Instant Replay

Detectors slow fans' entrance

An announced crowd of 51,438 watches an Arkansas game against Ole Miss on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

The War Memorial Stadium stands were a little more than half full when the Arkansas-Ole Miss game kicked off Saturday night

But that wasn't because a lot of fans decided to stay home.

Long lines of fans were delayed getting into the game because of metal detectors installed at the stadium.

By early in the second quarter, most of the seats were filled.

Metal detectors were installed at the stadium as a result of a scare at the Salt Bowl in August between Benton and Bryant high schools.

Someone fired a stun gun during the Salt Bowl, resulting in panic among the crowd of about 38,000 and causing people to flee for the exits.

After the incident, 18 metal detectors were installed at the stadium at the cost of $60,000 paid for from Gov. Asa Hutchinson's discretionary fund.

DASHER EJECTED

Ole Miss starting defensive back Vernon Dasher was ejected with 11:42 left in the second quarter for targeting when he hit Arkansas quarterback Ty Storey.

The play also resulted in four other flags thrown for unsportsmanlike conduct -- two against each team.

Arkansas tight end Cheyenne O'Grady and offensive tackle Colton Jackson and Ole Miss defensive tackle Austrian Robinson and cornerback Jalen Julius all were called for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Those four penalties were offsetting, but the targeting call resulted in a 15-yard penalty on the Rebels along with Dasher's ejection.

SCHAEFFER OK

Rick Schaeffer, the former long-time Arkansas sports information director who continues to work on the Razorbacks' pregame radio show, was hospitalized with an undisclosed medical condition before Saturday night's game.

Schaeffer, 67, received treatment at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences -- a hospital located next to War Memorial Stadium -- and was resting comfortably according to a UA spokesman.

Schaeffer is now the communications director for Springdale Public Schools and also is a co-host of the Drivetime Sports radio show with Randy Rainwater.

OVER 50,000

The announced crowd for Saturday night's game was 51,438. That is based on tickets distributed.

It was the largest announced crowd for an Arkansas game in Little Rock since 2014, when 54,959 tickets were sold for the Razorbacks' game against Georgia.

Arkansas had an announced crowd of 36,055 for its Little Rock game last season against Florida A&M. That was on a Thursday night leading into Labor Day weekend.

Other recent crowds for Little Rock games included 46,988 against Alcorn State in 2016 and 49,591 against Toledo in 2015.

INJURY REPORT

Arkansas running backs Rakeem Boyd and Devwah Whaley sustained undisclosed injuries.

Boyd was hurt in the first half and didn't return to the game. He had had 7 carries for 109 yards, including a 69-yard touchdown run, before his injury.

Whaley, who missed the previous two games because of a concussion, limped off the field in the third quarter.

Ole Miss receiver D.K. Metcalf sustained a neck strain the first half.

QUALITY RELIEF

Arkansas backup quarterback Cole Kelley came into the game after starter Ty Storey was shaken up and immediately threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to La'Michael Pettway.

He re-entered in the fourth quarter when Storey again left the game after suffering a hard hit near the sideline.

BEEN A WHILE

Ty Storey's 39-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cheyenne O'Grady with 3:24 in the first quarter put Arkansas ahead 10-3.

It was the Razorbacks' first lead in an SEC game and first lead in any game since the fourth quarter at Colorado State.

Arkansas, which blew an 18-point lead in losing to the Rams 34-27, went 16 quarters without leading in losses to North Texas, Auburn, Texas A&M and Alabama.

TOUGH WEATHER

Arkansas Coach Chad Morris hasn't been able to catch a break with weather for games in Little Rock so far.

When the Razorbacks played their spring Red-White game at War Memorial Stadium in April, the temperatures were in the mid-30s with sleet and snow flurries.

It was 55 degrees and raining heavily when Saturday night's game kicked off.

ANOTHER UNIFORM COMBO

Arkansas wore its sixth different uniform combination on Saturday night in seven games this season.

The Razorbacks wore white helmets, red jerseys and white pants for the first since 2012 in a 35-26 loss to Rutgers in Fayetteville.

Arkansas wore all-white uniforms against Eastern Illinois; red chrome helmets with white jerseys and pants at Colorado State; red helmets and jerseys and white pants against North Texas and Alabama; red helmets, white jerseys and red pants at Auburn; and red helmets and white jerseys and pants against Texas A&M.

Ole Miss wore all-white uniforms for the second time this season. The Rebels also wore all white in their season-opening 47-27 victory over Texas Tech in Houston.

BACK IN 1954

Saturday night marked the 27th Arkansas-Ole Miss game since the Razorbacks joined the SEC. But it was the 28th game for Ole Miss against Arkansas that counted on the Rebels' conference record.

The SEC designated Ole Miss' game against Arkansas in Little Rock on 1954 as counting in the conference standings for the Rebels so they would meet the minimum requirement of six SEC games.

Arkansas, a member of the Southwest Conference at the time, beat Ole Miss 6-0 to hand the Rebels' their only SEC loss.

The Rebels were SEC championships with a 5-1 in SEC play with victories over Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tulane, LSU and Mississippi State.

Georgia Tech was second in the SEC with a 6-2 record.

The Arkansas-Ole Miss game in 1954 was the first of 16 between nonconference teams that the SEC counted in its standings. The last time the SEC counted a game between one of members and an opponent from another conference in the SEC standings was in 1968.

IN WAR MEMORIAL

Saturday night marked Arkansas' 216th in War Memorial Stadium.

Going into the game the Razorbacks were 151-60-4 in War Memorial Stadium.

The Razorbacks' first game in War Memorial Stadium was a 40-6 victory over Abilene Christian to open the 1948 season.

Saturday night was Arkansas' first SEC game at War Memorial Stadium since 2012 when the Rebels beat the Razorbacks 30-27.

Sports on 10/14/2018