I can’t remember the last time that a 38-37 game won on a field goal in the closing seconds put me to sleep so many times.

Did Arkansas incredibly overcome a 31-7 deficit? Or did Ole Miss inexplicably blow a 31-7 lead? Probably both. Either way, the Razorbacks and Rebels are going nowhere in the West. Each is now 3-5 and still jockeying for cellar-dweller status in the division.

Despite Mississippi coach Matt Luke trying to ice him three times, Hogs kicker Connor Limpert split the uprights from 34 yards out — interesting side note: he was 3-for-3 on the icing attempts — to give coach Bret Bielema his first victory in the SEC after trailing double digits at halftime. He’s now 1-12 under those circumstances.

For most of the first half, it looked like Arkansas didn’t bother to show up. But in the second, the Rebs did what they could to give this one away.

Ole Miss held a 9-point lead with about six minutes to play, but quarterback Jordan Ta’amu fumbled a read-option exchange in the backfield. Razorbacks cornerback Kevin Richardson II scooped-and-scored to suddenly make it a 2-point game.

If not for the Rebels playing too loose with the football — the Hogs turned three Mississippi turnovers into 21 points — Arkansas would’ve been dead and buried at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Instead, Bielema and Co. finally got a win in conference play and keep their slim chances at a bowl berth alive. The Rebs have already self-imposed a bowl ban in 2017.

On the bright side, quarterback Cole Kelley played well and gives the Razorbacks some hope for the future at the game’s most important position.

Quarterback Cole Kelley played well and gives the Razorbacks some hope for the future at the game's most important position.

A monster of a young man at 6-foot-7 and 268 pounds, Kelley was 19-of-30 passing for 189 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception, plus he added 22 yards and another TD as a rusher. It was his second start in place of the injured Austin Allen.

That being said, the Hogs remain a complete mess on the other side of the ball. They allowed 566 total yards — 198 on the ground, 368 through the air — to Ole Miss playing its first game without Shea Patterson at QB. Ta’amu, a junior-college transfer, was brilliant for prolonged stretches both throwing and running against Bielema’s new 3-4 scheme.

Also, the Rebels did what they did offensively despite only possessing the ball for 19:29 compared to 40:27 for Arkansas.

The Razorbacks allowed 6.8 yards per rush and 12.3 yards per pass, which are both alarming numbers. Don’t give them too much credit for this comeback victory. Mississippi seemingly went out of its way to let the Hogs hang around for four quarters.

Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

From a big-picture perspective, it’s difficult to decipher what this W does for Bielema and his long-term job security in Fayetteville. There looked to be genuine progress on his watch from Year 1 to Year 2 to Year 3, although 2016 was a bit of a step back in Year 4. Prior to Saturday, Year 5 was much more like his low-water mark in 2013 than his high-water mark in 2015.

Keep in mind that this is a Rebs program in the middle of an NCAA investigation with an interim coach in Luke.

While the game may have been entertaining in terms of yards gained, points scored and last-minute drama, the result will disappear into the ether rather quickly.

Patterson, who has been amazing at times as a field general, is done for the rest of the campaign due to a knee injury. Ole Miss doesn’t bother to run the ball or stop the run. Nevertheless, Ta’amu was electric minus the giveaways.

Anybody suggesting that Bielema has now cooled down the scorching hot seat he was sitting on prior to kickoff hasn’t been paying very close attention. Yes, he’s a good coach and a great personality — always has been, always will be — but even after this triumph his record in league play is 11-26. Fans of the Hogs were expecting more.

Bielema seemed like an odd fit for the SEC when he left Wisconsin in the first place. Perhaps that first instinct was correct.

Back in Oxford, Luke has done little to establish himself as a viable full-time coach. After a 2-0 start against inferior competition, he’s now lost four of five and will be on the road for two of his final three conference games this season.

This is the same exact team it was with Hugh Freeze at the controls, albeit it with less winning and fewer scandals. If the passing game is firing on all cylinders, then the Rebels can be scary and author an upset or two. But there’s little attempt to be balanced offensively — granted, they ran it well facing a weak Arkansas front seven — and don’t play any D.

While the game may have been entertaining in terms of yards gained, points scored and last-minute drama, the result will disappear into the ether rather quickly.

We already knew that Mississippi wouldn’t be playing after Thanksgiving weekend no matter what. Conversely, can the Razorbacks win three of four down the stretch to extend their season? It’s hard to be optimistic after glancing at the schedule.

Coastal Carolina visits Razorback Stadium in Week 10 and shouldn’t put up much of a fight, but then it’s LSU on the road — the Bayou Bengals appear to be trending in the right direction — before a pair of home dates with Mississippi State and Missouri. At the very least, they’ll be heavy underdogs to both LSU and Mississippi State.

The Rebs may have quieted seven days of hot-seat talk by coughing this one up, but Bielema would still be wise to keep his real estate agent’s number handy.