FAYETTEVILLE -- It’s hard to believe that a game which included a pair of 300-yard passers and nearly 1,000 yards of total offense was decided by a late defensive stand. Especially considering how Arkansas’ defense has collapsed in the final minutes of some of its more deflating losses this season.

After using its hurry-up, no-huddle offense to move downfield, all No. 19 Tulsa needed Saturday was five more yards to remain in the BCS race and spoil Arkansas’ Homecoming weekend. But the Hogs stood their ground near the goal line, stopping the Golden Hurricane on three consecutive plays in the final two minutes to preserve a 30-23 win before 70,021 in Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

“I was ecstatic. I was like, ‘Man, this is really going our way,’” Arkansas nose tackle Ernest Mitchell said. “You know, we always plan on being underdogs and that stuff not going our way.”

With the win, the Razorbacks (4-5, 1-4 Southeastern Conference) snapped a two-game losing streak and kept their hopes of becoming bowl eligible alive.

Arkansas’ defensive players shouldn’t have any problem finding areas to get corrected after allowing Tulsa to erase a 17-point first-quarter deficit and gain 528 yards of total offense. But Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson wasn’t concerned with any of that. What mattered more to him was that his defense — which was depleted after losing several starters to injuries — held its own in the final minutes of a wild game that lasted 3 hours, 30 minutes.

“The bottom line is people are going to look at the score and see 30-23,” Robinson said. “If somebody’s interested in stats, they can go ahead and look at the stats.”

Despite gaining 299 yards in the second half, the Golden Hurricane (8-1) managed just a 22-yard field goal that tied the score at 23-23 with 36 seconds left in the third quarter.

“We came out there and hit them in the mouth and showed them what our defense and the SEC is all about,” Arkansas safety Matt Harris said.

Instead of settling for a field goal that would have extended Arkansas’ lead to 10, coach Bobby Petrino called for quarterback Casey Dick to attempt a pass into the end zone with a little more than 3 minutes remaining. Tulsa cornerback Roy Roberts intercepted the throw intended, giving the Golden Hurricane’s top-ranked offense one more chance to take the field.

“We called a run and then came back and said, ‘Hey, let’s take a shot for a touchdown to win the game. (If it’s) not there, throw it away,’” Petrino said. “And he threw the interception.”

It was one of the few bad throws by Dick, who was named the Crip Hall Award winner as Arkansas’ top senior after completing 25-of-38 yards for a career-high 385 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Tulsa quarterback David Johnson responded by completing three consecutive passes of 11, 20 and 33 to get the Golden Hurricane a first down at the Arkansas 12. But Tulsa co-offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, the former Springdale High coach, got conservative with his playcalling in the final two minutes.

After a 7-yard run by Damaris Johnson, Tulsa’s A.J. Whitmore was stopped by Harris for 1-yard gain and then a 3-yard loss after taking the direct snap on a pair of Wildcat plays.

The Razorbacks then preserved the victory by forcing David Johnson into throwing an incomplete pass out of the back of the end zone on fourth-and-5 with 41 seconds left.

“We’ve been pretty successful in (the Wildcat formation). Obviously, you look back and say, ‘Wow, it didn’t work,’ but we felt good about it going in,” Malzahn said. “A.J. has a knack of getting through there, but (the Razorbacks) played very good defense right there.”

Heading into Saturday, Tulsa boasted the nation’s top-ranked offense, averaging 601.1 yards and 55.6 points per game. But the Golden Hurricane were held to 73 yards and 32 points below its season average.

And Tulsa came up short at the end.