There were plenty of heroes for the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville last year against TCU.
Yet, the play of the game for the Razorbacks was made by TCU quarterback Kenny Hill. He scored to give the home team a 28-20 lead with just 2:05 to play. It was the Horned Frogs' third unanswered touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Arkansas' two-minute offense usually takes at least three minutes to go 80 yards, but as part of Hill's celebration for scoring he performed the throat slash sign, which was greeted with a yellow flag for unsportsmanlike conduct. The 15-yard penalty forced the Frogs to kick off from their 20.
The ball carried to the Hogs 20, where Dominique Reed returned it 22 yards to leave the Hogs with 58 yards to go in 1:45.
Austin Allen trotted onto the field with the confidence undefeated Floyd Mayweather showed against Conor McGregor in the battle of boxing vs. mixed martial arts.
Allen passed for 6 yards, then 24 more to Drew Morgan to give the Hogs a first down at the TCU 28, which became the 33 after a false start penalty against the Hogs.
No problem. Allen passed for 17 yards to Jared Cornelius and then 16 for the touchdown to Keon Hatcher.
The Hogs had to convert the two-point conversion for the tie, and offensive coordinator Dan Enos called the perfect play. It should have become known as the "Fried Frog Leg."
Allen handed to Morgan on what looked like an end around, but with TCU in great pursuit Morgan calmly flipped it to Hatcher, who then passed to Allen for a 28-28 tie.
It looked like it was going to be for naught when KaVontae Turpin returned the kickoff 64 yards to the Arkansas 27.
On first down, Hill passed 27 yards for the touchdown only for that too to be greeted with a yellow flag. Illegal touching on TCU.
Hill picked up 16 yards on two carries and threw incomplete twice in a row to set up a 28-yard field goal -- a chip shot if Dan Skipper was 6-8. He wasn't, and the 6-10 Skipper blocked it to send the game into overtime.
TCU would finish the game with 572 yards of offense -- 377 of it Hill's passing -- but the Frogs had nine penalties for 95 yards, lost a fumble and Razorbacks linebacker Brooks Ellis got a pick-six in the second quarter.
It all came down to overtime, and in the first OT Allen passed 19 yards to Jeremy Sprinkle for a touchdown.
Hill answered with a touchdown pass to Taj Williams.
The Horned Frogs got the ball to start the second OT, but managed only 5 yards and settled for a 37-yard field goal.
Again Allen came on the field with the confidence of Gen. George Patton at a staff meeting.
Reed got 15 yards on an end around, and Rawleigh Williams added 1. Allen passed for 4 yards to Austin Cantrell, and on third and goal from the 5 he rolled right, made the decision to run and was hit by most of the Frogs at the goal line.
The Razorbacks stormed in and Allen ended up in the end zone. The Hogs had escaped the Frogs in what would prove to be a pivotal game in the season.
From that point on, the Hogs won every other game and finished the season at 7-5, which was good enough to get them invited to Charlotte, N.C., for the Belk Bowl.
Now the Frogs visit Fayetteville for the first time since 1990, and they are fresh off a 63-0 win over Jackson State. Hill was 18 of 23 for 206 yards and 4 touchdowns. He played only one series in the second half.
For this early in the season, this is a huge game for both teams. Revenge has to be raging in the Frogs' memory, and after this game the Hogs are off a week and then have 10 consecutive games.
Sports on 09/07/2017