Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Ole Miss 30, Arkansas 27

OFFENSE – C
HIGHLIGHTS: Dennis Johnson was a beast. He ran for a career-high 161 yards, including 51 on the Razorbacks’ final possession to help tie the game at 27. Cobi Hamilton came up with another big game in Little Rock, catching 12 passes for 146 yards. The Razorbacks put up 464 yards of total offense. Alex Voelzke had his first career touchdown reception.

LOWLIGHTS: Arkansas left a lot of points on the field thanks to turnovers, penalties, questionable play calling and bad execution. Hamilton didn’t get much help from the rest of the wide receiving corps, though that might have had to do with Tyler Wilson having an off day. He finished with 297 yards, completing 55 percent of his passes with two interceptions. Running back Knile Davis and tight Chris Gragg both left the game early with injuries, limiting the offense’s options. Receiver Brandon Mitchell was held out for violating “team rules.”

DEFENSE – C
HIGHLIGHTS: Ole Miss kicked field goals on three drives. Those possessions would have likely resulted in touchdowns a few weeks ago against this defense. Ross Rasner and A.J. Turner were both active, finishing with 10 tackles each. Rasner had a sack, two tackles for loss, an interception and a pass breakup against the Rebels. End Chris Smith and tackle Byran Jones each had a sack and a quarterback hurry. Arkansas did limit Jeff Scott to 50 yards and the Rebels had just 77 rushing yards.

LOWLIGHTS: Arkansas was no match for Ole Miss’ two-minute offense in the final 2:09 of the game. Rebels’ quarterback Bo Wallace was responsible for 60 yards on the 61-yard drive to set up a game-winning field goal, including a 13-yard scramble on which the Razorbacks failed to contain him. Of six Ole Miss players that caught a pass, five of them had a gain of at least 14 yards as the Arkansas secondary struggled.

SPECIAL TEAMS — D
HIGHLIGHTS: Zach Hocker hit from 22 and 41 yards and seems to be back on track after a few shaky weeks. He booted four of six kickoffs for touchbacks.

LOWLIGHTS: Ole Miss blocked a punt and turned it into a touchdown a few plays later. It got a 37-yard kick return against the Razorbacks. Arkansas got next to nothing out of its return game, as two kick returns and two punt returns yielded 10 yards.

OVERALL — C-minus
WHAT WE LEARNED: So it was Kentucky and Auburn after all. Arkansas had put together a pair of impressive victories and seemed to have the season headed in the right direction against the teams, but it might have been the opponents more than the Razorbacks. Now the team needs three victories in its final four games — including three Top 25 opponents — to salvage bowl eligibility. Seems unlikely.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
OFFENSE: Dennis Johnson did his part. He averaged 6.0 yards per carry, including 15.3 yards — most of them after initial contact — on the Razorbacks’ final possession. Johnson helped tie the game at 27 with a five-yard run.

DEFENSE: Rasner found his way into a lot of plays against Ole Miss. He finished with team-high 10 tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, an interception and a pass breakup.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Hocker was 2 for 2 on field goals, including a long of 41.