> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.grumpybuck.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # On This Date: Arkansas Beats Ole Miss in 7 Overtimes (Nov. 3, 2001) - URL: https://www.grumpybuck.com/on-this-date-arkansas-beats-ole-miss-in-7-overtimes-nov-3-2001/ - Published: 2026-11-03T12:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T12:00:00.000Z - Description: On Nov. 3, 2001, Arkansas beat Ole Miss 58-56 in 7 overtimes, then the longest game in college football history, despite 6 TD passes from Eli Manning. - Author: Brad Riddell - Tags: Sports History, On This Date, College Football Eli Manning won 2 Super Bowls and threw for more than 57,000 yards in the NFL. In college, he once threw 6 touchdown passes in a game and lost. On Nov. 3, 2001, Arkansas beat Ole Miss 58-56 in Oxford, Mississippi. It took 7 overtimes and more than 4 hours, and at the time it was the longest game in the history of college football. ![“Hogs outlast Rebs in 7 OTs.” (The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss., Nov. 4, 2001, p. 1A, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c09-3.jpg) “Hogs outlast Rebs in 7 OTs.” (The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss., Nov. 4, 2001, p. 1A, via Newspapers.com) ## 17-17 Neither team looked like it was about to make history. Arkansas came in 4-3, and Ole Miss was 6-1 behind Manning, a sophomore who was already the most famous quarterback in the SEC because of his last name. ![Eli Manning at Ole Miss.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/manning_throws.jpg) Eli Manning at Ole Miss. It was 7-7 at halftime and 17-17 at the end of regulation. ![Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford. (Photo: Pilot MKN, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/vaught_night.jpg) Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford. (Photo: Pilot MKN, [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0?ref=grumpybuck.com), via Wikimedia Commons) ## The Rules College football had only started using overtime in 1996\. Each team got the ball at the other team’s 25-yard line, one possession apiece. Starting with the 3rd overtime, teams had to go for 2 after every touchdown. ## 7 Overtimes In the 1st overtime, Cedric Cobbs ran 16 yards for a touchdown on 4th-and-1, and Arkansas led 24-17\. Ole Miss faced 4th-and-6 from the 11\. Manning threw a touchdown pass to Jason Armstead to tie it. In the 2nd, Manning fumbled at the 3, and Arkansas only needed a field goal to win. Brennan O’Donohoe missed it from 35 yards, wide right. ![The overtime-by-overtime scoring. (The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss., Nov. 4, 2001, p. 4D, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c04-6.jpg) The overtime-by-overtime scoring. (The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss., Nov. 4, 2001, p. 4D, via Newspapers.com) From there it turned into a 2-point contest, and nobody could make one. Arkansas scored and missed. Ole Miss scored and missed. In the 3rd, 4th and 5th overtimes, the 2 teams traded 6 touchdowns and missed all 6 conversions. Arkansas’s offense was a freshman named Matt Jones, who came off the bench to run for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns and throw for another. He’d later become a 1st-round NFL draft pick, as a wide receiver. The Razorbacks had 3 different 100-yard rushers: Fred Talley had 113 yards, Jones 110 and Cobbs 100. ![“Hogs In 7th Heaven.” Freshman Matt Jones runs for a touchdown. (Times Record, Fort Smith, Ark., Nov. 4, 2001, p. 1D, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c08-8.jpg) “Hogs In 7th Heaven.” Freshman Matt Jones runs for a touchdown. (Times Record, Fort Smith, Ark., Nov. 4, 2001, p. 1D, via Newspapers.com) In the 6th overtime, Ole Miss finally made a 2-pointer and led 50-42\. Arkansas scored, and Jones rolled left, nearly ran out of bounds and threw a wobbly pass to the back of the end zone. Tight end Jason Peters came down with it to tie the game, 50-50\. Peters went on to an NFL career of nearly 20 years, as an offensive tackle. “I knew we could score a touchdown every time,” Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said. “I was just worrying about what play to call for the two-point conversions.” ![Arkansas coach Houston Nutt.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/nutt_headset.jpg) Arkansas coach Houston Nutt. ## The Last Play In the 7th overtime, Arkansas got the ball first. Mark Pierce scored on 4th-and-1 from the 2, his 3rd touchdown of the game. Jones threw to Decori Birmingham for the 2-point conversion, and Arkansas led 58-50. Manning answered with his 6th touchdown pass, to Armstead from the 3\. It was 58-56, and Ole Miss had to go for 2 to tie. Manning threw to tight end Doug Zeigler, who’d had a career night. Arkansas linebacker Jermaine Petty tackled him at the 2. ![“INCREDIBLE!” (The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss., Nov. 4, 2001, p. 1D, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c01-11.jpg) “INCREDIBLE!” (The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss., Nov. 4, 2001, p. 1D, via Newspapers.com) The game had started at 6:06 p.m. It ended at 10:20. “During the third and fourth overtimes, I was thinking let’s just blow the whistle and say ‘boys, let’s go to the house,’” Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe said. ![Manning and Cutcliffe on the Ole Miss sideline.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/manning_cutcliffe.jpg) Manning and Cutcliffe on the Ole Miss sideline. ![Cutcliffe tries to encourage his players. (The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss., Nov. 4, 2001, p. 4D, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c06-8.jpg) Cutcliffe tries to encourage his players. (The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss., Nov. 4, 2001, p. 4D, via Newspapers.com) ## The Records The 2 teams combined for 198 plays, an NCAA record, along with 988 yards and 114 points, 80 of them in overtime. Manning finished 27 of 42 for 312 yards and a school-record 6 touchdowns. “I don’t think there’s ever been a game like that,” he said. ![A commemorative ball listing the game’s NCAA records. (Photo: PCN02WPS, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/record_football_c.jpg) A commemorative ball listing the game’s NCAA records. (Photo: PCN02WPS, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0?ref=grumpybuck.com), via Wikimedia Commons) ![“Seventh Heaven: Overtime in Oxford,” the Razorbacks’ video of the game.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/seventh_heaven_vhs.jpg) “Seventh Heaven: Overtime in Oxford,” the Razorbacks’ video of the game. ![“Manning Tough Customer.” (Times Record, Fort Smith, Ark., Nov. 4, 2001, p. 7D, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c10-7.jpg) “Manning Tough Customer.” (Times Record, Fort Smith, Ark., Nov. 4, 2001, p. 7D, via Newspapers.com) ![The line score and team totals. (The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss., Nov. 4, 2001, p. 4D, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c03-7.jpg) The line score and team totals. (The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss., Nov. 4, 2001, p. 4D, via Newspapers.com) Arkansas would play another 7-overtime game 2 years later, a 71-63 win at Kentucky. In 2021, after a run of marathon games, the NCAA changed the rules again: starting in the 3rd overtime, teams now trade 2-point plays instead of full possessions. ![Arkansas at Kentucky in 2003, its 2nd 7-overtime game in 3 seasons.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/ark_kentucky_2003.jpg) Arkansas at Kentucky in 2003, its 2nd 7-overtime game in 3 seasons. ![“Hogs Take Bluegrass Marathon.” Arkansas’s 2nd 7-overtime game. (Times Record, Fort Smith, Ark., Nov. 2, 2003, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c12-4.jpg) “Hogs Take Bluegrass Marathon.” Arkansas’s 2nd 7-overtime game. (Times Record, Fort Smith, Ark., Nov. 2, 2003, via Newspapers.com) And the Arkansas coach that night, Houston Nutt? A few years later he was the head coach at Ole Miss.