ESPN college football analyst Rece Davis often refers to LSU coach Les Miles as “The Hat.” But Tigers fans had to wonder what was going on under Miles’ ubiquitous ball cap in the final minutes of LSU’s 25-23 loss at Ole Miss.

To recap: Trailing by 2 after recovering an onsides kick, LSU moved to the Ole Miss 32-yard line with 1:04 left. The Tigers were in field goal range for Josh Jasper, who had connected on a 50-yarder in the first half.

Rather than run to set up a potential game-winning kick, offensive coordinator Gary Crowton had QB Jordan Jefferson keep passing — and LSU kept going backwards. Jefferson lost 9 yards on sack and a swing pass lost 7 yards, bringing up a 4th-and-26.

After Miles inexplicably let 17 seconds tick off before calling timeout, Jefferson completed a desperation, 43-yard heave to Terrance Toliver to the 5-yard line with 1 second remaining.

Out of timeouts, Jefferson tried to spike the ball, but the clock had run out. The quotes from the LSU locker room painted a picture of Keystone Cops on the Tigers’ sideline.

“When Terrance caught it, I thought the field goal team was going to come out,” Jefferson told The Shreveport Times. “There was a lot of confusion going on. Nobody knew what to do.”

Jefferson said a graduate assistant who signals in plays motioned for him to spike it. Miles said he did not call for the spike, although TV replays showed Miles motioning for Jefferson to spike the ball.

All in all, not a good day for The Hat.

Scoreboard

Alabama 45, Chattanooga 0
Arkansas 42, Mississippi State 21
Florida 62, Florida International 3
Ole Miss 25, LSU 23
Tennessee 31, Vanderbilt 16
Kentucky 34, Georgia 27

Stoking the Iron Bowl fires

First-year Auburn coach Gene Chizik was 3-0 against Alabama as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator from 2002-04. But Chizik went farther back in the video fault to motivate his team for this week’s game against No. 2 Alabama, dusting off the highlight tape of Auburn’s 30-20 win in the 1989 Iron Bowl.

As is the case this year, the Crimson Tide were undefeated, ranked No. 2 and dreaming of a national championship in 1989 as Alabama visited Jordan-Hare Stadium for the first time. Twenty years later, Auburn players would like to play spoiler again.

“It was good just seeing the whole emotion and Coach Dye giving a speech after the game,” running back Ben Tate told the Huntsville Times. “It was pretty exciting.”

Mallett a one-year wonder?

Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett continues to rewrite the school’s record book in his first season with the Razorbacks — and apparently will continue his assault next season.

After tying his mark with five touchdown passes against Mississippi State — the third time this year he has thrown five TDs — Mallett was asked if he planned to return in 2010 to break the record outright.

“Probably, yeah,” Mallett told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, winking. “We’ll see.”

But Mallett declined to give a more definitive answer about his plans. The Michigan transfer, who leads the SEC in passing and is eighth nationally with 290.5 yards a game, is eligible for the NFL draft because he is three years removed from high school.

After playing the 2007 season at Michigan, Mallett sat out last year after transferring. The 6-foot-7 right-hander has tied or broken 12 records this season, and leads the SEC in three other categories — passing efficiency, touchdown passes (28), and total offense (287.9 yards).

Ugly scene in Oxford

Ole Miss fans were celebrating at the end of the LSU game. But it was a different scene before the game outside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, where 10 Ku Klux Klan members rallied to voice their disapproval of the university’s decision to prohibit the band from playing “From Dixie with Love” during games.

A crowd of more than 200 people shouted at Klan members, whose presence prompted about eight recruits to cancel their visits to Ole Miss last weekend.

“I was really disappointed that some of them didn't show,” Rebels coach Houston Nutt said. “I think a couple had been on campus before. I'm in my second year, and this is the least racial ... This is a wonderful community.”

By the numbers

7 — Career punt returns for touchdowns for Alabama senior Javier Arenas, an SEC record. Arenas set the mark with a 66-yard score against Chattanooga.

17 — Seconds that LSU let run off the clock before it called timeout with nine seconds remaining before a fourth-and-26 play against Ole Miss.

227 — Georgia’s edge in total yards in a loss to Kentucky, which took advantage of four second-half turnovers by the Bulldogs to win in Athens for the first time in 32 years.

Quote of the week

“It’s the one time in my life and most of these guys on this team’s life that you can dictate what a million people are going to feel like when they wake up the morning after the Iron Bowl," – Auburn tight end Tommy Trott.

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