FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ defense had a game against Ole Miss on Saturday night comparable to how BCS No. 2 Alabama fared against the Rebels a week earlier. Ole Miss scored 23 points against Arkansas and 20 against Alabama. The Rebels gained 369 yards in 72 snaps against the Razorbacks (5. 1 yards per play ) and gained 359 yards on 67 snaps against the Crimson Tide (5. 5 yards per play ). But there was one major difference. Ole Miss beat Arkansas 23-21 after losing at Alabama 24-20. “We did a good job, but there’s always a feeling you could have done a little bit more,” said Arkansas junior defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard, who had

1 five tackles, including 2 / 2 for losses of 5 yards. “You could have done something extra to win the game.

“ But the score is in stone now, and you can’t go back and change it. We just have to learn from it and work harder for the next week.”

Arkansas Coach B obby Petrino said he believed the defense played well overall.

“I thought our defense played hard, they played tough,” Petrino said. “They didn’t get every stop... But we didn’t move the ball as well on offense, and [the defense ] kept us in there. They gave us a chance to hang around.”

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Through its first seven games, Ole Miss had 18 turnovers, but the Rebels had just one against Arkansas.

Razorbacks junior safety Rashaad Johnson, playing deep zone, intercepted a Jevan Snead pass with 3: 12 left in the third quarter and returned it 11 yards to the Arkansas 49.

“[Snead ] put a little too much air under it and I happened to be in the right spot at the right time,” Johnson said. “I thought it was a big play at the time.”

Ole Miss led 13-7, so the Razorbacks were 51 yards from a touchdown and taking the lead. But Joe Adams lost 7 yards on a reverse on the first play of the series and the Razorbacks wound up having to punt after two incompletions by Casey Dick.

“I thought we did well as a defense, but there’s always more you can do,” Johnson said. “We have to get better.”

It was a tough night for Arkansas cornerback Isaac Madison, who was beaten on several plays, including a 42-yard pass from Snead to Michael Wallace that set up an Ole Miss field goal that put the Rebels ahead 23-14 with 1: 45 left.

“We bent and we gave some yards at times, but we stuck in there and kept playing hard,” Petrino said. “We didn’t get every stop... I’d like to have had a stop after we scored [to make it 20-14 ].”

Ole Miss Coach Houston Nutt calls the offensive plays for the Rebels, so Arkansas’ defensive players went head-to-head against the man who coached the Razorbacks the previous 10 seasons.

“I didn’t really think about Coach Nutt,” Johnson said. “By the time you get between the white lines, it’s just you and Ole Miss.”

Sheppard said he also didn’t think about Nutt or any of the other Ole Miss coaches — including Tracy Rocker, his defensive line coach at Arkansas — during the game.

“It didn’t feel weird at all,” Sheppard said. “You don’t see the coaches on the sideline, you play against the players. So this wasn’t different from any other SEC game.”

Sheppard spoke briefly with Nutt afterward.

“I told him good luck,” Sheppard said. “And he said he was proud of me.”