Today is November 18th, and the Ole Miss Rebels (8-2) hit the road to Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks (5-5). Moving on from the heartbreak loss to Alabama will be tough, but is absolutely necessary with two SEC games still remaining. My plan is to recap the game and then officially move on from the Alabama game for good. Now, will I be thinking about it in April, when I’m driving and see an Alabama bumper sticker? Undoubtably! We had them! We had the Tide on the ropes, at home, and we couldn’t finish the job. Our SEC West chances are officially dead, and all we can hope for at this point is to finish the season on a high note with wins over Arkansas and Mississippi State.
With the Alabama hangover still pounding like a drum, it’s important to remind ourselves what is on the line in these last two games. If this were 2026, we may have a chance to work our way into the soon to come 12 team playoff, but it’s not. When thinking of the perception of the program, there’s a BIG difference in going 10-2 and 8-4. Finishing the season strong, and with momentum can be monumental when it comes to recruiting freshmen, transfers, and in this new transfer world, your own players to return. Imagine the recruiting pitch of back to back 10 win seasons, a nice bowl win, and lots to build on. That is something to play for in and of itself! So what else are we playing for? If you’re truly a competitor, that question sounds rhetorical, and the speech isn’t even necessary. You should take pride in everything you do, and if you are going to show up to play football with an Ole Miss helmet on, and your family’s last name on the back of your jersey, you should take great pride in that. These last two games matters a hell of a lot! It matters HOW we compete, HOW we finish, and the PRIDE that we play with. John Wooden, the greatest college basketball coach of all time, said, “Success is never final, failure is never fatal, and it’s courage that counts.” With two games remaining, it is pride and courage that we’ll need to see out of this team to finish the season the way we want to.
So many moments will haunt me from Saturday. To name a few, we launched out of the gate on the opening drive, all for a failed 4th and 2 on the Alabama 12 yard line resulting in 0 points. I understand the analytics, I understand that hindsight is 20/20, but man, I would’ve loved a field goal there. The biggest turning point, however, was just before the half. We got the ball back, up 17-7 with just under 3 minutes remaining. Zach Evans takes a HUGE helmet to helmet blow that left him essentially unconscious in mid air. He lost control of the ball, along with most motor skills, and fell to the ground. Alabama would recover the ball and go on to score on 3rd and goal with 8 seconds left in the half to make it a field goal game. Zach Evans would not return to the game, and we’ve now seen in the LSU game, most of the Texas A&M game, and the Bama second half, what it does to our offense when we don’t have both Evans and Judkins available. Having the 1, 2 punch makes all the difference in the world. It gives both backs the chance to stay fresh, as well as keeps the defense on their toes. I, of course, don’t blame Evans for the fumble, in the same way I don’t blame Laquon Treadwell for the fumble against Auburn in 2015 when he broke his leg. None the less, both were game altering and devastating plays.
Outside of those two slip ups the first half was great! Offense played well, the defense was getting after Bryce Young, and we were forcing punts. Then the second half came, and we couldn’t quite seem to get the offense going again. Part of that is not having Zach Evans, and part is certainly credit to Alabama’s lethal pass rush for getting after Jaxson Dart. Yes, there were some missed calls by officials that played crucial roles in drives, but at the end of the day we had the ball, down 6, in Alabama territory, plenty of time on the clock, and we didn’t score. That is really what the game comes down to. If before the game you would’ve told me that we had that chance, I would’ve said that is all we can ask for! Those are the moments when legends are born, statues are built, history is altered, and we didn’t execute. There are too many what if’s, almost’s, and would’ve could’ve should’ves, but as New York Yankee legend, Yogi Bera, simply puts it, “We made too many wrong mistakes.”
Now, close your eyes, take a deep breathe in, count to three, and exhale. It’s over. Nothing we can do now. On to Arkansas.
If you haven’t paid much attention this year you might look at Arkansas’ record, see they’ve lost 5 games, and think, they’re not any good! We should beat them for sure! As Lee Corso likes to say, “Not so fast my friend”. Going on the road is a very difficult thing to do. The Rebels will have to go TO Razorback Stadium for a hard fought battle on a bone chilling night, as the low on Saturday is 19 degrees. There will be just around 70,000 hogs fans in attendance that would love nothing more than to salvage their season by knocking off the number 14 ranked Rebels in their stadium. We talked about pride and finishing the season on a strong note, well all of that applies to the Razorbacks as well. Arkansas and Ole Miss historically have always had unpredictable and flat out chaotic games. Of course, I remember like yesterday, the 1963 Sugar Bowl, when Ole Miss defeated Arkansas 17-13 to finish the season with a perfect record. Theres the 7x overtime game in 2001 that Eli fell short in, the 4th and 25 game I don’t have the strength to elaborate on, and most recently, the back and forth 52-51 game we won last year in Oxford. The experts in Las Vegas are calling for another close game, as the point spread only favors Ole Miss by 2 points. Last week, we saw #7 LSU went into Fayetteville, after beating Alabama, and was only favored by 3.5 points despite Arkansas starting quarterback, KJ Jefferson, not being available. Those that scoffed at the number, and took the Tigers, got burned, as the Razorbacks would go on to cover the spread without their starting quarterback and lose a close one 13-10. I say that to say, this is a capable football team, and one you can’t overlook them due to their record.
So what happened? If Arkansas is so capable, why do they have 5 losses? They had a tough schedule as their scheduled out of conference games were Cincinnati and on the road and @BYU. They would win both of those games, but after last weeks close loss to LSU, that we already discussed, you have 2 losses that came without your starting quarterback (@MSST and LSU), 1 loss was a total fluke if you actually watched the game (A&M), 1 loss to Alabama (no shame there), and of course the Liberty loss (ugly). You do the math and that’s 5 losses. All in all though, this team is better than their record shows, and KJ Jefferson, the Sardis Mississippi native, is fully expected to play.
KEYS TO VICTORY:
JAXSON DART:
With Zach Evans out, The weight on Jaxson Dart’s shoulders will be a little heavier. Quinshon Judkins has been fantastic this year, but Dart will need to make some big time plays to keep the offense on the field, and keep the chains moving. Playing quarterback in the SEC is NOT easy. It takes time, even for some of the best. Joe Burrow wasn’t Joe Burrow immediately, and Matt Corral was in a quarterback battle with John Rys Plumlee as a sophomore. I preface that before I say that Jaxson Dart looked a bit like the redshirt sophomore, without a great deal of experience, that he is last week. He was quick to panic in the pocket, and he tried to run his way out of trouble too much. While he’ll still need to do damage with his feet, he’ll need to settle into the pocket, keep his eyes downfield, and play with a little more composure than he did last week to win on the road Saturday. I would love to see some quick throws early to get the ball out of Darts hand, gain some confidence, and let the young talent get into a rhythm with some easy throws.
OUR HOGS:
No, not the Razorbacks, I’m talking about the boys in the trenches for the Red and Blue! I just mentioned how Jaxson Dart needs to settle into the pocket, well it’s the O-lines job to make sure there is a pocket in the first place. Arkansas ranks 4th in the country with 35 sacks on the season and had 7 sacks last Saturday against LSU. Arkansas defensive coordinator, Barry Odom, does a great job of finding unique ways to get after the quarterback. Our offensive line will need to bring it’s A game to the gridiron on Saturday night to give Jaxson Dart and the Rebels a good chance.
KEEP THE MAIN THING, THE MAIN THING:
With lots of rumors swirling this week about Lane Kiffin and the job opening at Auburn, it’s important to stay in the present moment. Control what we can control right now! Forget next week, or next year, right now what matters is beating Arkansas. If we don’t give the Razorbacks our full attention, I can all but promise it will show on the scoreboard. I don’t want to touch on the Lane rumors too much for this reason. What I will say is this, there’s a reason that Jimmy Sexton represents all the top coaching names in college football. Jimi Hendrix was born to play the guitar, and Jimmy Sexton was born to play Athletic Directors, media, boosters, and fan bases like a fiddle. Let’s focus on beating Arkansas and let Jimmy Sexton play the fiddle.
SCORE PREDICTION:
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about this one. Ultimately, however, I think Jaxson Dart does take care of business and the Rebels squeak out a close one.
Ole Miss 30
Arkansas 26
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