Arkansas Football: Ranking 2020 opponents by toughness

Finishing the 2019 season with a 4-8 record was a major disappointment for Matt Luke and Ole Miss, but no one really expected the program to fire him the way they did. The Rebels moved on and found Lane Kiffin to replace him and it’s safe to say the excitement is back in Oxford.

Kiffin has a quarterback battle to figure out between Matt Corral and John Rhys Plumlee — the latter rushed for 1,023 yards last season while passing for 910. Corral may be the better passer, but Plumlee has the legs. The offense will have plenty of weapons to help whoever gets the nod at quarterback whether it’s Jerrion Ealy, Snoop Conner or Elijah Moore.

This might not be a pretty game for either team.

It’s a toss-up between Ole Miss and Mississippi State in 2020 in terms of toughness, but the fact that this one is a road matchup for Arkansas makes it a bit more daunting.

Mississippi State is also under a new direction with Mike Leach taking over as head coach, replacing Joe Moorhead who underwhelmed in two seasons. He’ll bring his big personality to Starkville and that could be either a major win for the program or it’ll miss the mark completely.

Garrett Shrader is back but expect Stanford transfer KJ Costello to get the nod as the starting quarterback and he could even be a Heisman contender along with Kylin Hill.