mischievously.
“That’s all I can say,” he said.
It was a bizarre play befitting a bizarre day, Arkansas defensive end Jake Bequette said.
The game was delayed 58 minutes and the stadium stands were evacuated during the third quarter because of lightning. Lightningsightings during the fourth quarter delayed the game another 31 minutes and again evacuated the stands.
It seemed those lightning delays put a charge in both offenses and short-circuited the defenses. Both defenses opened effectively but eventually yielded a combined 976 yards.
Ole Miss amassed 512 yards. Arkansas totaled 464.
“I guess the coaches had some time to draw some stuff and they figured it out,” Bequette said, smiling. “It affected both sides. It was a bizarre game.”
Some also might have thought it bizarre that despite two delays that evicted fans from the stands (the first delay also included torrential rain), probably more than 30,000 of the original 73,619 fans stayed strong through the finish.
“The fans that stuck out it did a heck of a job,” Bequette said. “It was still loud in the fourth quarter. I don’t know if I would have stuck it out through two weather delays.”
Sports, Pages 16 on 10/25/2010