Tag: Arkansas Ole Miss

Can Arkansas finally end the losing streak or will Ole Miss cruise to another win? Three reasons each can happen

Need reasons to believe in Arkansas this week? You’ve come to the right place! Here are three reasons they can and can’t beat Ole Miss.

We’re getting to the part of the year where every game is the “most important” of [autotag]Arkansas football[/autotag]’s season. The Hogs enter Saturday’s contest against No. 16 Ole Miss with a 2-3 record overall and 0-2 start in SEC play

Rightfully so, there’s not a lot of optimism or faith in Arkansas to go down to Oxford and knock off the red-hot Rebels. Factor in that Ole Miss is right back in the thick of the SEC West race and has everything to play for – it gets harder to see the Hogs walking out of Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium with a win.

That said, out of Arkansas’ first four SEC opponents this year – LSU, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Alabama – they match up best with the Rebels. Yes, Ole Miss has an incredible offense, but there’s more than just a few question marks on the other side of the ball.

While it may be a longshot, there’s more than one reason to believe in Arkansas on Saturday – despite your feelings on the season so far. Here’s a closer look at three reasons the Hogs can beat Ole Miss and three reasons they won’t.

Ole Miss has little to fear from Arkansas, save a spoiling

Rebels’ faithful aren’t concerned with Arkansas. Hogs could use that to their advantage.

Denizens of the greater Memphis area just south of the city have little concern about Saturday’s Ole Miss game against Arkansas.

In fact, down around Oxford, the Rebels faithful are looking at the Razorbacks as the first in a stretch of four straight in which the their favorite team will be favored by a hefty margin.

Ole Miss is more than a 10-point favorite against Arkansas in their game Saturday night. Games against Auburn, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M follow, the last two of which are at home.

The stretch is one that, if it goes for the Rebels, will see the team back in the hunt for an SEC West crown, even despite the team’s loss to Alabama two weeks back.

For Arkansas, Ole Miss is a the third team in a stretch of four games in which the Razorbacks were always going to be underdogs. They’ve lost the first two to LSU and Texas A&M, unsurprisingly.

But it’s the loss to Brigham Young in Week 3 that has spirits lowered in the Natural State. And it’s also, perhaps, the biggest reason for the point-spread Saturday.

If Arkansas can embrace not only the underdog role, but also harness the back-against-the-wall aggression necessary to keep legitimate bowl hopes alive, beating the Rebels, not just the point-spead is possible.

And not a soul is thinking about it down Misssissippi way.

Expect madness Saturday: Ole Miss has been Arkansas’ best rival in recent years

Both fan bases think their program is superior to than the other. But the reality is they’re about the same.

The last 15 years worth of games between Arkansas and Ole Miss have provided some the best moments in the rivalry between the flagship schools of the border states.

Arkansas could especially use some of those great moments to snap out of a funk that has the Razorbacks as an afterthought in the SEC. They haven’t been bad enough to panic about – save for a small portion of the fan base – and they clearly aren’t terribly good, either. Not yet, anyway, on either count.

The two most memorable games during that span, of course, were the Hunter Heave in 2015 and Ole Miss’ 52-51 win in 2021 that resulted in a combined 41 points in the fourth quarter.

Arkansas owns six wins in the last 10 meetings between the team and the two have split the last four games with each team winning at home. The Razorbacks last won in Oxford, the site of Saturday’s game, in 2017, during the year that ended with coach Bret Bielema fired. It was the Hogs’ one SEC win during the season.

An Ole Miss victory would keep the Rebels in the SEC West title conversation, though a loss to Alabama two weeks ago leaves the Rebels’ margin for error small. An Arkansas victory would return the Razorbacks to .500 and inject some hope to a beleaguered fan base, some of which have already written off the season.

Kick from Vaught-Hemingway Stadium is at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Sam Pittman wishes he had what Lane Kiffin does

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has just about mastered the Twitter (X) space. Sam Pittman admires that.

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman made some waves last week when he spoke out about the dangers of social media as it applies to mental health. Now, with Ole Miss next on the slate, Pittman will be facing perhaps the modern-day king of social media in the college football realm in Rebels coach Lane Kiffin.

Most coaches, Pittman said, use social media, specifically X (formerly known as Twitter) largely as a recruiting tool. Coaches are their job personalities online for the most part. That isn’t the case with Kiffin, who at SEC Media Days over the summer, divulged his approach to the online space.

“I just started it and I was like I kind of want to feel like a normal person and comment just like if I was a normal person, or retweet things without having a meeting with my SID before where we figure out whether this is a proper thing to tweet that everybody will like and stuff,” Kiffin said.

Pittman rarely tweeted things that weren’t re-tweets. And his more old-school approach – Pittman is 61 versus Kiffin’s age of 48 – reflects his ambivalence to social media. Part of the reason the Arkansas coach removed his account on X was because of the hateful messages he and his players often received, some of which had nothing to do with football.

Kiffin, meanwhile, will give it right back to fans on occasion. It’s an approach that’s earned him equal amounts of respect and animus.

“He’s great at it. I look at coach Kiffin in that as he just doesn’t care. I don’t know. I can’t speak for the man,” Pittman said. “But if somebody says something to him, he’ll come right back. I bet it doesn’t bother him an ounce. If he wants to make a joke on there about something. I think he’s special. He has a special gift there that I don’t think it bothers him.”

Pittman, meanwhile, has yet to re-activate his account, even against the advice of his football communications’ staff. He said he would probably be forced to, eventually, but don’t expect him to be anything like the Ole Miss coach.

“He just goes with it and obviously I wish I had that ability. I don’t,” Pittman said. “But I respect how he handles all that. He takes some jabs and I think it’s all in good nature, though.”

Lost in Arkansas’ struggles? Hogs defense has been good

Great? Heavens no. But better than Arkansas’ record would make it appear. And they’ll need to be again Saturday to beat Ole Miss.

Trivia question for Arkansas fans.

What was the last season in which the Arkansas defense was ranked in the top 50 in total defense?

Give up? No, really, give up.

The answer isn’t two seasons ago when the Razorbacks won nine games. It isn’t the good-until-the-collapse-at-the-end team of 2015. But it is the one before it, a season that, still, holds as Arkansas’ most successful of the last 10 years.

The 2023 Arkansas defense isn’t going to be as good as the 2014’s No. 10 ranking that season. Right now, however, even with three straight losses, the Hogs have the No. 48 defense in FBS. For that record, that’s one spot worse than the team had in 2011 when the team went 11-2.

The trick going forward, the trick to snapping the losing streak, is to keep it going against Ole Miss on Saturday. The Rebels will enter with the No. 8 team in total offense. Where that gets tricky is with big plays.

The Rebels have had 42 plays go for 20 yards or more this season, a mark that puts them second in FBS, just one behind Washington. Arkansas’ defense has been susceptible to such plays, giving up 26 to rank 101st. Pittman knows the Hogs have to limit them to win.

“That may be limiting (to five, to three. They’re going to get some. You know it. I know it. Everybody knows it. It can’t be 10. It can’t be 12.”

Much like the team’s offense has struggled in the same way – they can’t seem to get big plays at a high enough clip – a small tweak there and Arkansas is sitting 4-1 instead of 2-3.

Pittman is counting on it changing.

“Can’t let them get behind us. LSU obviously did,” he said. “I’m confident in our defense and I think they’re making huge strides as the season goes on.”

Sam Pittman knows something is wrong, so he’s changing things up

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Only reverse it. Arkansas’ offensive line is broken, so Sam Pittman is trying to fix it.

The Arkansas offensive line has taken most of the heat for the Razorbacks’ struggles on that side of the ball. Most damning have been their inability to keep quarterback KJ Jefferson from being sacked.

Coach Sam Pittman, a former offensive line coach himself, knows this. And after five weeks of making small changes, he’s making a bigger one – at least one bigger one – heading into Saturday’s game at Ole Miss.

“I think we’re going to look at some different scenarios up front,” Pittman said. “There’s a difference in panic and a difference in really, really reviewing what we’re trying to do and who’s trying to do it. We may shake up the offensive line a little bit.”

Specifically, tackle Patrick Kutas is moving to center, center Beaux Limmer moving to guard, guard Brady Latham moving to tackle and running back Dominique Johnson moving to tight end. None of those are guaranteed moves, Pittman said, but when referenced, the coach acknowledged.

“I don’t know that we can continue to do the same things and say ‘well, we’re just going to get better at them,'” Pittman said. “I think we’ve got to shuffle some things up to maybe ignite a spark into us.”

Arkansas’ 18 sacks allowed rank the Razorbacks in a tie for 121st worst in the 133-team FBS. The number would be shocking, except Arkansas has two All-SEC returners in Limmer and Latham, so shuffling is what Pittman believes is one of the best courses of action.

“I think we do have good players. We just have to play better and coach better,” he said.

No surprise: No. 16 Ole Miss the heavy favorites over Arkansas on Saturday

It should come as no surprise that ESPN’s FPI predictor continues to have the Hogs as big underdogs entering Saturday’s game at Ole Miss.

When the Arkansas Razorbacks (2-3, 0-2 SEC) travel to Oxford to take on the No. 16 Ole Miss Rebels (4-1, 1-1 SEC), they will be heavy underdogs.

The ESPN FPI predictor give the Hogs just an 18% chance to upset the red hot Rebels on Saturday night. This will be the third-straight game that the Hogs will be heavily favored to lose. They were given just an 11.5% chance to beat LSU on the road and a 27.1% chance to beat Texas A&M in Dallas.

As we know, Arkansas failed to win either of those contests, so it’s probably fair to give them a slim chance to do the same this week.

The Ole Miss Rebels were able to bounce back from a disappointing road loss to Alabama two weeks ago with a huge win over LSU this past Saturday. They’ll enter this week’s matchup with much to play for and a lot of momentum.

It has the makings for another entertaining game, as the last time the Hogs traveled to Oxford the lost to the Rebels in a dramatic shootout, 52-51. That game came down to the final play, where [autotag]KJ Jefferson [/autotag]found Warren Thompson in the back of the endzone as time expired. Arkansas opted to go for two to try and win, but ultimately failed and the Rebels got the win.

Arkansas’ All-SEC cornerback questionable for Saturday’s game at Ole Miss

Dwight McGlothern is questionable against the Rebels. Defensive end John Morgan III is probable after being carted off against A&M.

Arkansas cornerback Dwight McGlothern has maintained his status as one of the best players on the Razorbacks roster in 2023. When he was lost Saturday against Texas A&M, Arkansas’ chances took a hit with it.

McGlothern was removed from the game against the Aggies early with what coach Sam Pittman called after the game a concussion. As of Monday, Pittman said there’s a possibility McGlothern misses the team’s Week 6 game against Ole Miss, as well.

The junior is in his second season with the Razorbacks after transferring from LSU. McGlothern had 52 tackles with four interceptions, 10 pass break-ups and two forced fumbles last year in earning All-SEC second-team honors. His return and the injection of three starters via the transfer portal have made Arkansas’ pass defense in 2023 miles better than in 2022.

Last year, the Hogs were dead last in FBS in allowing 295 yards a game. Through five games this year, Arkansas is 67th, giving up just 227. McGlothern has nine tackles and two interceptions so far in 2023.

Pittman also said defensive end John Morgan III is probable for the game against Ole Miss. Morgan was carted off the field after what appeared to be an upper-body injury in the second half of Arkansas’ loss to Texas A&M.

Arkansas and Ole Miss are set to kick off at 6 p.m. Saturday night.

First place in SEC West? First place in SEC West. Diamond Hogs prove they’re for real

Arkansas doesn’t appear to be amazing at anything. Just awfully good everything.

No, dear fan, Arkansas’ two-games-to-one series win over Ole Miss over the weekend isn’t what makes the Diamond Hogs one of the best teams in the country. The defending champs are that, yes, but they’re mired at the bottom of the SEC, too.

What makes Arkansas a legitimate national title contender (again) is the way the Razorbacks beat Ole Miss on the weekend. A 6-4 late-innings clincher victory was just the latest in stylings from coach Dave Van Horn’s bunch.

With the game tied at three into the seventh, Tavian Josenberger and Peyton Stovall hit back-to-back RBI singles to prove Arkansas a two-run lead. Jacob Gonzalez, perhaps the nation’s best player, pulled the Rebels within one in the bottom of the inning before Kendall Diggs’ RBI single in the eighth provided the Razorbacks some insurance.

The most impressive part was Arkansas’ bullpen. It’s beleaguered this season, but Dylan Carter and Gage Wood combined to give up just two runs and strike out four in 4 1/3 innings. Not the stuff of legends, but a positive sign for a team whose pitching needed it.

The No. 5 Razorbacks are back in Fayetteville for a two-game set with Little Rock on Tuesday and Wednesday before Tennessee visits Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

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How to watch, stream, listen to Arkansas baseball vs. Ole Miss – Game 3

Arkansas can sit alone in first-place with a win in the finale against Ole Miss.

The rubber match between Arkansas and Ole Miss is set to be played as originally scheduled Saturday when the teams meet at 2 p.m. from Oxford.

Game 1 was washed out Thursday, so the defending champs hosted the Diamond Hogs for a doubleheader on Friday. Arkansas took the first one with ease before a big inning helped the Rebels tie the series.

Heading into the finale, Arkansas was tied atop the SEC West with LSU, though the Tigers own the tiebreaker via winning the series, two games to one, earlier. Ole Miss was tied at the bottom of the division with Magnolia State rival Mississippi State.

Arkansas could take a half-game lead over LSU with win. The Tigers’ game against South Carolina was canceled and no make-up date was known, which could yield an uneven final record at season’s end.

Here’s how you can watch Ole Miss and Arkansas’ final game.