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HawgBeat continues its summer preview series on Arkansas’ 2019 football opponents with a closer look at Ole Miss. The Razorbacks travel to Oxford, Miss., to play the Rebels on Sept. 7. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on the SEC Network.
2018 record: 5-7 (1-7 SEC)
Ole Miss was ineligible for postseason play in 2018, the final year of a two-year ban, but it didn’t really matter. The Rebels started the season 5-2 with blowout losses to Alabama and LSU, and then failed to win another game. Their final five games featured two blown second-half leads and an overtime loss. The last team Ole Miss beat was Arkansas.
Head coach: Matt Luke (3rd season)
A former team captain as a player, Luke was the third member of his family to play for the Rebels, following his father and older brother. He was also a long-time assistant at Ole Miss before getting the interim job in 2017. After going 6-6 capped by an upset win over rival Mississippi State, Luke was named the permanent coach and went 5-7 last year. Needing to replace both of his coordinators, he brought in a pair of former head coaches - Rich Rodriguez as offensive coordinator and Mike MacIntyre as defensive coordinator. Both Rodriguez and MacIntyre have led multiple teams to 10-win seasons.
Key Returners
~QB Matt Corral: Completed 16 of 22 passes for 239 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT… Ran for 83 yards and 2 TD on 13 carries… Appeared in only four games (Southern Illinois, ULM, South Carolina and Mississippi State) to preserve redshirt… 6.0 four-star signee in Class of 2018
~RB Scottie Phillips: Leading rusher with 928 yards and 12 TD on 153 carries (6.1 yards/carry)… Also caught 10 passes for 105 yards and 2 TD… Missed one game with injury and limited in another
~RB Isaiah Woullard: Second leading rusher with 428 yards and 4 TD on 84 carries (5.1 yards/carry)
~WR Elijah Moore: Leading returning receiver with 36 receptions for 398 yards and 2 TD as a true freshman… Four-star signee in Class of 2018
~ILB Mohamed Sanogo: Leading tackler in 2018 with 112 (tied for fifth in SEC)… Also made 6.5 TFL, 1 sack, 3 quarterback hurries
~OLB Qaadir Sheppard: Made team-high 10 TFL… Also made 48 tackles, 1.5 sacks and had team-high 8 quarterback hurries… Began career at Syracuse
~DT Benito Jones: Started all 12 games… Made 34 tackles, 9 TFL, 3 sacks and 6 quarterback hurries
Significant Losses
~QB Jordan Ta’amu: Graduated… Started last 17 games… Completed 63.6 percent of his passes for 3,918 yards, 19 TD and 8 INT last year… Also ran for 342 yards and 6 TD
~LT Greg Little: Second-round pick in NFL Draft… First-team All-SEC, second-team All-American in 2018… Started 29 games at left tackle, including all 24 the last two years
~WR A.J. Brown: Second-round pick in NFL Draft… Caught 85 passes for 1,320 yards and 6 TD last year… Ole Miss’ career leader with 2,984 receiving yards and 12 100-yard receiving games… First-team All-SEC, second-team All-American in 2018
~WR D.K. Metcalf: Second-round pick in NFL Draft… Caught 26 passes for 569 yards and 5 TD in seven games last year
~WR DaMarkus Lodge: Graduated… Caught 65 passes for 877 yards and 4 TD last year… 24 career starts
~TE Dawson Knox: Third-round pick in NFL Draft… Caught 15 passes for 284 yards last year… 20 career starts
~C Javon Patterson: Seventh-round pick in NFL Draft… 42 career starts, including 36 straight
~CB Ken Webster: Seventh-round pick in NFL Draft… Made 33 tackles, six pass breakups and two INT last year… Appeared in 47 career games
~S Zedrick Woods: Graduated… Second-leading tackler in 2018 with 79… Also had two INT, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries, including a 96-yard TD… 37 career starts
Notable Additions
~RB Jerrion Ealy: 6.0 four-star recruit… No. 58 in Rivals250… Also a talented baseball player who was a projected first-round pick at one point
~DE Sam Williams: NJCAA Defensive Player of the Year in 2018 after racking up 17.5 sacks for Northeast Mississippi C.C. … Listed as a four-star linebacker, but expected to play defensive end
~LB Lakia Henry: 5.9 four-star recruit… Picked Ole Miss over Arkansas
~WR Jonathan Mingo: 5.9 four-star recruit… No. 150 in Rivals250
~WR Dannis Jackson: 5.8 four-star recruit… No. 184 in Rivals250
~WR Jadon Jackson: 5.7 three-star recruit… From Bentonville (Ark.) West
~OL Darius Thomas: 5.7 three-star recruit… From Jonesboro (Ark.)
2018 Stats (FBS rank, out of 130 teams)
Scoring offense: 33.9 points/game (30th)
Total offense: 510.5 yards/game (9th)
Rushing offense: 164.1 yards/game (72nd)
Passing offense: 346.4 yards/game (5th)
Third down percentage: 35.3 percent (109th)
Sacks allowed/game: 2.67 (t-98th)
Scoring defense: 36.2 points allowed/game (t-113th)
Total defense: 483.4 yards allowed/game (121st)
Rushing defense: 221.8 yards allowed/game (116th)
Passing defense: 261.7 yards allowed/game (111th)
Opponents’ third down percentage: 40.5 percent (85th)
Sacks/game: 1.83 (t-91st)
Turnover margin: +0.08 turnovers/game (t-57th)
Series History
An argument can be made that the Arkansas-Ole Miss series is the craziest in the country. Just last year, the Rebels scored two touchdowns in the final five minutes to erase a nine-point deficit that was actually 17 at one point late in the first half.
It was a wild game at War Memorial Stadium that saw the Razorbacks lose their top two running backs, Rakeem Boyd and Devwah Whaley, and starting quarterback Ty Storey to injury in the second half. Had just one of those players stayed healthy, Arkansas likely would have won the game and finished ahead of Ole Miss in the SEC West.
For most matchups, that probably would have been a game remembered by both sides as particularly exhilarating (for the Rebels) or heartbreaking (for the Razorbacks). However, it was just another game in the Arkansas-Ole Miss series.
In the last two decades alone, Arkansas has beaten Ole Miss…
~in seven overtimes (2001)
~with a streaker running onto the field (2002)
~after trailing 17-0 (2011)
~in shutout fashion when it was ranked in the top 10 (2014)
~with a crazy fourth and 25 play and second-chance two-point conversion in overtime (2015)
~by scoring a touchdown in the final three minutes (2016)
~by completing the largest comeback in school history, overcoming a 24-point deficit (2017)
The Razorbacks have also lost on a last-second field goal (2012), the first two revenge games against Houston Nutt (2008 and 2009) and in upset fashion (2003).
That doesn’t even include the two teams’ multiple Sugar Bowl matchups, the 1954 game Arkansas won with the Powder River Play, the 1938 game that ended in a brawl or the 1914 matchup that featured an unusual incident on the sideline.
Arkansas and Ole Miss have quite literally seen it all.
Hutch’s Take
Considering their history, I fully expect some weirdness when Arkansas and Ole Miss meet on the gridiron Sept. 7. The early date could lead to even more weirdness than usual, as both teams will still be working in a new quarterback.
Matt Corral has the advantage of already being with the team for a year, while Ben Hicks and Nick Starkel are new to the Razorbacks. Hicks having a lot of experience with Chad Morris at SMU will likely help some, but this will also be his first taste of SEC football - something Starkel is familiar with.
The Rebels lost a lot of production on offense, but they do have several highly touted players ready to fill those roles. Their defense was historically bad last year, so they tried to fix it by adding some players through the JUCO ranks.
Will it be enough to beat Arkansas? The game being played at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss., this year definitely helps Ole Miss and I’m not quite sure this Arkansas team has learned how to win yet.
What happened at Colorado State last season - and even against the Rebels later in the year - showed that the issues from the Bret Bielema era have lingered. This is a winnable game for the Razorbacks, but I’m going to pick them to lose because it’s the first road test for a pretty young team still figuring things out. If this game was in Fayetteville, I might flip the score.
Ole Miss 34, Arkansas 31
