No. 14 Ole Miss Travels to Arkansas

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

No. 14 Ole Miss travels up to Fayetteville, Arkansas on Saturday for the final regular season road game of 2022 to face the Arkansas Razorbacks.

The kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be seen on the SEC Network.

Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2) is coming off a hard-fought 30-24 game against then-No. 10 Alabama for the second loss of the season.

On Wednesday, during the coach’s teleconference Lane Kiffin told the media “We have had a good week of practice so far.”

This season, freshman running back Quinshon Judkins leads all SEC running backs in both rushing yards (1,171) and rushing touchdowns (15). 704 yards of his 1,171 yards on the ground have come after contact. Judkins’s 15 rushing touchdowns are the most ever by any Ole Miss player.

The Rebels running back room rank top 5 in total rushing yards (2,598), rushing attempts (479) and rushing TDs (29).

Arkansas comes into this weekend’s matchup with a 5-5 overall record and a 2-4 mark in conference action. The Razorbacks are coming off back-to-back losses to No. 7 LSU (13-10) and No. 23 Liberty (21-19).

“Really challenging opponent coming up (in Arkansas),” Kiffin said.

The Razorback offense is headlined by one of the nation’s top running backs in Raheim Sanders, who enters the matchup with Ole Miss ranked 11th in the country in rushing yards (1,147) averaging 114.7 per game, along with having seven rushing touchdowns to his name on the year. The sophomore will prove difficult for the Rebel defense to bottle up, as Sanders’ 6.2 yards/carry currently ranks second in the SEC and 15th in the nation. 

Defensively the Razorbacks’ front seven has been a menace for opposing offenses, with Arkansas tallying the third-most sacks in the country in 2022 with 35, averaging 3.5 per game. The Rebel offensive line will need to find a way to deal with Arkansas’ two-headed pass-rush monster of Drew Sanders and Jordan Domineck, as the duo has combined for a total of 15 sacks this season with Sanders ranking No. 9 in the country with 8.5.

The Razorback secondary will rely on the coverage of Dwight McGlothern and Hudson Clark to quiet the Rebel passing game, as the pair of defensive backs have logged a combined 16 pass breakups and four interceptions for Arkansas in 2022.

“Last time we went there, we didn’t play very well, so it’s a big challenge for us,” Kiffin said.

Saturday will be the 69^th all-time meeting on the field between Ole Miss and Arkansas. The Razorbacks hold a 36-29-1 series lead. Arkansas leads 12-2 in Fayetteville, while Ole Miss leads 8-6 in Oxford (original record is 9-6 in favor of the Rebels).  Five of the last seven games between Ole Miss and Arkansas have been decided by four or less points.