FACTS & STATS: Site: Vaught-Hemingway (50,577) -- Oxford, Mississippi. Television: SEC Network. Home Record: Arkansas 2-1, Ole Miss 2-1. Away Record: Arkansas 0-2, Ole Miss 2-1. Neutral Record: Arkansas 1-0, Ole Miss 0-0. Conference Record: Arkansas 1-3, Ole Miss 1-2. Series Record: Arkansas leads, 30-24-1.
GAME NOTES: The Arkansas Razorbacks and the Ole Miss Rebels of the SEC are set to square off in what figures to be a physical contest in Oxford this weekend.
Arkansas carried a two-game win streak into Gainesville to take on then top- ranked Florida last weekend, and after handing Auburn its first loss of the season a week prior, the Razorbacks were in position to do the same to the Gators. Unfortunately, coach Bobby Petrino's team came up just shy of doing so, falling to the defending national champs by a 23-20 final. While Arkansas owns a respectable 3-3 overall record, the 1-3 SEC mark and 0-2 road record are clearly disappointing.
As for Ole Miss, disappointing is a word that can be used to describe the season thus far for a team that was ranked in the top 10 nationally to open the campaign. The Rebels are 4-2 overall, but their four victories have come over weak competition, and a 22-3 showing against Alabama two weeks ago at home proved that Houston Nutt's team isn't as good as fans and analysts anticipated. Nutt used to be the head coach at Arkansas, so this game takes on some extra meaning for him. Last weekend, the Rebels crushed UAB, 48-13, in a non-conference Homecoming affair.
Arkansas owns a 30-24-1 series lead over Ole Miss, but the Rebels won last season's clash by a 23-21 final.
When Nutt coached Arkansas, the team relied heavily on the pass. Under Petrino, however, the Hogs possess a feared passing attack that accounts for over two-thirds of the team's yardage output. The Razorbacks are scoring 34.5 ppg to go along with 436.0 total ypg, and of the 24 offensive touchdowns that they have scored, 16 have come through the air. Ryan Mallett, the team's strong-armed quarterback, has 14 passing scores with just three interceptions, and he has completed 55.1 percent of his passes for 1,646 yards. Greg Childs leads the receivers with 25 catches for 480 yards and five touchdowns, while Michael Smith is tops among ground gainers with 325 yards and two scores on just 50 attempts. Against Florida, Arkansas didn't commit a single turnover and finished with 357 total yards. Childs hauled in a 75-yard touchdown pass from Mallett, but a pair of missed field goals cost the Hogs the game.
Arkansas is allowing 27.0 ppg and 397.3 total ypg, and the club can best be described as mediocre defensively. The Razorbacks are surrendering 253.7 passing ypg, a disappointing figure by most accounts. They have yielded 19 touchdowns to opposing offenses in six games, and the play against the run has been better than the performance against the pass. On a positive note, the Hogs do have an impressive total of 14 takeaways to their credit, including 11 fumble recoveries. Wendel Davis leads Arkansas with 40 total tackles, including 4.5 TFLs. The Razorbacks came up with four takeaways against Florida last weekend, all on fumble recoveries, and the fact that Arkansas limited the Gators to 23 points on the road has to be viewed as a positive. Only two touchdowns were permitted to a talent-packed offense, so the Hogs figure to draw some confidence from the defensive performance.
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