Rebels Prepare to Tangle with Arkansas Razorbacks

The Ole Miss Rebels are now turning their attention this week to the Arkansas Razorbacks after a 40-24 loss to LSU. In the game, the Rebels suffered a key loss to the season as quarterback Shea Patterson went down with a torn PCL in his right knee.

Backup QB Jordan Ta’amu will now be at the helm against Arkansas after leading the Rebels on two scoring drives against LSU.

“I was pleased,” said Ole Miss Coach Matt Luke in Monday’s press conference. “He was in there for two drives. He led us on a field goal drive right before the half and then a touchdown drive at the end of the game. I was pleased with his timing. He pulled the ball down and got positive yards, and I think that’s one of his strengths. He can really run, and he’s a very good athlete. I think everyone else around him has to step up. O-line, receivers and running backs have to do a great job keeping the game plan simple for him so he can just go execute. I think the more we do that, the better chance we have.”
Arkansas is coming into Oxford looking for their first conference victory of the season.
“They’re a big, physical team,” Luke said. “They’re going to come in here and run it at us. We’re going to have to do a great job of stopping the run. They’re going to make us prove that we can stop the run. Defensively, I thought they did a really good job in the first half of holding Auburn down. They had a big 4th-and-1 stop, had a pick and then the dam just kind of broke open on them.”

Coach Fred McGriff
The Landshark defense has to prepare for what the Razorbacks will do during the game.

“If you’re Arkansas, you wouldn’t do anything but run the ball early,” McGriff said. “To test the run defense, we are in the midst of studying them and trying to get bigger bodies out there.”
This Western division showdown between the Rebels and the Hogs will kick off at 11 a.m. on SEC Network.

Adam Brown is the sports editor for Hottytoddy.com. He can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.