During my four years at the University of Arkansas, I had a chance to witness some great games thanks to a lanky and elusive quarterback named Matt Jones. Jones, who moonlighted as a basketball forward with the Razorbacks and now is a wide receiver for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, participated in three of the longest games in college football history -- seven-overtime affairs against Kentucky and Ole Miss and one six-overtime marathon against Tennessee (I wasn't there for the first two but I was in Knoxville for the last one -- Jones' only loss in the four overtime games he played). The man liked to run around and sixty minutes of football apparently didn't sate his appetite.

 'I've got it.'

But as much as Jones is remembered for his ability to improvise and make plays with his feet, his most memorable moment (and my personal favorite) with the Hogs was a 31-yard touchdown pass to DeCori Birmingham with nine seconds left that gave Arkansas a 21-20 win over LSU and the opportunity to go to the 2002 Southeastern Conference championship game. It was the most electrifying conclusion to a sporting event I witnessed in person and I was fortunate enough to see the play on the sidelines. At the time, I was working for The Arkansas Traveler, the campus newspaper for the university. I was well aware that Jones had a flair for the dramatic. He rescued Arkansas time and time again. For instance, Jones came off the bench in the fourth quarter in the seven-overtime thriller wth Ole Miss in 2001 and amassed 171 yards of total offense. But in that game he led the Hogs to a win mostly by using his legs.

This time he had no time to outrun LSU's defense. There were 34 seconds left on the clock and the Razorbacks were 81 yards away from the endzone with no timeouts in hand. Before that drive, Jones was having a horrible day. He was 2-of-13 passing and the Tigers' defense was giving Arkansas fits. LSU led 17-7 at with 5:34 to go in the third quarter and there was no sign that the Razorbacks were going to break out of their offensive malaise. But with less than seven minutes left in regulation, Arkansas' diminutive tailback Fred Talley burst through a seam and scampered 56 yards for a touchdown to cut LSU's lead to three, 17-14. By that point, however, some fans had left Little Rock's War Memorial Stadium. They would end up being sorry. After LSU drove down and kicked a field goal to increase its advantage to six points, the Razorbacks retrieved the ensuing kickoff and returned the ball to the 19-yard-line with less than 35 seconds on the clock.

That is when the so-called "Miracle on Markham" took place. Jones, whose throwing mechanics were somewhat unorthodox, was going to have to start chucking the ball. After completing only two of the thirteen passes he attempted, this did not seem like an ideal scenario. But he didn't seem to mind. Arkansas coach Houston Nutt later recalled that the 6-6 quarterback with blazing speed was whistling when Nutt told him the plays Arkansas was going to run with little time left. Jones, displaying an attitude more befitting of Joe Namath, simply said, "I've got it."

Sure enough, he did. On the first play of the drive, Jones connected with wide receiver Richard Smith for a 50-yard completion. Smith found a hole in LSU's porous prevent defense and caught Jones' spiral while the Tigers' defensive backs were asleep. The crowd climbed to its feet and 55,000 spectators were yelling in unison. The Razorbacks charged to the line of scrimmage. A play after Jones was unable to hook up with wide receiver Carlos Ousley, Jones dropped back and heaved a pass that would have made Peyton Manning do a double-take.

Meanwhile, Birmingham, who played running back and flanker, was in the slot and ran a post play to the endzone. By the time he arrived there, he was greeted by two defenders that sandwiched him. It appeared there was no way the ball was going to arrive at its intended destination. And then it did. As Birmingham dove and crashed into the turf, it landed in his gut. The game was tied 20-20, and mass hysteria broke out at War Memorial Stadium, where the fans were ready to celebrate. So were the players, and moments after Birmingham scored the touchdown, they spilled onto the field to embrace the heroes. The referees took note and assessed the Razorbacks a 15-yard celebration penalty.

With kicker David Carlton's sure-thing extra point attempt now a 35-yard try, every Arkansas fan was suddenly overcome by nervousness. Carlton didn't do much to ease their worries when he uncurled his leg. After he made contact, the ball spun like a boomerang and barely snuck inside the left post.

When the two referees raised their arms high in the air to indicate the kick was good, the fans went into pandemonium and Arkansas had a 21-20 lead. With less than 10 seconds left, LSU's quarterback Marcus Randall needed to pull off his own miracle. But it didn't happen. He was sacked to end the game, and Arkansas was ready to pack its bags for Atlanta, while Jones had etched his name in Razorback history...yet again.