Saturday's instant classic between No. 18 Ole Miss and Arkansas might be further proof that SEC defense might not be all it's cracked up to be, but after pulling out a cathartic 53-52 overtime victory, don't expect Arkansas to care.
The Razorbacks appeared to have lost multiple times in the first (and only) overtime period, first facing 4th-and-25 and a 52-45 deficit. But Hunter Henry's blind 15-yard lateral fell into the hands of Alex Collins, who broke free for a wild conversion. Bret Bielema chose to go for two and the win after Allen's ensuing touchdown pass, only for Allen to be sacked. But the Rebels were flagged for a facemask penalty, and on a second try Allen scored on a quarterback keeper for the win.
The conversion was the icing on the cake for Allen, who went absolute supernova in the best game of his career. The senior quarterback finished 33 of 45 for 6 touchdowns and operated the Razorbacks' play-action passing game to perfection.
Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly threw for 368 yards and three touchdowns himself, and added 110 yards and three more scores on the ground for good measure. But his fourth-down pass at midfield on the Rebels' final possession of regulation fell incomplete, setting up Arkansas freshman placekicker Cole Hedlund for a potential 47-yard game-winner. The kick was blocked by Tony Bridges, sending the game to overtime.
Here's what you need to know about a game Razorback fans will be talking about for years to come:
1. Ole Miss no longer controls its SEC West destiny. The only cheer louder than the one from Fayetteville when the Hogs finally got across the line would be the one from Tuscaloosa, where Alabama once again controls its own destiny for a trip to Atlanta. And that groan you heard nearly equalling the one from Oxford? That would be from Memphis, whose dark horse College Football Playoff chances took a major hit with the Rebels likely out of the SEC championship running.
2. Arkansas isn't the three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense you may have heard about. And when Allen plays like this, that's a good -- or great -- thing. 45 passes to 39 rushing attempts might not be what you'd expect from the Hogs, but given how on fire Allen was, that may have been too many Arkansas rushing attempts. To put it simply: considering the opponent and venue (or maybe not even considering them), Brandon Allen put together the best performance of any SEC quarterback this season.
The rumors throughout the offseason were that the quarterback who'd finished in the bottom half of SEC quarterbacks in QB rating in 2014 had taken a major step forward; after some hiccups vs. Toledo and Texas Tech, Allen has found his groove and is making those rumors wild understatements.
3. Ole Miss's defense has taken a ginormous step back. If you'd told a Rebels fan at the beginning of the season their offense would score 45 points in regulation vs. Arkansas, they'd have told you their team -- with its 2014 No. 1 FBS scoring defense -- would have rolled to a blowout victory. Obviously that wasn't the case Saturday, even with Robert Nkemdiche healthy after his recent concussion absence. The principal culprit: a secondary that still features a handful of veterans (most notably safety Trae Elston) but doesn't appear to have the same edge without the departed Senquez Golson ... and was shredded by Allen, Henry, and the rest of the Razorback receivers.
Result: a defense that had already slipped to No. 27 in scoring defense entering the game is about to take another big step backwards.
4. Arkansas' close-game chickens are finally coming home to roost. Remember how just six weeks ago or so Bielema couldn't buy a win in a close game to save his proverbial life? Since then he's edged Tennessee 24-20, beaten Auburn in quadruple overtime after a series of fourth-down conversions, and won at Ole Miss in outright miraculous fashion. What goes around really does come around.
