2003 Arkansas vs . Kentucky football game The 2003 Arkansas vs . Kentucky football game was a college football game played on November 1 , 2003 between the University of Arkansas and the University of Kentucky ; it tied a NCAA record for the longest football game ever played . The game included seven overtime periods . Arkansas led the game all but a few minutes of regulation until a Kentucky touchdown drive in the last few minutes . Both teams had a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown , another rarity . The game ended in the seventh overtime period when Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen fumble d the football on a quarterback keeper play , ending the game . Before the game . Coincidentally , Arkansas played a 7 overtime game against Ole Miss on November 3 , 2001 - winning that game 58 - 56 . Arkansas also lost a 6 overtime game to Tennessee in 2002 , 41 - 38 . Former Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt has been recorded as saying about overtime , " Winning is always fun , but when you win in overtime , where your players had to go that extra mile , it ’ s really gratifying and special . " Nutt continued to say , " I always like our chances in overtime . " Kentucky ' s head man Rich Brooks has said of overtime , " [ Nutt has ] obviously been through a lot of them , and when you get through them and know you ’ ve had success and your team knows you ’ ve had success , I think mentally that goes a long ways in helping you get the victory ultimately whether it goes one , two , three , four or seven overtimes . " Kentucky was 1 - 1 in overtime coming into this contest , beating Alabama and losing to Louisville both by the score of 40 - 34 , both being only one overtime affairs . Game summary . First quarter . The game began at 7 : 00 pm eastern time on November 1 , 2003 , but would continue into November 2 . The game opened with three punts before Decori Birmingham ran for a ten yard score for Arkansas to give the Hogs a 7 - 0 lead . Another three punts before Arkansas ' had their punt blocked , to be recovered by Kentucky ' s Andrew Hopewell for a touchdown to tie the game 7 - 7 . Second quarter . Arkansas quarterback Matt Jones threw a 26 yard touchdown strike to Richard Smith to open the scoring in the second period . It wasn ' t long before Arkansas ' special teams returned the favor to Kentucky , blocking a Wildcat punt and scoring to push the Razorback advantage to 21 - 7 . A promising drive was ended when an errant pass by Jared Lorenzen was intercepted by Ahmad Carroll , but the Razorbacks failed to capitalize , missing the 40 yard field goal before heading into the locker room for halftime . Third quarter . The Wildcats came out and scored on the first second half possession , a 51 yard touchdown toss by Lorenzen to fullback Alexis Bwenge , cutting into the Razorbacks cushion . Cedric Cobbs of Arkansas fumbled at the end of the third quarter , but after recovering Kentucky was forced to punt , down 21 - 14 . Fourth quarter . Both teams swapped field goals before Lorenzen hit Chris Bernard to tie the game at 24 . Arkansas had a chance at a game - winning drive with the ball with 1 : 30 left and two timeouts , but the drive ended in a punt with fourteen ticks left on the clock . Overtime . College football overtime differs from overtime in the NFL dramatically . In college football , both teams start on the opponent ' s twenty - five yard line and try to score . These overtimes repeat until a winner is decided . ( The NFL uses a ' sudden death ' format in which the first team to score is the victor . ) This system was adopted in 1996 . First overtime . Birmingham started off the extra frame with three straight rushes and a first down . Matt Jones added an 11 yard completion before fullback Mark Pierce scored from one yard out . Kentucky ' s drive was helped out by Arkansas , with ten and seven yard penalties bringing the Wildcats seventeen of the twenty five yards required to score a touchdown . A two yard touchdown run from Alexis Bwenge , with complete extra point from placekicker Taylor Begley knotted the game at 31 . Second overtime . Kentucky began on the offensive end in the second overtime , and scored on their second play . First , a 18 yard hookup from Lorenzen to Jeremiah Drobney before Alexis Bwenge again scored the go - ahead touchdown to give the Wildcats a 38 - 31 lead . Arkansas ran the ball five times before calling a timeout with a third down on the Kentucky two yard line . Arkansas came out of the time out and committed a penalty costing the Razorbacks five precious yards , but Matt Jones completed his pass across the middle to Jason Peters to force a third overtime which gave the Jason Peters Kentucky overtime goal field . Third overtime . As per NCAA rules , beginning with the third overtime teams must go for a two - point conversion instead of kicking an extra point , but both Arkansas and Kentucky could only manage field goals on their possessions . Matt Jones began with a 13 yard completion , but the Arkansas drive stalled and Chris Balseiro had to kick a 25 yard field goal . Similar to Arkansas ' first overtime drive , Kentucky ran the ball five times before calling a timeout on a third down on the Arkansas two yard line . The Razorback defense kept Ronald ( Rock ) Johnson out of the end zone , forcing a Taylor Begley field goal and tying the game at 41 . Fourth overtime . Lorenzen completed two passes on the drive , and finally ran in for the score in the fourth overtime . The two point play was a Jared Lorenzen completion to Derek Abney . Arkansas moved to the Kentucky two before Matt Jones fumbled . Jones recovered his own miscue . After a timeout , an incomplete Jones pass meant Arkansas must either score on the fourth down play or drop a fourth straight game . Jones scrambled into the end zone , and then completed a pass to Mark Pierce to draw to a 49 - 49 tie heading into the fifth overtime . Fifth overtime . After an 11 yard Birmingham run , Jones slung a 15 yard touchdown pass to take the lead into the fifth overtime , but the two point pass to Wilson was incomplete . , meaning Kentucky had only to score and make the two point conversion to end the game . A two yard run by Derek Abney , followed with a Jared Lorenzen pass across the middle complete to Jeremiah Drobney for 7 yards put the Wildcats in business . " Hefty Lefty " Jared Lorenzen then ran the ball four plays , culminating in fourteen yards total and a touchdown . Tied at 55 , Kentucky attempted the two point play that could have finished the game . The pass to Tommy Cook was incomplete , however , sending the game into a sixth overtime . Sixth overtime . Lorenzen continued his success on the ground with eighteen yards in the sixth overtime , one of his runs a one yard touchdown run . This time , the pass to Tommy Cook was good , giving the Wildcats a 63 - 55 advantage . Matt Jones quickly answered with a sixteen yard pass and seven yard rush , moving the Hog offense to the two . Mark Pierce rumbled the additional two yards to pay dirt , and Arkansas was a two point play away from a seventh overtime . Jones completed the pass to Wilson to knot the game at 63 . Seventh overtime . Matt Jones threw an incomplete pass before Decori Birmingham scored on a 25 yard touchdown run to give the Hogs a 69 - 63 advantage . The all - important two point conversion was a completion to Jason Peters , giving Arkansas a 71 - 63 cushion . Kentucky first completed a pass for twelve yards , but a fourth and three on the Razorback five proved the game winner , as a Lorenzen fumble was recovered by all - SEC linebacker Tony Bua of Arkansas . Aftermath . The game ended at 12 : 01 am on November 2 , 2003 . This game also set an NCAA record for the most points scored in a game ( after 1950 ) . Arkansas scored 47 points in overtime , breaking their own record of 41 . Both teams combined for 86 overtime points , six more than the 2001 seven overtime affair . The game lasted 4 hours and 56 minutes . Players involved . Matt Jones went 16 of 25 passing for 260 yards and three TD ' s , while running for 112 yards and a score . Decori Birmingham , normally a receiver but filling in for injured tailbacks , had 196 yards rushing and two touchdowns for Arkansas . Arkansas wideout George Wilson caught nine passes for 172 yards and a score . For Kentucky , Lorenzen went 28 of 49 , throwing for 326 yards , two touchdowns and one interception . Lorenzen also added 39 rushing yards and three rushing TD ' s to his total . Abney was Lorenzen ' s favorite target , catching ten balls for 91 yards .