FAYETTEVILLE — In the end, it was a thriller and an old rivalry had gone to a new level.

Before Arkansas pulled within 23-21 Saturday night at Reynolds Razorback Stadium, the Ole Miss faithful were chanting “Houston Nutt.”

That was quickly drowned out by the Razorbacks nation’s “Bobby, Bobby, Bobby.”

Nutt, the former Arkansas coach, drew the obligatory boos when he came onto the field, but he stood in the corner and alertly made his entrance when the Razorbacks came on the field.

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The ploy worked for a few seconds, but much of the crowd realized it and got their shots in. It obviously wasn’t anything the Ole Miss coach wasn’t expecting, and he would have the last laugh, but not without a huge scare.

The Rebels led 23-14 with 1: 39 to play, but the young Hogs refused to accept a respectable loss.

With the Razorbacks starting at their 30, Casey Dick hit D. J. Williams for 29 yards and Michael Smith for 20 yards, then Greg Childs made his second great catch, in double coverage, in the end zone to pull Arkansas within 23-21 with 1: 07 to play.

Aaron Fenton then recovered the perfectly executed onside kick, although it took an official review to give the Razorbacks possession at their 47.

A 32-yard pass to London Crawford moved Arkansas to the Ole Miss 21 and into field goal range, but it was waved off for offensive pass interference as the Hogs ended up going into the night, but not quietly.

After the opening kickoff, most fans seemed to forget about the coaches — until very late — as both teams spit and sputtered into halftime with the Rebels leading 13-7. Ole Miss had 166 yards of offense to the Razorbacks’ 165.

The final totals had the Hogs with 386 to 369 for the Rebels.

It would have been 10-7 at halftime, but Dick was picked off, the interception was returned to the 17 with just two seconds left in the half, and the Rebels kicked a 34-yard field goal.

The game started smartly for the Razorbacks, but after driving to the Ole Miss 17, it was the same old story as the drive ended with a missed field goal.

Except for two major possessions in the final quarter, Ole Miss clearly dominated the line of scrimmage and had more team speed that gave the Rebels an assortment of weapons, plus the power running of Cordera Eason.

Jevan Snead is good, especially on a night when his receivers seemed to streak into the open just as he released the ball.

Early in the fourth quarter, his 11-yard strike to a wide-open Mike Wallace made it 20-7, and the Razorbacks, who managed only 45 yards of offense in the third quarter, appeared to be out of it.

Some of the credit goes to Ole Miss’ defense, which was strong up front and kept pressure on Dick most of the night, forcing him to throw the ball away far too many times to avoid being sacked.

Smith had played hard and Williams, the starting tight end, stepped up big, and when Childs got his chance the playing field was leveled.

Until then, Ole Miss had the receiving edge with Shay Hodge, Lionel Breaux, Wallace and Dexter McCluster.

Those guys looked like they could be a 400-meter relay team.

It appeared for the longest that the overall difference in talent was going to give Ole Miss a fairly easy victory. But what should be noted was the loyalty of the Razorbacks nation, who stood and loudly supported their home team even when it looked hopeless.

Then, they were rewarded after their team started at its 3.

On first down, Childs, a true freshman, went high above a defender to snag a pass that was good for 39 yards. Williams took a lob and turned it into a 12-yard gain, and one play later, Smith broke free for 35 yards.

When faced with fourthand-7 from the 8, Dick fired a perfect pass to Lucas Miller for a touchdown to make it 20-14 with 4: 28 to play.

Not even another Ole Miss field goal would slow the Hogs or their fans.

In the end, they came up short, but once again they showed some improvement, never quit and another freshman stepped up big.