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Bret Bielema speaks about exciting Ole Miss win, upcoming showdown with LSU

Christian Malone

By Christian Malone

Published:

Arkansas had one of college football’s most exciting wins this weekend, and head coach Bret Bielema had plenty to say about it at his Monday press conference.

The Razorbacks defeated then-No. 19 Ole Miss 53-52 in overtime. Arkansas had an improbable fourth-and-25 conversion in overtime, then after scoring a touchdown, chose to go for the two-point conversion and the win. Then a facemask penalty gave them a second chance on the two-point conversion, and quarterback Brandon Allen ran the ball in from the 1-yard line for the win.

The Razorbacks got a lot of attention for the fourth-and-25 conversion. On the play, tight end Hunter Henry caught a pass from Allen about 10 yards short of the first down. Henry turned upfield, but when he saw he was about to be tackled short of the marker, he blindly threw a lateral and hoped for the best. The ball bounced on the turf and was picked up by running back Alex Collins, who sprinted 29 yards for a first down that kept the drive – and the game – going.

Henry’s lateral had bounced near Collins and offensive tackle Dan Skipper. Bielema joked that he was relieved that Collins, a 1,000-yard rusher, was the one who picked the ball up and ran with it, instead of Skipper, a 331-pound tackle.

Someone asked Arkansas’ coach if the two-point conversion was going to be a “win or lose play.” Bielema replied it was going to be a “win play;” he didn’t think about the other part of that equation.

Bielema said offensive coordinator Dan Enos knew the right plays to call when the offense needed to make a big play.

To score 53 points, a lot of offensive players have to play well. That’s why several players shared this week’s Offensive Most Valuable Player award. Allen, guard Denver Kirkland and wide receivers Drew Morgan, Dominique Reed and Jared Cornelius were all chosen Offensive MVPs.

Allen had another big game for the Razorbacks, throwing for 442 yards and six touchdowns. Bielema said his quarterback is playing extremely well.

Morgan caught nine passes for 122 yards and three touchdowns.

This was the third game in a row that the Razorbacks had scored at least 50 points. Arkansas defeated Auburn 54-46 in quadruple overtime on Oct. 24, then routed Tennessee-Martin 63-28 on Oct. 31.

Kevin Richardson, a former walk-on, was the team’s Defensive MVP. The sophomore cornerback led the Razorbacks with 10 tackles, seven of them solo, on Saturday.

Bielema feels Arkansas needs to play better on defense, which is understandable, since it just gave up 52 points to Ole Miss two days ago.

One area that Bielema was disappointed with was the Razorbacks’ pass rush. He said they missed multiple opportunities to sack Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly, some of them on third down.

This week, Arkansas must travel to Baton Rouge, La. to face No. 9 LSU. The Tigers (7-1) suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday, falling 30-16 to No. 3 Alabama. Like many people, Bielema considers LSU one of the toughest teams in the SEC.

Arkansas’ coach knows his team must find a way to slow down the nation’s leading rusher, LSU star Leonard Fournette.

The winner of the Arkansas-LSU game gets a boot-shaped trophy. That trophy is currently sitting in Fayetteville, thanks to a 17-0 Razorbacks victory last year, and Bielema says the team would like to keep it another year.

Bielema said there were no serious injuries on Saturday.

The coach said the plane ride back from Ole Miss to Fayetteville was great.

Bielema started the press conference by expressing his condolences to Mississippi State for the loss of Keith Joseph Jr. Joseph, a freshman defensive lineman, was killed in a car accident last Friday while headed home to Pascagoula, Miss. to watch his high school team play. Joseph’s father, a former Mississippi State linebacker, also died in the crash.

Christian Malone

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