Saturday Blitz
Fansided

Arkansas Football: Preview, prediction, live stream vs. Ole Miss in Week 9

By Hunter Kinniburgh

FAYETTEVILLE, AR - SEPTEMBER 30: Jonathan Nance #7 of the Arkansas Razorbacks runs the ball and avoids the tackle of DeMarcus Owen #4 of the New Mexico State Aggies at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium on September 30, 2017 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Razorbacks defeated the Aggies 42-24. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
FAYETTEVILLE, AR - SEPTEMBER 30: Jonathan Nance #7 of the Arkansas Razorbacks runs the ball and avoids the tackle of DeMarcus Owen #4 of the New Mexico State Aggies at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium on September 30, 2017 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Razorbacks defeated the Aggies 42-24. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Ole Miss is looking to end a three-game losing streak to Arkansas this weekend when these two SEC teams face off in Oxford.

That guy in the picture up top is Ole Miss quarterback Jordan Ta’amu. Get used to seeing him — he’s the Rebels’ starting quarterback for the rest of the season. Former starter Shea Patterson suffered a torn PCL in last weeks game against LSU. Patterson was injured in the first half but played the rest of the game after a misdiagnosis.

Enter Ta’amu, who has mostly played in games of which the outcome was decided and mostly ran option. Ole Miss fans will get to know him quick, and can only hope that he helps end the three game skid against Arkansas.

Arkansas has been dealing with quarterback issues themselves. Starter Austin Allen has been out for the past two games. His replacement, freshman Cole Kelley, has been manageable, at best, in losses to South Carolina and Auburn.

The Razorbacks go into this game needing a win to help them reach bowl eligibility this season. The Hogs currently sit at 2-5 on the year. They have gotten the better of Ole Miss in recent years, the question will be whether or not they can make it four in a row over the Rebels. To do it, they’ll need their running game to be better than it has all year, which might not be hard to do against the Rebel defense.

Here is how you can watch this SEC West matchup:

Date: Saturday, Oct. 28
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Venue: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium
TV: SEC Network
Live Stream: WatchESPN 

Keys to Victory

As stated, Arkansas needs to get their ground game going to win this game. Just do what every other team that has beaten the Rebels have done: run the ball — in, around, over, through the Rebel defense.

It has been proven that any team can do this and the Razorbacks will win if Ole Miss cannot slow the ground game done. A working run game will also open things up for Cole Kelley, but if I were Arkansas I’d let him throw as little as I need to. If you can score and win by running then just do that and don’t let your freshman quarterback potentially make a mistake.

Ole Miss has to get Ta’amu comfortable early. He has the makings of a good quarterback and someone that can thrive in the offense. That will only happen if you get his confidence going early. The Rebels also have a blossoming run game that they should stick with. Jordan Wilkins and Eric Swinney provided big plays against Vanderbilt and LSU, give them the ball.

Letting the run game establish itself will only help Ta’amu in this game. It also goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway, the Rebels have to get some stops on defense. They were gashed by LSU and they cannot allow Arkansas to just run freely. I know the Ole Miss defense is going to allow some big plays; but that needs to be minimized as much as possible.

Next: NFL Mock Draft 2018: First round after Week 8

Prediction

This game is truly a toss up. If Shea Patterson were still the quarterback i’d say Ole Miss wins, no doubt. Without him, who knows. We haven’t seen enough of Ta’amu to know exactly what he’ll do. What I do know is that he’ll have plenty of weapons to help him out. This will be a close game and perhaps Arkansas’ best performance of the year, but I’m giving the nod to the home team. I think the Rebels just have too much firepower on offense, despite the change in quarterback.

Final Score: Ole Miss 35, Arkansas 32

Home/Arkansas Razorbacks