Two teams that had to eat a lot of humble pie last week in SEC play take the field in Oxford on Saturday as the Arkansas Razorbacks visit the Ole Miss Rebels. Arkansas faced Georgia last week, fresh off an upset of Texas A&M, but saw their offense shut down by the Bulldogs in a 37-0 rout. Ole Miss visited Alabama, and Rebels coach Lane Kiffin told a national audience to “get the popcorn ready” for the game — and his team didn’t score in the first half, leading to a national roast session on Twitter. Which team will do the better job of bouncing back?
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NCAAF Preview: #13 Arkansas at #17 Ole Miss (Saturday, October 9)
When: Saturday, October 9, 2021, 12:00 pm ET
Where: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, MS
TV: ESPN
Radio: Razorback Learfield IMG College Sports Network / Ole Miss Football Radio Network
Live Stream: Hulu
NCAAF Odds: Ole Miss -6 / O/U 66.5 // Arkansas +190 / Ole Miss -230
Why should you bet on the Razorbacks?
K.J. Jefferson is having a strong season at quarterback, with 909 passing yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions, along with a 59.3 percent pass completion rate. Tyson Morris and Treylon Burks have caught five touchdown passes combined and have picked up 561 receiving yards. Trelon Smith is the top tailback wit 302 yards and three scores through five games. On defense, the Razorbacks permit just 19 points per game, and that includes the 37-spot that Georgia put on the board last week. Bumper Pool is the Razorbacks’ top tackler with 49 stops, and Tre Williams leads the pass rush with four sacks.
Arkansas has covered the spread in four of their last five games (with the outlier coming last week). They have also covered in five of their last seven games on the road, and they have covered in seven of their last eight meetings against Ole Miss. If you like Arkansas, you see the Razorbacks’ offense picking things up to a level even above what they showed against Texas A&M and the defense shoring up some of its biggest holes.
Why should you put your money on the Rebels?
Ole Miss has won four straight on their home field — and Arkansas has lost five in a row outside Fayetteville. Matt Corral might be the best quarterback in the nation, if not just the SEC, and he has thrown for 1,120 yards and ten touchdowns without a pick. Jonathan Mingo and Dontario Drummond have caught 672 yards’ of passes and seven scoring strikes combined. On the ground, the Rebels run for 243.5 yards per game, led by 223 yards from Henry Parrish Jr.
On the defensive side of the ball, Ole Miss permits 26 points and 371.3 yards per contest. Chance Campbell is the team leader in tackles with 29. Sam Williams has five sacks. Those numbers skewed upward significantly after the loss to Alabama last week, but it’s important to remember that Lane Kiffin-coached teams put offense first, and Arkansas will have to come out with a much better defensive game plan than the one they had against Georgia. Arkansas’ secondary is not elite; their win over Texas A&M came against a backup quarterback who missed a number of open looks.
Final Score and Betting Prediction
Ole Miss ranks third in the nation in total offense and fifth in scoring offense — and that includes the loss to Alabama. The Rebels will put up points on Saturday, so this is more a question of whether the Razorbacks can keep up. Arkansas relies more heavily on the ground game, which makes more of a plodding rhythm to the offense. I see the Rebels finding the end zone frequently and pulling away, with a final score of Ole Miss 30, Arkansas 20.
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