OXFORD, Miss. — Finally in the SEC, the Razorbacks played a complete game offensively and defensively.

Thus finally they have won in the SEC, 44-8 over the Ole Miss Rebels in Saturday’s SEC West game at the Rebels’ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Skeptics will note beating Ed Orgeron’s Rebels hardly seems something to gloat about with them 2-6, 0-5 in the league.

However Houston Nutt’s Razorbacks, 4-3, 1-3, did completely beat an Ole Miss team that only last week was a reversed controversial call away from beating Alabama or sending that game to overtime, and previously had reigning national champion Florida on the ropes before the Gators got away.

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No close but no cigar for the Rebels this time. They got smoked.

“ I’m coming out of the stands and this Ole Miss fan grabs me and said, ‘ Why are you not undefeated ? You are the best we’ve seen and we’ve seen Alabama and Florida, ’” Arkansas offensive coordinator David Lee said.

Nutt said his team played like he thought it could against a team much better than Arkansas allowed it to look.

“ Ed has a good football team but we jumped on them and our defense gave us great field position, ” Nutt said. “ We had a theme of it’s a new season and the season starts in Oxford. ”

The start was all Arkansas all the way. The Hogs’ offense and defense complemented each other like biscuits and gravy.

Jamar Love’ blitz sack on Ole Miss’ impressive game-opening drive led to a missed field goal. In response, the Razorbacks dashed off a 4-play, 68-yard scoring drive, including Darren McFadden’s 30-yard run immediately followed by Felix Jones’ 38-yard dash for a touchdown.

“ We fed off the defense, ” Arkansas senior offensive guard Robert Felton said. “ And the defense fed off us. This was the first game we didn’t have just the offense doing well or the defense doing well. We finally meshed together and you see what happens. ”

Arkansas’ defense netted four turnovers — two interceptions by cornerback Matteral Richardson, one by defensive end Adrian Davis and one by nickel back Jerell Norton (all off Ole Miss starting quarterback Seth Adams ). UA defenders accounted for eight tackles behind the line, including two each by Jamar Love, defensive tackle Marcus Harrison and middle linebacker Weston Dacus.

Held to under 100 yards combined in last week’s loss to Auburn in Fayetteville, McFadden (22 carries for 116 yards ) and Jones (15 for 104 yards and 2 touchdowns ) both topped the century mark Saturday.

Junior quarterback Casey Dick had his best SEC game of the year, completing 11 of 17 for 96 yards and 3 touchdowns. One of those scores went to fullback Peyton Hillis — 4 catches for 60 yards including a 34-yarder and his 9-yard TD. Tight end Andrew Davie reeled in two scoring tosses.

“ Our offensive line was very disappointed in themselves last week and did a great job setting the tempo and creating seams, ” Nutt said.

They blocked so well that the third-and-long draws to McFadden and Jones that have gotten Nutt and play-calling offensive coordinator Lee booed this year were enormous Saturday. McFadden’s 30-yarder on third-and-10 fueled the first TD drive and Jones’ 21-yarder on third-and-7 fueled another.

“ If they had been stuffed, you would have been asking me the other way, but they were playing the pass, ” Nutt said. “ McFadden and Felix are so quick and with such acceleration, when they get beyond the first level, they are tough to bring down. ”

They silenced a hostile home crowd to a stifled gasp.

The noise level would be one-sided Arkansas all day with the Razorbacks scoring 37 before Ole Miss backup quarterback Brent Schaeffer tallied a 37-yard TD pass to Mike Wallace and 2-point conversion to Wallace with 6: 26 left in the game.

Arkansas even answered that 26 seconds later. Backup quarterback and Shiloh Christian grad Nathan Emert completed a 48-yard TD pass to senior wideout Chris Baker of Osceola.

This game began the tortoise and the hare parable in reverse.

Ole Miss opened it doing the right way like the tortoise, methodically moving from its 14 to the Arkansas 23. Then the tortoise got shelled.

Arkansas defensive end Antwain Robinson pressured a first down pass incomplete. Outside linebacker Freddie Fairchild saw tailback Bruce Hall cutting outside and nailed him for a 2-yard loss.

Extra defensive back Love exploded on the third-andlong package with a blitz, sacking Adams for a 7-yard loss. That left Joshua Sheene with a long 49-yard field goal attempt which he missed.

That was the end of Ole Miss’ threatening until cornerback Richardson picked off a late second-quarter Adams pass at the Arkansas 11. By then the Hogs were long up, 21-0.

They kept running at Greg Hardy, Ole Miss’ great passrushing defensive end who repeatedly sacked Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson last week. When the Hogs did throw, they had Ole Miss so off balance that Hardy, no tackles behind the line, was no factor.

“ We have great respect for Greg Hardy, ” Nutt said of help provided offensive tackles Nate Garner and Jose Valdez against the Ole Miss flip-flopping end. “ We kept four hands on him. ”

Dick’s 34-yard pass on third-and-4 to a wide open Hillis sparked Arkansas’ second scoring drive of 64 yards at 3: 49 of the first quarter.

Adrian Davis’ shocking theft of Adams’ short pass set up the 21-0 half with Hillis catching Dick’s 9-yard pass with 14: 04 left in the second quarter.

Alex Tejada missing a field goal to start the second half didn’t spook a Razorback team finally finishing what it started.

Senior split end Marcus Monk did not test his ailing knee Saturday but vows he doesn’t want to redshirt and will play this season.

“ Oh yeah, oh yeah, ” Monk said. “ I just don’t want to rush it, but I’m getting better. We were playing so well today, there was no need for me. So I was just being a cheerleader. I was proud of all of them. ”