Anyone who faults Arkansas coach Sam Pittman for rolling the dice on the last play Saturday can take his argument elsewhere.
Following the lead of Bret Bielema on the same field in 2015, Pittman went for 2 points with no time on the clock after Arkansas' seventh touchdown against Ole Miss.
Bielema put the game in the hands of Brandon Allen, his senior quarterback, after a touchdown in overtime pulled Arkansas within 52-51. The same scoreboard numbers popped up in this equally traumatic game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium after KJ Jefferson passed nine yards to Warren Thompson as regulation time ended.
In a game remembered mostly for an implausible fourth-and-25 pass (Hunter Henry to Alex Collins), Allen punched across the two-point conversion that made the Razorbacks a 53-52 winner. Bielema, whose high moments at Arkansas merit recollection, received kudos for trusting Allen on a day that the other team's quarterback, Chad Kelly, might have played better.
Pittman saw his own chance to leave Oxford, Miss., a winner and took it. His option was to have Cam Little kick a tying extra point, putting the Razorback defense back on the spot. After giving up 375 yards in the second half, Barry Odom's tired troops were stretched to the limit. Forget that.
No, it is not Pittman's win-or-bust decision that deserved day-after scrutiny. Judging from postgame comments on social media, Arkansas fans moaned loudest about the play call. They agreed that Jefferson, the native Mississippian accounting for 411 yards and six touchdowns, deserved a chance to be the hero.
They only wish that Arkansas had punched it in, specifically that Jefferson had run a safer play than an end-zone heave to receiver Treylon Burks.
Tailback Dominique Johnson, one of two men in motion, released inside for a potential shovel pass. Jefferson, with a game-high 20 carries, kept the ball and rolled right. He looked deep for AJ Green, the other motion man, and then for Burks, who was deeper and drew a crowd.
Burks, with seven catches Saturday for 136 yards, is emerging as perhaps Arkansas' best big-play pass catcher ever. The young man from Warren seems destined to enjoy a long, successful career in the pros. But on this play, he would have needed stilts to catch Jefferson's high heave. Not that it mattered: Arkansas was caught with an ineligible receiver downfield.
"I loved the play call," said Pittman, applying Corleone justice (he answered for Santino) lest offensive playcaller Kendal Briles feel the heat. "We had three options there on the play, and we just didn't convert it."
If ever a Razorback quarterback deserved the "W," it was Jefferson, a power runner become climax passer. Likewise, Matt Corral, his opposite number, atoned for six interceptions in last year's Fayetteville loss to Arkansas with an equally heroic effort. Corral had touchdown passes of 67 yards to Dontario Dumas and 68 yards to Braylon Sanders, the latter leaving Jefferson 1:07 to produce a matcher.
Corral, a Heisman Trophy contender (Ole Miss, like Arkansas, never has had a winner), credited a running attack that gashed the Hogs 49 times for 324 yards. Ever the resourceful leader, Corral rushed 15 times for 94 yards and two touchdowns plus a two-point conversion.
Corral looked like a quarterback groomed and polished by Lane Kiffin, going deep when the Hogs ganged up against the run. Arkansas did not force a turnover for the second-straight game, nor did it record a sack. Those two stats spell danger for an overachieving defense, one whose three-man pass rush may need tweaked.
That's one reason that Arkansas-Ole Miss games, once decided by 6-0 and 10-7 scores, now find both teams scoring in the 50s. Paying high prices for their seats, fans like the ball in the air; coaches know this and, since all the games these days are televised, recruit skilled players. Those who grew up watching Frank Broyles and Darrell Royal play field-position football must face facts: We're not likely to see three yards and a cloud of dust again anytime soon.
Pittman and his team now must regroup for the impending challenge presented by Auburn in another 11 a.m. kickoff. Georgia wiped the decks with both SEC West teams and, after Texas A&M's Saturday-night shocker against Alabama, found itself No. 1 in the polls Sunday. Arkansas, ranked 17th and 19th despite two losses, has a revenge factor against Auburn after last year's controversial finish at Jordan-Hare Stadium. This series has lost the Gus Malzahn factor but new Auburn coach Bryan Harsin, like Gus, once coached Arkansas State.
As for Kiffin, whose Rebels find themselves ranked 13th and 14th, Ole Miss fans will ride the Lane train as far as it takes them. One piece of advice to the Rebel coach: You might consider punting on fourth down every now and then. You could ask your dad, Monte, a defensive coach, about that.