Rebels Win as Time Expires at Arkansas; First SEC Road Win Since 2009

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (WCBI/Ole Miss Athletics) — Senior kicker Bryson Rose kicked a 31-yard field goal as time expired to give the Ole Miss Rebels a 30-27 win against Arkansas here Saturday at War Memorial Stadium.

(AP Photo/David Quinn)
Ole Miss kicker Bryson Rose kicks this 31-yard field goal as time expires to help the Rebels win on the road at Arkansas on Saturday.

The win is the second straight in the Southeastern Conference for the Rebels (5-3, 2-2), who snapped a 16-game league losing streak in their last game against Auburn.

Rose’s field goal was his third of the game, including a career-best 53-yarder that put Ole Miss up 27-20 early in the fourth quarter.

The Razorbacks (3-5, 2-3) tied the game at 27-27 with 2:09 remaining on a 4-yard touchdown run by Dennis Johnson, who finished with a career-high 161 yards.

However, Rebels quarterback Bo Wallace – who finished with 278 yards passing – directed Ole Miss on an eight-play, 61-yard drive that set up Rose’s game-winning field goal.

This was Ole Miss’ first SEC road win since beating Vanderbilt 23-7 on Oct. 3, 2009.

Wallace completed a career-best 29 passes on a career-high 37 attempts for 278 yards and a touchdown.

One of his favorite targets on the day was junior athlete Randall Mackey, who started as a wide receiver for the first time this year and set career highs with seven receptions and 99 receiving yards.

While Arkansas did amass 464 yards of offense, the Rebel defense came up with some big plays, intercepting Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson twice.  Cornerback Charles Sawyer had one of the two INTs and also blocked a punt near the end of the second quarter that set up the Rebels second touchdown of the game.

It was the first Ole Miss blocked punt since Dustin Mouzon against Alabama in 2007.

Redshirt-freshman LB Denzel Nkemdiche led all Ole Miss tacklers with eight stops and grabbed his second interception of the year to set up a third-quarter field goal drive.

The Rebels, now just one win away from becoming bowl eligible, travel to Athens, Ga., next Saturday to face the Georgia Bulldogs.  Game time will be either 11 a.m. on ESPN or ESPN2 or 2:30 p.m. on CBS.  The official announcement will be made Sunday.