We don't yet know the dates or the order, but we do know all 10 of Arkansas's 2020 opponents. Over the course of ten days, we'll give Hog fans an early look at each team on Arkansas's schedule, which is perhaps the toughest slate in all of college football.
Following Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU and Mississippi state alphabetically, Ole Miss is up next in our first look preview series. Like Arkansas, Missouri and Miss St, the Rebels are under new leadership in 2020. Lane Kiffin was hired from FAU after stops at Alabama, USC and Tennessee. The Rebels have eight starters back on offense and a better starting point than the three other SEC teams who've transitioned to a new staff and head coach.
Ole Miss Tigers (n/a)
2019 record: 4-8 (2-6 SEC)
All time series vs Arkansas: Arkansas leads the series 36-28 (2-game losing streak)
Last meeting: Despite a final score of 31-17, Arkansas's loss to Ole Miss was one of the more watchable games from the Hogs' 2019 season. The Hogs trailed by a score in the third quarter when Nick Starkel completed a 38-yard touchdown to Trey Knox... which was called off due to a penalty. Instead of seven points, the Hogs turned it over on downs and the Rebels took the ball 71 yards for a score. Ole Miss put up almost 500 yards of offense.
Head Coach: Lane Kiffin (1st season, 61-34 over 9 years)
Offense
Coordinator: Jeff Lebby (1st season) Lebby was the offensive coordinator at UCF for two seasons before joining Kiffin.
2019 rushing rank: 9th, 251.25 yards/game
2019 passing rank: 102nd, 194 yards/game
2019 total rank: 26th, 445.3 yards/game
2019 scoring rank: 81st, 26.6 points/game
Returning starters: 8
Key losses: Scottie Phillips, Alex Givens, Michael Howard
Defense
Coordinator: DJ Durkin (1st season) Durkin was a consultant for the Atlanta Falcons in 2019 and the head coach at Maryland in 2016 and 2017. He's also coached at Michigan and Florida.
2019 rushing rank: 42nd, 138.5 yards/game
2019 passing rank: 120th, 278.3 yards/game
2019 total rank: 85th, 416.8 points/game
2019 scoring rank: 59th, 26.5 points/game
Returning starters: 5
Key losses: Josiah Coatney, Benito Jones, Austrian Robinson, Quaadir Sheppard, Jalen Julius, Myles Hartsfield
Recruiting
Four-year recruiting rankings (2017-20): 39, 27, 22, 46 (Avg. 33.5)
5-stars signed: 0
4-stars signed: 20
Outlook
Ole Miss went from a dangerous passing team in 2018 to one of the top rushing teams in 2019 behind returning starting quarterback John Rhys Plumlee and returning running back Jerrion Ealy. There's a lot to like about Ole Miss both offensively and defensively on paper but the start to the new regime could go less smoothly since the Rebels, like the Hogs, missed out on spring football. Plumlee will be asked to throw more in Kiffin's offense and his completion percentage was just 52.7% last season. The Rebs come in ahead of Missouri and Mississippi State in the opponent difficulty ranking.
Difficulty Rating: 3
