Lateral not called play

FAYETTEVILLE -- Hunter Henry's behind-the-back heave might have been the most fortunate bounce of a ball for Arkansas in decades.

Not only did the high-arcing backward pass just miss the hands of two Ole Miss defenders as it descended at the 41 1/2 yard line, it also bounced directly into the best available hands, those of 1,000-yard tailback Alex Collins.

Arkansas lineman Dan Skipper won a jump ball of sorts with Ole Miss defensive end Marquis Haynes at the 41 and appeared to deflect the football just out of the reach of the swiping left hand of the Rebels' C.J. Johnson. The football popped straight up off the turf, conveniently chest high for Collins to catch in stride, allowing him to accelerate.

Henry's lateral traveled about 20 yards, as he threw it from the Ole Miss sideline at the 26 and the ball landed near the right hash at the 42, 2 yards behind the original line of scrimmage.

"If there's a guy that I would want to see throw a backward pass probably 20 yards in the air in no direction other than the way he'd wanted to throw it, I'd pick Hunter Henry," Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said. "I would do it before today's game, and I would do it tomorrow and every day after."

Center Mitch Smothers got a sideways nudge on linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche immediately after Collins secured the ball. Smothers' contact with Denzel Nkemdiche also put his defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche, Denzel's brother, off stride. Receiver Drew Morgan and tight end Jeremy Sprinkle became the next big contributors on the madcap play.

Morgan ran next to Collins for about 10 yards and he screened off defensive back Zedrick Woods. Meanwhile, Sprinkle engaged defensive back Kendarius Webster at the 22, still 7 yards away from the needed first-down distance, and his left-shoulder shove knocked Webster off balance.

As Collins prepared to make a cut while straddling the 20, he had Sprinkle ahead and three Ole Miss defenders arrayed between the 16 and 17.

Collins cut left toward the sideline as Sprinkle engaged again with Webster, screening off the pursuit of C.J. Hampton and Mike Hilton. Hampton got a hand on Collins at the 14, past first-down distance, but Collins barreled ahead.

As Collins was being tackled at the 9, he lateraled backward just before hitting the turf and receiver Dominique Reed was there to cradle the loose ball at the 11.

Replay official Al Ford reviewed the wild play for a little more than a minute and upheld the ruling on the field of a legal lateral and a fumble at the end, recovered by Reed.

Still photos of the moment Henry flung the football, backward and over his helmet, show multiple Ole Miss sideline personnel raising their arms in apparent victory, including Coach Hugh Freeze.

Going for 2

The Arkansas sideline was hyped after Coach Bret Bielema let everyone know the Razorbacks would be going for a two-point conversion if they equaled the Ole Miss touchdown in overtime.

Bielema said he was considering a two-point conversion as Arkansas drove in the two-minute offense on a series that ended on Brandon Allen's 17-yard scoring pass to Dominique Reed, but he decided against it.

Arkansas caught a break on its first try at the two-pointer when Marquis Haynes grabbed quarterback Brandon Allen's face mask in the midst of a sack.

Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze, who called the outcome "gut wrenching," said he wasn't surprised Bielema rolled the dice with the two-point conversion try.

"No, because they couldn't stop us," Freeze said. "They were struggling to stop us also. I haven't seen the film yet, but there was a face- mask call that seemed like it was the right call. It was a very difficult way to end the game. It doesn't surprise me though."

Tube talk

The Arkansas at LSU game on Saturday will kick off at 6:15 p.m. on ESPN, the SEC announced. The Tigers (7-1, 4-1 SEC) were No. 2 in the first CFP rankings last week, but fell to No. 7 in the Associated Press poll Sunday after their 30-16 loss at Alabama. The next CFP rankings come out Tuesday.

The league and its network partners exercised their six-day exception for the weekend's slate of games, and CBS announced late Saturday it had chosen the Alabama-Mississippi State game for its 2:30 p.m. slot.

Hopping where?

Bret Bielema made a hilarious slip of the tongue at the very end of his 16-minute hews conference after the game.

While intending to say he was looking forward to hopping on a plane and heading home, Bielema actually blurts out "I'm just looking forward to hopping on my wife," before quickly correcting himself to say "Hopping on the plane. Hopping on the plane with my wife," as the media broke out into laughter.

"I can't believe I just said that," Bielema added, smiling, before addressing Jen Bielema, who was sitting in the third row at the news conference, now covering her face.

"I look right up at you and I say 'hopping on the plane.' My wife. Back to Fayetteville. I'm out."

Oh no, yes!

Both Hunter Henry and Alex Collins, the principle players in Arkansas' 29-yard gain on the fourth-and-25 lateral play in overtime, said they had forgotten the Razorbacks could gain a first down on the play and thought the game was over as Collins' lateral fell to the turf at the Ole Miss 11 yard line.

Receiver Dominique Reed, who chased the play down from the back side, knew the situation and alertly fell on Collins' loose pitch.

"I asked Alex why did he lateral it and he was telling me the same thing, that we had to score," Reed said. "I'm like, 'Alex, it's fourth and 25, we just get the first down and we're OK. He lateraled it back and I just fell on the ball."

Scoring frenzy

Arkansas' 107 points in back-to-back overtime SEC victories against Auburn and Ole Miss marked a school record in SEC play.

The Razorbacks have also scored 50-plus points in three consecutive games for the first time since the 1916 team did it shutouts over Hendrix (58-0), Eastern Oklahoma State (82-0) and Missouri-Rolla (60-0).

According to research by UA, the Hogs' 170 points in their last three games since a bye week are more than 12 FBS teams have scored all season, including five power 5 conference programs.

9 iron needed

Bret Bielema figured freshman kicker Cole Hedlund tried to hit his 47-yard field goal attempt on the final play in regulation a little too hard.

Hedlund's kick was blocked at the line of scrimmage by a leaping Tony Bridges and Arkansas' Deatrich Wise fell on the loose ball as time expired in a 45-45 tie.

"We would love to have had a little more elevation on that one," Bielema said. "I think he just tried to kill it. Hit that 9 iron sweet and soft and see where it goes."

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Offense

QB Brandon Allen

• Allen, a senior from Fayetteville, passed for a school-record six touchdowns and a career-best 442 yards on 33 of 45 passing. Allen had a 22-yard scramble in the fourth quarter and scored the game-winning 2-point conversion.

Defense

DB Kevin Richardson

• Richardson, a sophomore from Jacksonville, made his first career start at nickel back and made a team-high 10 tackles. Seven of Richardson's tackles were unassisted.

Sports on 11/09/2015