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A wild one went down in Oxford.
The Ole Miss Rebels hung on to beat the Arkansas Razorbacks, 52-51. The game came down to its final play, as KJ Jefferson was unable to connect in the end zone for what would’ve been the go-ahead 2-point conversion.
The Rebels, usually great through the air, were even better on the ground. They rushed for 324 yards and averaged 6.6 yards per carry on the afternoon. Henry Parrish Jr. and Snoop Conner each ran for over 100 yards, while quarterback Matt Corral ran for 94. Corral also threw for 287 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions.
The aforementioned Conner ran the ball in three times for scores. He averaged 9.2 yards per rush, as he beasted all over Arkansas’ defense.
Arkansas themselves were pretty great on the ground too. Facing an Ole Miss defense that was giving up over 150 yards per game on the ground, they ran for 350 yards on 58 carries. Freshman running back Raheim Sanders gained 139 yards on a mark of 8.2 YPC. KJ Jefferson went for 85 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 326 and three more touchdowns through the air.
Going into the game, I wondered if the Hogs’ defense was a ‘mirage’ of sort and if Arkansas could hang with Ole Miss’ offense. Turns out, both were kind of correct. Arkansas won’t face an offense like this until they tackle ‘Bama, and against Ole Miss’ terrible defense, they were able to put up yards and points in bunches. Luck just didn’t fall their way on the final play of the game, but you can’t fault them for wanting to go for the W at all.