Houston Nutt returned to Arkansas as he left it, with a

controversial finish.

The former Arkansas coach whose 10 years of Razorback ups and downs ended in a pressured resignation last November despite the Hogs beating eventual national champion LSU the final game of the 2007 regular season, returned to Frank Broyles Field at Reynolds Razorbacks with his Ole Miss Rebels claiming 23-21 SEC victory over new Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino’s Razorbacks Saturday night before a packed house 74,168.

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The game closed in trademark controversy. First Arkansas’ Kelly Fenton was awarded, after an official’s review overturned the initial ruling, the recovery of the Arkansas onside kick Arkansas kick by Alex Tejada with 1:03 left in the game.

Arkansas was out of timeouts and trailing 23-21 after Razorback Casey Dick and tall freshman receiver Greg Childs connected for Dick’s second fourth-quarter touchdown pass at 1:07.

Arkansas’ next step towards a miracle appeared in hand when London Crawford caught Dick’s 32-yard pass on second and 10 at the Ole Miss 21.

However, an official not nearest to the play, ruled that Crawford had committed pass interference.

So instead of getting a shot in Ole Miss territory at winning it with a touchdown or a field goal, the Hogs were penalized back to second and 25 the their 32, threw three straight incompletions and lost by two points after losing 21-20 last week at Kentucky.

“A tough way to lose the game,” Petrino said. “We had the great completion down the sideline. He [Crawford] went up and caught the ball in his hands and they called offensive P.I. I think everyone who saw the replay saw he did a great job of elevation and catching the ball.

We have to keep our head up. Our players have to know they showed a lot of Razorback pride tonight.”

Nutt paid tribute to his new team and old team.

“I’m really happy for our team,” Nutt said. “Arkansas has a lot of good players and I Iove them. This game was emotional and very hard. There was a lot of effort on both sides of the ball.”

Both teams showed considrable pride waging a battle that Ole Miss seemed to have it in hand leading 20-7 and punting Arkansas back to the Arkansas 3 with 8:00 left.

However Dick and Childs, the 6-4 freshman from Warren, combined to get Arkansas out of the hole with with Childs leaping like it was a basketball jump ball for a 39-yard catch to the Arkansas 42.

Arkansas tailback Michael Smith, shrugging off last week’s concussion to net 135 rushing yards on 19 carries, broke a 35-yard run on the 97-yard drive. Dick capped the drive with a 8-yard TD pass to to Lucas Miller on fourth and seven.

Now only up 20-14, Ole Miss responded driving for a 28-yard Joshua Shene field goal at 1:45.

But the Hogs weren't finished, yet.

Arkansas tight end D.J. Williams, 10 catches for 129 yards Saturday, caught a 29-yard pass to start Arkansas’ last scoring drive that included Dick throwing a 20-yarder to Smith and the 22-yard TD to Childs with 1:07 left.

The Hogs can complain about the controversial call but as Petrino noted, they had trouble containing the Peria Jerry led Ole Miss pass rush and also allowed 10 points in the first half’s final 1:58 on quarterback Jevan Snead’s 8-yard TD pass to Shay Hodge and Shene’s 34-yard field goal with two seconds left in the half after Dick threw an interception.

Ole Miss also scored on Mike Wallace’s 11-yard TD catch of a Snead pass against busted coverage at 13:21 of the fourth quarter.

Also, Shene kicked a 39-yard first-quarter field goal while Arkansas’ Shay Haddock missed from 34 in the first quarter.

“Mistakes late in the first half came back to haunt us,” Petrino said. “But our players gave it everything they had.We had a lot of guys banged up [offensive linemen Ray Dominguez and Grant Cook and defensive end Adrian Davis all were injured] and Ole Miss has always been able to pass rush. But we finally hung in and made

some plays.”

Arkansas’ two-minute offense left Ole Miss two seconds to spare to kick another field goal for a 13-7 halftime lead with 10 points in the half’s final 1:58.

Starting its last first-half possession with 1:58 left, after Snead and receiver Shay Hodge connected for an 8-yard

touchdown pass, the Razorbacks drove from their 20 to their 48.

Then Dick’s high pass glanced off Smith’s fingertips and was picked off by cornerback Fon Ingram.

It appeared Ingram returned it inside the 10 until it was ruled his 38-yard return ceased with him stepping out of bounds at the Arkansas 17.

In any event, Ole Miss had two seconds to snap it for Joshua Shene’s 34-yard field goal and a the 13-7 halftime lead.

Shene had kicked a 39-yarder for a 3-0 Ole Miss lead after Haddock missed a 34-yarder.

Arkansas had popped a big play on tight end D.J. Williams 41-yard catch and run of a Dick pass but got pushed out of TD range when Dick was charged with intentional grounding.

The Razorbacks did take a 7-3 lead, with Haddock kicking the PAT, when Smith took a fourth and one option pitch down the left sideline for a 13-yard touchdown at 11:23 of the second quarter.

An Ole Miss personal foul late hit by linebacker Patrick Trahan on Arkansas running back De’Anthony Curtis, and wideout Joe Adams slipping tacklers for a 23-yard reception of a third and 13 Dick pass, highlighted Arkansas’ 11-play, 70-yard drive.