Can the Arkansas Razorbacks keep Ole Miss’ offense on the ground?

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Outside league play, Ole Miss was quite the explosive offensive juggernaut and was expected to maintain a similar pace once conference play began.

After the Rebels hosted Kentucky in their SEC opener, their offense was slowed by an opportunistic Wildcats team that pulled off a near-miss upset against then-No. 1 Georgia. Ole Miss managed 670 yards and 55 points per game, but wasn’t quite as explosive against the likes of South Carolina, Oklahoma and LSU.

Given that defenses in this league will always be tougher than most non-conference opponents, Lane Kiffin’s team is locked in and shows no signs of getting back on track at this point. With 406 yards per game (No. 7 SEC) and an average of just 24 points (No. 11 SEC), the Rebels are averaging nearly 400 yards of total offense against league opponents.

With the exception of one game, Arkansas has been a much-improved defensive unit this year. The Razorbacks gave up 22 points per game, good for 6th in the SEC, but tended to give up 384 yards per game in 11th place in the conference.

“(Arkansas’ defense) knows what they’re doing really well,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said during the SEC conference call. “They don’t do a million things, but they do them really well. So I think they’re trained really well. Coordinator (Travis Williams) and her entire team did a great job.”

In addition to Texas being the standard defensive team in the conference, league members such as Auburn, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Ole Miss and LSU have effectively prevented teams from gaining more than 10 yards. The short-yardage defense benefited the Razorbacks, but once the offense finds a point to attack, the defense can’t seem to catch up, leading to big plays.

Arkansas has given up 12 plays of 30 yards and six of 40 yards, ranking in the bottom half of the SEC. It doesn’t get much better, as Travis Williams’ defense has given up five plays of over 50 yards, which puts Mississippi State in last place in the SEC.

What the Razorbacks want to avoid is Ole Miss getting into a rhythm offensively and dictating the pace of the game in Razorback Stadium.

“Well, they can pace it or not, and they can do it as well as anyone in the country,” coach Sam Pittman said during the SEC conference call. “And so we’ve definitely been working on that this week. I got a taste of that against Tennessee as well, which helped us prepare for this week in terms of tempo. And we know we will see it. They’ “We’re great at it, and that’s why we’re aware of it and work very hard at it.”

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