Arkansas was vexed and lucky and entertaining till the last snap all over again on Saturday.

And thanks to a cold-blooded fourth-down call that resulted in a stunning catch by freshman Chris Gragg, the Razorbacks are still unbeaten.

Casey Dick hit D. J. Williams with his second 8-yard touchdown pass of the game with 1: 22 remaining, and Louisiana-Monroe missed a potential game-winning field goal try in the waning seconds as Arkansas survived 28-27.

A crowd of 55, 048 at War Memorial Stadium watched a game that ebbed more than it flowed for Arkansas during the first three quarters. Arkansas failed to capitalize on a first quarter it dominated statistically, then fell behind 24-6 before pulling off its second fourth-quarter rally in two games under Coach Bobby Petrino.

“I’m about to have a heart attack and I’m 22,” All-American center Jonathan Luigs said of Arkansas’ 79-yard last-chance drive at game’s end.

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Louisiana-Monroe kicker Jeremy Gener missed a 45-yard field goal try wide right with 36 seconds to play, sending the decibel level soaring.

“Well, we kept everyone at the game to the last minute, last second,” Petrino said, in his dead-pan style. “I thought it showed a lot of character by our players and a lot of poise by the coaches and players.” The Razorbacks escaped despite enduring special teams breakdowns that included three missed kicks by Alex Tejada, a mistake by Dennis Johnson on a kickoff return, a blocked punt, an outof-bounds kickoff by Tejada and a long kickoff return given up to the Warhawks (0-2 ). Arkansas remained unbeaten in eight games against Louisiana-Monroe, but none were as compelling as this.

“Our kids never flinched, and they just kept fighting and fighting,” offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said.

Dick, Williams and Michael Smith all turned in career days to power an offense that totaled 506 total yards.

Dick hit 22 of 34 passes for 323 yards and two scores, Williams caught five passes for 124 yards, and Smith ran for 157 yards and two touchdowns.

Yet it was another of Arkansas’ noted freshmen, Gragg, who turned in the play of the day, shortly after predicting he would come up big.

The Razorbacks trailed 27-21 and faced a fourth-and-1 from the Louisiana-Monroe 32 with 2: 03 left when Gragg’s number was called. The Warren native worked only one formation -- the Cowboy personnel “Get It” route -- in practice during the week, and he told teammate Jarius Wright in the third quarter he’d make it work on fourth down before the game was over.

He got his chance after Arkansas called timeout. Gragg turned to Wright during the timeout and said, “I’m telling you, we’re fixing to run Cowboy Get it Pass and we’re going to win the game. I really wanted to score, but converting on fourth down, that was just as good.” Dick ran a play-action fake up the middle to Smith, who was stopped on a fourth-and-2 in the third quarter, then lofted a pass to Gragg, who had two defenders on him.

“We’ve repped it and repped it and repped it, [and ] the freshman just went up and made a great play,” Dick said.

“That’s a big-time play, especially for a kid on his first offensive play,” Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said. “We always talk about making four or five ‘wow’ catches to win a game, and that was definitely a ‘wow’ catch.” Louisiana-Monroe Coach Charlie Weatherbie, who has crossed paths with Bobby Petrino in his past, said he knew to expect the unexpected on the fourthdown play.

“We know he’s a riverboat gambler, so to speak,” Weatherbie said. “He gambled and it paid off. That was quite a call.” Gragg went high over Warhawks defensive backs Greg James and Nate Brown to haul in the catch and come down at the 7-yard line. Two plays later, Dick found Williams for their second touchdown hook-up of the game.

Arkansas controlled the action through the first quarter, but Tejada missed field goals from 45 yards and 25 yards, both wide left. Then, after Smith scored on a 13-yard touchdown early in the second quarter, Tejada pulled the extra-point attempt to the left.

A delay-of-game penalty that was never explained pushed the Razorbacks 5 yards deeper on their kickoff, then Tejada kicked off out of bounds, giving the Warhawks possession at their 45 and the break they’d been needing.

Louisiana-Monroe dictated the tempo for the next two quarters, building as much as an 18-point lead.

The Razorbacks lost a chance in the third period on the failed fourth-and-2 run by Smith, and the Warhawks used a second deep ball from Kinsmon Lancaster to Anthony McCall, who had two scoring receptions, to set up the score that made it 24-6.

But the Razorbacks kept attacking, and Williams turned a crossing route over the middle into a 76-yard reception to set up Smith’s second touchdown of the game.

Arkansas’ offense heated up substantially after the tepid opener.

“You should wind up with 50 points when you have 506 yards offense,” Paul Petrino said.

The Razorbacks take their lucky streak, their cardiac ways and their 2-0 record into rival Texas on Saturday.