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Even after Georgia did just about whatever it wanted offensively, specifically in the run game, to Arkansas on Saturday, the Hogs are still among college football’s best by the numbers.
And even though Ole Miss achieved almost nothing it wanted offensively, specifically in the run, against Alabama on Saturday, the Rebels are still among college football’s best by the numbers.
Strength, meet strength.
Ole Miss has the No. 3 total offense team in FBS. Quarterback Matt Corral, the Heisman Trophy favorite this year, gets most of his notice throwing the football. He has 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions in four Rebels games. His legs, though, are just as dangerous.
Corral ran for 506 yards last year and already has 161, with six touchdowns, this season.
Arkansas hasn’t faced a quarterback with Corral’s ability to scramble this season. At least, it hasn’t for a full game. Texas quarterback Casey Thompson entered for starter Hudson Card in the Longhorns’ loss to the Razorbacks in Week 2 and subsequently ran for 48 yards and two touchdowns. But at that point, Arkansas was already well in control.
The Hogs did bottle Bijan Robinson, the first-team All-Big 12 running back, in the game, though as he ran for just 69 yards on 19 carries. No Ole Miss back has more than 223 yards.
What the Rebels do have, though, is similar to what Arkansas does in its backfield. Five Ole Miss players have run for at least 80 yards. The same five have at least 15 carries. And that’s not dissimilar to what Georgia does on the ground: a balanced attack with different types of backs doing the attacking.
“They have really good backs,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. “They break tackles and they’re fast. They led (the SEC in rushing) last year. I don’t know where they are as far as in the SEC this year, but they have to be high.”
Arkansas players, coaches and fans have good reason to believe Ole Miss won’t do the same to the Hogs defense as Georgia did, though. The Rebels’ offensive line isn’t nearly as good as the Bulldogs’.
Plus, Arkansas has taste defeat now, too. They don’t want to a second time.
“I think our intensity in practice this week is even (higher),” Arkansas linebacker Bumper Pool said. “But that’s just kind of the way things go when you have a loss. You’ve got to step up and work harder.”