OXFORD, Miss. (KFSM) — Arkansas has had kicking woes all season long but it decided Saturday’s contest at Ole Miss.
After trailing by 24 points in the first half, Connor Limpert had a chance to give the Razorbacks a win with a 34-yard field goal attempt with four seconds left.
The left-footed kicker had to wait through three Ole Miss timeouts. Once the sophomore got his chance, he hammered it right down the middle to give Arkansas a 38-37 win in another wild game in the SEC West rivalry.
Limpert made all three kicks after Ole Miss called timeout and was true on the one that mattered most.
Arkansas had lost all 18 games under Bret Bielema when it trailed at the half before rallying for the win at Ole Miss on Saturday.
Cole Kelley finished the game completing 19-of-30 passes for 189 yards with three touchdowns and added a rushing score. TJ Hammonds, playing in his first game as a running back this season, led Arkansas with 84 yards on the ground on 11 attempts while the Razorbacks finished with a season high 260 yards rushing.
Ole Miss dominated the first 20 minutes of the game as the Rebels jumped out to a 31-7 lead and racked up more than 350 yards of offense in that span. The Arkansas defense then gave themselves a chance as Santos Ramirez forced and recovered a fumble leading to a Razorback score. On the Rebels’ next possession, Josh Liddell intercepted a Jordan Ta’amu pass and returned it 54 yards to setup another Arkansas score, closing the game to 31-21 at the half.
Arkansas then trimmed the deficit to three on the opening possession in the second half as Cole Kelley’s screen pass to C.J. O’Grady went nine yards for a score.
The Razorbacks had a pair of possessions to take the lead in the fourth quarter but a questionable play call on 4th and 1 resulted in a turnover on downs then Kelley tried to lateral the football to a teammate before being sacked. Ole Miss would eventually recover the fumble and tack on a third field goal by Gary Wunderlich would give the Rebels a 37-28 lead with 9:52 left in the fourth quarter.
Ta’amu finished with 368 yards on 20-of-30 passing with an interception along with 76 yards rushing and two touchdowns.