No doubt about it…last year’s game was personal. Expect more of the same this time when the Hogs visit the Ole Miss Rebels Saturday morning. The game is slated for an 11:21 kickoff on the SEC Network.
The yo-yo, up-and-down cycle that is life with Houston Nutt (13-6, 2nd year) is churning wildly down in Oxford these days. Ranked as high as #4 nationally until exposed by South Carolina, the Rebels (4-2) are starting to experience what Razorback fans lived for a decade. I’ll give the Rebel faithful credit, though, they are figuring him out faster than we did…much faster.
It was like going back in time perusing through the Ole Miss message boards after their 22-3 loss to Alabama two weeks ago.
“Why don’t we throw any passes to the middle of the field…it’s wide open?”
“Does the tight end ever catch a pass in this offense?”
“Snead has regressed and we have no passing game.”
“Who is actually calling these high school plays we’re trying to run?”
Last week, Nutt was even asked by the media (to his chagrin) who was calling these plays. Apparently some Rebel fans thought the offensive coordinator, Ole Miss alum Kent Austin, was calling the plays. While that’s a valid assumption, if you know and understand Nutt, it’s actually absurdly funny.
Nutt’s rambling response made it sound like it’s a “group effort.” If things go bad, well, it’s everyone’s fault. If things go good then, of course, “I called that play, brotha!”
Ole Miss is coming off a 48-13 win over a hapless UAB team. For some reason, the Rebels celebrated like they had done something, and believe their offensive troubles are now behind them. Quarterback Jevan Snead threw for 240 yards (season high), and three touchdowns, and was rarely touched or harassed by the Blazers defense.
“That was a good dose of medicine that we needed tonight,” UM coach Houston Nutt said. “I thought Jevan got back on track tonight. That’s the Jevan that we know and that’s going to help. Hopefully, we can take off with that.”
On defense, Ole Miss is fast. They currently rank third in the SEC and eighth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 13.0 points per game. The Rebels are the SEC leader in third down conversion defense, holding the opposition to just a 23.4-percent success rate — a stat to watch during the game given Arkansas’ troubles on third down (26.3%).
Pine Bluff’s own Jesse Grandy is a dangerous return man, averaging 32.7 yards per kickoff return with a touchdown. Kicker Joshua Shene has been solid, hitting all 5 of his field goal attempts. Freshman punter Tyler Campbell (Catholic High School, Little Rock) is averaging 45.2 yards per punt, but has had two blocked.
If the Hogs are to have success Saturday, they’ll need to put pressure on Snead who threw 9 picks in the first 5 games, and contain “Mr. Wild Rebel” Dexter McCluster. Ole Miss’ shaky offensive line play, combined with the Hogs’ improved pass rush (six sacks at Florida), might make for a fun day in Oxford.
I loving reading what opponents are saying…. are we still playing Florida?… I know it was a tough lose… but it's time to move on.
This game does scare me a bit and is certainly not a gimme. It will be interesting to see how we do against another top defense.
The way our d line is playing, Snead should be on his back most of the game.
I'm not worried about Ole Miss except for one thing… a possibility of a Florida hang-over! Without this, we man handle them throughout the whole game.
We should all agree not to discuss anything (it has all been said) regarding last Saturday and focus on the upcoming encounter with Hootie.
Call me stupid but Ol Miss is just the first game in running the table. If we can't beat Ol Miss then last Saturday's game was a fluke and Florida just played a p-poor game.
The HOGS will come out mad as *!>? from last week and PROVE to everyone that it wasn't a fluke. Well…at least I hope
Hogs need to go into Oxford and come out with a W. I think they can run the table but this first game and having all our attention on Ole Miss is the key. We cannot be looking in the rear view mirror at Florida and what could have been.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/275404-arkansa…
Beating Florida in the swamp has mellowed me. I can't be as rabid about old Hooty as I have been in the past, especially seeing him crash and burn with a pretty good team. I thought sure he would have a few more of his own recruits and run off his OC before he really started looking like Hooty. If Orgeron and Cutcliffe only lasted 3 years, at this rate, I figure Hooty probably gets to cash the buyout here pretty soon.
I really like the 360 article,Campus Crunch. I have been talking to people about that for a while now. Petrino is a quality football coach who is only interested in one thing, winning. Frank and Nutty had to win enough to keep their jobs but they were mainly interested in sales. Arkansas football has changed in ways that are fundamentally important. We play to win based on exectution, committment, and sound philosophy. Bobby will settle for nothing less.
Given all of that, it is hard to worry much about poor Hooty. This is just going to be too much fun to spend any time looking back.
One game at a time, only seven more to go.
GolfHog I like the only seven more to go comment. The question is what tier bowl with that seventh game be?
That is the question. The answer; Ole Miss, South Carolina, LSU.
My personal opinion is that Bobby does indeed pull this off and the win over LSU gets you the Capitol One against Ohio State. Some say that a Cotton Bowl game over Oklahoma is better for Texas recruiting.
Those are three tough games. We will need focus and a break or two. That's why I say, one at a time.
I would love to see the Hogs in either of those bowls taking on either of those teams! This game this week will be Huge to see if the team can move on to the next game after a disappointing loss to Ole Miss and get confidence and rolling into the softer 2nd half of the schedule. If they get the win I think that they will be 8-3 going into the game vs LSU and steamrolling well enough that LSU just will not be able to keep up on the scoreboard. But it all starts this weekend!
This game and SC worry me. LSU is waaaaaayyyyyy over rated. Ole Miss has a great defense and SC is playing strong.
Petrino will have em ready this weekend, but Snead can pick apart our secondary if he has time, so the D Line has to be strong….the FL game should have them riding high with confidence.
IMHO, you'll never get Petrino to admit it, but this game probably one of the top 2 important ones for him on the schedule. It's important to Hog fans to whoop up on Nutt, and it's the game that gets all the fan momentum and media on his side. A loss against Ole Miss with Nutt at the helm is not a good thing for Petrino on a number of levels.
Looking at that silly photo makes me wonder if the whole Hooty saga would make a pretty good movie, kind of an anti-hoosiers. Local boy comes home, makes good, becomes involved in local politics with the aging hero and his henchmen; heady success leads to great disappointment and new love with the local news anchor. Brad Pitt could play Gus. Tom Hanks as Hooty. Jack Nicholson as Jim Lindsey. But who could play Frank? Danny? Jerry Jones? Mitch?
This is turning into a Dear Abby gossip site. Some say only women do that but that is not true because we are witnessing it over and over. We must move on. Petrino was to win regardless of whomever is coaching the other team. Wins are important to him. Some on here are sounding like jilted lovers who want revenge. Lighten up! It is just a football game between two colleges. Nothing more and nothing less. Of course for the over paid coaches it can mean a bump up in their benefits to the tune of a million or two. If any of you are players, I apologize, for your whining.
Dear Abby says use your football knowledge rather than moaning about a lost game.