TENNESSEE-MARTIN AT ARKANSAS

Hogs gaining edge in tight games, OT

The Razorbacks celebrate a four overtime victory over Auburn on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The first three times Arkansas went into overtime under Coach Bret Bielema, the Razorbacks won the coin toss but quickly lost the game.

Mississippi State and Texas A&M scored touchdowns on the first play of overtime and stopped the Razorbacks on downs to win 24-17 at Little Rock in 2013 and 35-28 at Arlington, Texas, in 2014.

This season the Aggies took two plays to score a touchdown, then stopped the Razorbacks to win 28-21 in Arlington.

Saturday it looked like the dreaded scenario of one-and-done in overtime might play out again for Arkansas.

The Razorbacks won the coin toss, went on defense first and the Tigers scored a touchdown in three plays and kicked the extra point, taking a lead for the first time in the game.

At that point opponents had outscored Arkansas 28-0 in overtime since 2013.

Then the Razorbacks flipped the script.

Instead of the offense stalling out, Arkansas scored touchdowns on all four of its overtime possessions and twice made two-point conversions as the Razorbacks (3-4, 2-2 SEC) beat the Tigers 54-46 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

It was Arkansas' first overtime victory since 2010 when the Razorbacks won 38-31 at Mississippi State in two overtimes.

The Razorbacks finally got a stop after Auburn scored touchdowns on its first three possessions when free safety Josh Liddell broke up a fourth-down pass intended for Ricardo Louis.

"It was great to see how the offense responded," defensive end Jeremiah Ledbetter said. "They gave us a second chance to do what we needed to do.

"We finally came out and did it."

JaMichael Winston tackled tailback Peyton Barber for a 1-yard gain on the first play of Auburn's final overtime series.

Louis couldn't pull in a Sean White pass in the end zone on second down that would have been a touchdown to cut the Razorbacks' lead to 54-52.

Cornerback Jared Collins broke up a pass intended for Tony Stevens on third down, setting up Liddell's final-play heroics.

"I think the offense gave us a lot of motivation," Collins said. "Each and every time they went out there and did what they had to do, so we felt like the game was on us."

Allen said he sensed the defense was going to end the game in the fourth overtime.

"I kind of had that feeling ... when we scored on the first play and then got the two-point conversion that our defense was fired up to make a stop," Allen said. "They did just that."

Allen, a fifth-year senior with 32 starts, has endured criticism throughout his career about how he hadn't led a game-winning drive or played clutch with the game on the line.

Saturday he led a 13-play, 67-yard drive that consumed 5:47 and ended with Cole Hedlund's 25-yard field goal to give the Razorbacks a 24-21 lead with 1:09 left in regulation.

Auburn sent the game into overtime on Daniel Carlson's 41-yard field goal, meaning the Razorbacks needed more big plays from Allen.

"He not only delivered once, but twice, three, four times in critical moments," Bielema said. "I can't say enough for him and hopefully this is a catalyst for him to finish this thing off on a high, high note."

Liddell said the Razorbacks didn't lose the faith on defense even with so many overtime struggles.

"It's challenging, but you've just got to play through everything," Liddell said. "We have a 1-0 mentality, and that's just not for a game, that's for every play."

Ledbetter said the defense had to push through whatever frustration it was feeling after giving up the game-tying field goal at the end of regulation, then failing to stop the Tigers the first three overtimes.

"We knew the game was on the line," he said. "The offense did their thing, and it was time for the defense to show up and do our thing."

The Razorbacks have won their past two games decided by eight or fewer points, including a 24-20 victory at Tennessee Oct. 3, Before that, they were 0-9 under Bielema in games decided by seven or fewer points.

"I think it says we're learning how to finish," Collins said. "We're listening to our coaches and forgetting about the things that happen during the game that got us down.

"We're just going out and playing, and playing hard. It's much more fun to be on the winning side.

"Winning is a nice high."

Sports on 10/26/2015