Ole Miss Visits Arkansas For SEC West Showdown

Wednesday, 18 October 2006

The 13^th ranked (BCS) Arkansas Razorbacks have been taking things one week at a time lately. This Saturday (Oct. 21), the Ole Miss Rebels are on tap. The Hogs (5-1, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) will host the Rebels in a pivotal SEC showdown for both teams. The game will be televised in the Southeast by Lincoln Financial Network and nationally on Yahoo Broadcast. Kickoff will be at 12:30 pm (EDT).

Arkansas is coming off a 63-7 win over Southeast Missouri State Saturday, the largest margin of victory for any Razorback team under Head Coach Houston Nutt.

Arkansas ran the ball effectively against the Redhawks, rushing for a season-high 381 yards in the win and scored five touchdowns on the ground.

Arkansas' league-leading rushing offense (235.2 yards per game) will look to exploit the Rebels, who rank 11th in the league in rushing defense.

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Ole Miss isn't without talent on the defensive side of the ball, however, boasting the SEC leader in tackles in linebacker Patrick Willis.

"We have our hands full on Saturday," Nutt said. "You'll see two of the best linebackers in the league, if not the country. Patrick Willis is a big time linebacker. They played Alabama toe-to-toe and had a chance to win the game. They have gotten better the last three weeks."

Ole Miss (2-5, 1-3) has played better against SEC competition. After an embarrassing loss at Kentucky, the Rebels have lost to Georgia and Alabama by a combined eight points and beat Vanderbilt two weeks ago.

Last week, Ole Miss took Alabama to overtime before falling on a Crimson Tide touchdown pass in the extra frame. Ole Miss lost that game 26-23.

"They went back to the basics of running the ball," Nutt said. "They run right at you with two good backs. They have always played tough defense. Their quarterback gives them a chance; he can move. He can escape problems. He creates plays with good receivers. They are a handful. Their defense has improved [over the last three weeks] and offensively they have improved."

Arkansas is 5-3 against Ole Miss under Nutt, including a 28-17 win on the road last season that marked the Razorbacks' first league win.

Arkansas beat the Rebels in their last trip to Fayetteville, a 35-3 win in 2004.

For the second consecutive week Arkansas had two players go over 100 yards rushing.

Michael Smith had a career and team-high with 118 yards rushing on eight carries, while Felix Jones finished the game with 106 yards on five carries.

Jones broke off the second 80-plus-yard touchdown run of his career with an 85-yard run in the second quarter.

Although Darren McFadden (104.6 yards per game) is leading the SEC in rushing yards for the Hogs, Jones has quietly assumed fifth-place in the league in that category. Jones has ran for 210 yards and two touchdowns in the last two weeks.

The Rebels have struggled on both sides of the ball this season. The Ole Miss defense has allowed the opposition to score more than 20 points in five of seven games this season. The defense even allowed Kentucky - the same Kentucky that is annually at the bottom of the SEC - to put up 31 points on the Rebels.

The Rebels' defense ranks eleventh in the SEC in total defense, and 10th in scoring defense - not good for a team whose coach helped build a solid Southern California defense that helped USC to a few national championships.

However, the offense hasn't been much better, scoring more than 20 points just twice this season, once in the trick-play aided win over Memphis, and again in an overtime loss to Alabama last weekend.

Quarterback Brent Schaeffer, a junior who transferred to Ole Miss after a rocky stay at Tennessee, was expected to help lead an offensive resurgence for the Rebels.

Arkansas has been installed the favorite at a –15 ½ point chalk. This is a tough call but if Arkansas has its running game clicking on all cylinders, Ole Miss will be hard pressed to stop it and the game could get ugly for the Rebels. Take note of the fact that Arkansas beat Auburn on the road by 17.

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