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Hog Reaction – Arkansas falls to Ole Miss 27-20
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Hogs’ coach Sam Pittman still just trying to get a win after loss
With Razorbacks floundering now with four straight losses, three in the SEC West, he’s getting antsy to beat anybody.
KJ Jefferson, Ty Washington on Hogs’ loss to Ole Miss
Quarterback frustrated in final trip to play closest to his hometown of Sardis, Miss., tight end breaking into spotlight.
Hogs’ defensive players recapping 27-20 loss at Ole Miss
Jaheim Thomas and Jayden Johnson on defensive problems on road in fourth straight loss, third in SEC to Rebels.
LIVE BLOG: Late interception kills any shot as Hogs fall to Ole Miss
We will update with more content Sunday morning to follow up on Razorbacks’ 27-20 loss at Ole Miss on Saturday night. Postgame interviews will be posted tonight.
OXFORD, Miss. — At times this week, Arkansas’ players and Sam Pittman sounded like they hoped Ole Miss would be overlooking them tonight when the two teams square off at 6:30 p.m. on the SEC Network. You can also listen online here (clock on the bar at the bottom of the page) in coverage markets or on the radio at ESPN Arkansas 99.5 in Fayetteville, 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
“Coming off the LSU win, they’re going to overlook us,” defensive lineman Cam Ball said on Tuesday evening. “I don’t think they’re too much worried about us.” That’s using the power of positive thinking and hoping it happens. It was 45 years ago that Lou Holtz told all of us in a press conference to forget that kind of stuff because “last week has nothing to do with this week and last year has nothing to do with this year.”
All of that means this could be an interesting game tonight. The Razorbacks come into the game and the wheels on the season may be wobbling a little with a 2-3 record and neither one of those wins over a Power 5 team … or in the SEC. The Rebels are sitting at 4-1 (1-1 SEC). Those numbers aren’t far apart, but the Hogs didn’t play well last week and were dominated by Texas A&M. Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is hoping last year has nothing to do with this year.
“Not really bulletin board material,” Kiffin said this week. “I just use it as saying, ‘It doesn’t matter what happened last year.’ With Arkansas playing against Ole Miss, it doesn’t matter what they’ve done before. If I remember correctly, I think the week before us they lost to Liberty, didn’t move the ball very well, and then they came out against us and looked like a top-five team in the country. It doesn’t matter what’s happened before. So, I did use that game as evidence of how these guys come to play against us.”
Live Blog:
When the game before you doesn’t go long and you start on SEC Network pic.twitter.com/FjojqQCOBn
— Arkansas Razorback Football (@RazorbackFB) October 7, 2023
1Q 6:08: The coming out party for Ty Washington comes on the Hogs’ first drive of the game, going 80 yards in 15 plays and eating up 7:46 of the first quarter as Washington had 5 catches for 56 yards, the last being a 3-yard flip for a score. The drive overcame a couple of penalties by the offensive line (mostly Brady Latham) and some big sacks, but chalk this one up to Washington and KJ Jefferson. Hogs 7, Rebels 0
1Q 3:21: Ole Miss answers, mostly with quarterback Jaxson Dart’s key scrambles but bog down close to the Hogs’ goal. Linebacker Jaheim Thomas comes wide open on a blitz and Dart limps off after not much of a hit at all and it ends up in a short field goal from Caden Davis. Hogs 7, Rebels 3
1Q :29: Ole Miss quickly answers again, thanks to Jefferson hitting the open receiver, who happened to be Rebels linebacker Ashanti Cistrunk, who nearly had a pick-six. Ole Miss punched it in from inches away on fourth down, moving Quinshon Judkins to take a direct snap through a huge crease on the left side, leaving Hog fans to wonder if that is not in the arsenal of offensive coordinator Dan Enos. Rebels 10, Hogs 7
2Q 1:34: You have to wonder if Ole Miss is starting to wear the Hogs down. They go 50 yards in six plays and the final 6 coming on a pass from Dart to Dayton Webb and lead by two scores late in first half. Rebels 17, Hogs 7
3Q 10:07: Maybe the Hogs are starting to get offense going, reverting back at halftime to original starters on offensive line. You can discuss later all this shuffling to end up where Sam Pittman started, but Cam Little comes on to kick a 56-yard field goal to get a lead back. Rebels 17, Hogs 10
3Q 02:46: Malik Chavis sets offense up in Ole Miss territory with a fourth-down sack and Hogs move down before drive stalls near the goalline … again. Little has to come on for a short (26 yards) field goal to inch back closer to Rebels. Rebels 17, Hogs 13
4Q 14:11: Hogs finally get a score from a suddenly emerging Ty Washington at tight end, who has either had some click for him lately or nobody saw it until lately. Jefferson finds him for a 17-yard scoring pass and the lead. Hogs 20, Rebels 17
4Q 7:49: Rebels don’t waste any time taking the lead back. Dart leads offense on 75-yard, 12-play scoring march, converting one fourth-and-short in the process to get the lead back on a 7-yard run by Ulysses Bentley. Rebels 24, Hogs 20
4Q 2:43: Rebels get ball back and move down to Hogs’ 2 before defense makes a stand and have to settle for a 22-yard field goal. Anybody else remember 2021 and thinking redemption. Rebels 27, Hogs 20
Jefferson throws a late interception that killed any chance of setting up a repeat of what happened in 2021 with a late drive and having to make a decision on a 2-point conversion. Razorbacks sitting at 2-4 on season, still looking for first SEC win and heading to Alabama for a game next Saturday morning.
ANDY’S PICKS: Can Hogs end losing streak in Oxford tonight?
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — I’m pretty sure Arkansas didn’t plan on a horrific start to this season, but that’s exactly the way the Razorbacks have played through the first five games. There’s not much of a different way to call a 2-3 start anything else without a win over a Power 5 team.
Never mind last week’s faceplant in Arlington against Texas A&M. Don’t quote me the final score because the Aggies didn’t really make that big of an effort to score. That looked and felt like a four-touchdown blowout and I don’t really care how you want to spin it. That 34-22 final probably should have been at least 41 because the officials didn’t give them a score on that push at the end.
What did it do to the psychology of the Razorbacks, though? Don’t read the quote sheet from the press conferences this week. Sam Pittman can’t really say much else other than positive things and the players were coached to basically say the same things. Very, very rarely do you ever hear clues in those things to indicate anybody’s letting it carry over.
Tonight we’ll find out, though. Ole Miss might have a letdown, though, after winning a shootout against LSU in Oxford last week and having students rush the field with a security guy throwing weak blocks without a lot of footwork and knocking students, including a co-ed, to the ground.
The Hogs are still trying to figure out where everybody should line up in the offensive line. It’s a mess and playing musical chairs there might just be so the coaches can say they are trying to do SOMETHING. It may be lke thinking a mule can do better in the Kentucky Derby moving to a different starting spot.
Now there are questions of depth in the secondary with Dwight McGlothern probably not going to play much tonight or certainly at full strength. He was limping around at practices this week and Pittman wasn’t hopeful.
The Hogs probably don’t want to get in a shootout with the Rebels, who seem to have things figured out there and Jaxson Dart starting to play up to all the hoopla surrounding him being a highly-rated recruit originally, going to USC. And Lane Kiffin is about as good as anybody in the business at finding the matchups in favor of his team.
(-13) Ole Miss 34, Hogs 24
Around the SEC, Pete picked his usual collection losers and accused me of running scared with the huge lead he forfeited to me. Uh, no, He will continue his chances because, really, what option is he left with as we get near the halfway point of the season and if he sent up smoke flares I couldn’t see that far in the rearview mirror.
LSU (-6) at Missouri: LSU collapsed in the fourth quarter last week and there’s not really a better way to describe it. Brian Kelly probably knows it, too. We’ll see if he can get them re-grouped before whatever mildly interested fans show up for the game in Columbia, Mo. LSU 31, Missouri 17
Western Michigan at Mississippi State: The Bulldogs should have a breather in this one. They need it because it hasn’t been a good year, but they are getting better. If they can put up points for a change, this one should be fairly easy. If it goes sideways and ends up being one of those shocking upsets, it may be a long year in Starkville. Bulldogs 38, West Michigan 10
Alabama (-2) at Texas A&M: If the Aggies hand the Crimson Tide a loss, there won’t be a fistfight at midfield between two West Virginia hillbillies, but it will be short and quick. Nick Saban won’t be mad at the Aggies, but his own team will have a quiet flight back to Tuscaloosa and the offensive coordinator probably won’t be e-mailing students. A&M was the sleeper pick for Zach Arns on Ruscin & Zach and I agree. They have a pile of talent there, especially on the defensive line as the Hogs saw last week. Welcome to a surprise. Aggies 27, Crimson Tide 24 (and they will probably take it out on the Hogs next week).
Vanderbilt at Florida (-18): When you have a mismatch, don’t sit around trying to over-think the whole thing. The Gators are better than a lot of people think (probably not championship-level), but the Commodores are as bad as everyone knows. Florida 42, Vanderbilt 14
Kentucky at Georgia (-14): The betting line is probably close to accurate in this one. A lot of people are hoping the Bulldogs’ dominance the last couple of years is coming to an end, but at the halfway point if Kirby Smart is going to get it figured out, he probably will in this game. The Wildcats may be set up for the kill. Bulldogs 31, Wildcats 17
PETE’S LOSERS: Can Hogs manage to get win in Oxford?
“Have you ever been to Oxford, Miss.? Have you ever been to The Grove? Are you going to the Arkansas game there this year?”
If your answer is yes to the first, you have my condolences. If your answer to the second is yes, you have my mutual appreciation for the experience. If you answer yes to the third, you have my prayers. (Editor’s Note: Pete obviously hasn’t spent much time there or on The Square downtown on a game night. We’ll address more on Oxford, Miss., and I lived there a number of years)
As much as I would like to say Arkansas can go into Mississippi under coach Sam Pittman and pull off an upset, I fear even risking the travel in this economy would create only more stress and disappointment. Speaking of travel, Ole Miss is all over the map this season, but they have managed to stay in the Top 25 and they are a better team than the Razorbacks… right now.
I suppose it is possible KJ Jefferson could create an offensive explosion against the tough Rebels defense. I could also prose there is a small percentage of a chance our defense could hamper the Ole Miss offense. And I guess I could come up with a few reasons why and how the Razorbacks could pull off the upset on national television.
I could surmise all these things and put them into print for you all to believe, but we both know you would pick those theories towards victory apart. “And Momma didn’t raise no fool.”
But she did foster a hopeful, optimistic Razorbacks fan who will get emotional with every win and furious with every loss. (She probably qualifies for sainthood because of that.)
Can we pull of the upset?
Why Ole Miss will Win
Last year. No doubt Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin and his crew remember the throttling they suffered at the hands of Arkansas in Fayetteville last season. It will be absolute motivation. They are much improved. The Rebels are far better than the team we hosted in Fayetteville last season. They are stronger, quicker, and more talented.
Oxford. The game is in Vaught Hemmingway, and the announcer there is as annoying as a wannabe sportswriter. If Ole Miss starts getting repetitive first downs, his voice will frustrate the Arkansas defense into submission. If you think this is a dumb take, go to the game yourself and you will soon know exactly of what I speak.
Why Arkansas will Win
A season teetering on destruction. The Razorbacks surely recognize if they do not win this game, they have all but eliminated themselves from any chance of winning the SEC West, not to mention playing in any desirable bowl game.
More losses ahead are highly possible. Going back to the previous point, the Hogs still have road games against Alabama and Florida. Need we even discuss no. 21 Missouri will be in Fayetteville for Thanksgiving.
Rocket Sanders. His knee is getting better and stronger. Hopefully, the hostile Oxford crowd will inspire him to play harder, faster, and more successful.
Ole Miss, 37 – 27
Random Thoughts
Some of you need to stay off the internet and, especially, social media. That is all I will say … for now. Enough with the confidence boosters. Arkansas needs a damn win.
TRIVIA QUESTION: In 1954, Arkansas defeated Ole Miss in War Memorial Stadium by a final of 6 – 0. The only score was a halfback pass from Buddy Bob Benson, 66-yards to Preston Carpenter. What was Arkansas head coach Bowden Wyatt’s name of the play?
I am leaving this up until it is no longer a truth: Pittman STILL has a lot to prove for himself and his coaching staff. Now I am slowly beginning to worry whether he can accomplish this.
Have you noticed how dreadful my “Why Arkansas will Win” section reads?
TRIVIA ANSWER: Hailing from Wyoming, Coach Wyatt named the play after a river which is a mile wide but only a foot deep. The play was dubbed the Powder River Pass.
Confession: I agree with Andy’s assessment from last week regarding orange sorbet. That will probably be the only thing upon which we ever agree. (No, we will agree on some other things, mostly the weather if you’ve looked outside before I comment.)
If you are traveling to Oxford, be safe, and I hope you do not witness the tail-whipping so many of us fear are in store for the Razorbacks.
Twenty dollars to anyone who can bring me Lane Kiffin’s visor. I am not kidding.
Be certain to listen to the game Saturday at 6:30 p.m. via HitThatLine and on the air at ESPN Arkansas 99.5 in Fayetteville, 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs, and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
SEC Picks for Week 6
A few SEC teams are saying bye to competition this weekend, much like Andy Hodges has been saying to his 2023 HitThatLine Cup lead. (LOL. He’s wondering if the sky is blue and the grass green in your world.)
God love Andy. Yes, he will say he does not worry, but the fact that he referred to me as “the print version of Tye Richardson” shows he recognizes talent, but he is also very, very scared. (Until there is evidence to the contrary, I hold my opinion. Of course, Tye is in Oxford right now and is 1-6 doing “Behind Enemy Lines” on ESPN Arkansas, so there is either hope the odds finally start to even out or the Hogs are doomed.)
(23) LSU at (21) Missouri – Let’s just be transparent for once: this game probably should have received my “GOTW” honors, but I cannot stand either team. LSU is a better program. Missouri is a better team right now, and they are at home. My instinct says to pick LSU, but my football senses are saying something different. Missouri by 3
Western Michigan at Mississippi State – It must be homecoming in Starkville. The Bulldogs find their way back into the win column. Mississippi State by 24.
(11) Alabama at Texas A&M – Remember, Nick Saban is not a big fan of Jimbo Fisher. Fisher is not a fan of Saban. I am not a fan of Aggies. All things now considered … Crimson Tide by 14.
Vanderbilt at Florida – Well, someone has to win this one, right? Florida seems to live up to expectations like “Seinfeld” did its series finale. At least Vandy is playing like Vandy again, even if Eli Drinkwitz spends too much time in their locker room. Gators by 24.
(20) Kentucky at (1) Georgia – GAME OF THE WEEK: The Bulldogs remain in the top spot of the polls but have been flirting with disaster all season. Kentucky has rolled into town and surprised some people, even though they have been a very much improving program under head coach Mark Stoops. Georgia is not the powerhouse they have been the past two seasons; however, they are on a 22-game winning streak at home. Over which opponent did Georgia start the current run in Athens? Kentucky. The Bulldogs downed the Wildcats 21 – 0 on October 19th, 2019. Can the Wildcats end the streak they helped begin? Unfortunately for BBN, no. Georgia by 18.
Arkansas at (16) Ole Miss – This should remain close, but some heartbreaking play will put Arkansas out of contention midway through the 4th. Rebels by 10.
Soller Opposites
Eric took the week off, but he wanted me to tell all you a sure thing. If the oddsmakers make an over/under on Andy running his mouth this week, take the over on anything 74-times or less. (How’s my count so far because I’m not about to do a word count.)
Thank you to my wife for supporting me through so many endeavors, even in this crazy time of year. Your love is far more appreciated than I can possibly show you.
Last year’s Ole Miss game in Fayetteville may have been the most fun I have ever had at a game. I loved it.
Find me on ‘X’: @PeterMorganWPS
Go HOGS!!!
Tye talks great gangsters live from Oxford in Friday’s Ruscin & Zach podcast
A big football Friday as Arkansas heads to Oxford. DQ recaps the week on the show and Tye checks in live from Oxford and talks about great gangsters of all time.
Scorebook Live’s Nate Olson previewing biggest games in state
Fayetteville-Fort Smith Southside could be intriguing matchup in NWA, several interesting games in Central Arkansas, scoreboard show tonight.
Halftime Pod Presented By Eastside Liquor- October 6th, 2023
Guests: Aaron Torres, Nate Olson, Tye Richardson, Neal Atkinson
#Arkansas #ArkansasRazorbacks #Hogs #Hawgs #WPS #ArkansasRazorbacksPodcast #GoHogs #HitThatLine #WooPigSooie #RazorbackPodcast #ArkansasPodcast #HogPodcast
