FAYETTEVILLE - Ole Miss’ football team may forget how to pack for a road trip.
The Rebels continue a six game homestand when they play Arkansas at 11:20 a.m. on Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. It’s the longest stretch of consecutive home games for Ole Miss in its 118 seasons.
Four of the Rebels’ first five games, however, were on the road, a stretch that included victories at Vanderbilt and Texas and losses at Alabama and Auburn.
The homestand began with a last-second loss to Texas A&M but Ole Miss bounced back with victories over LSU and Idaho before taking last week off.
Mississippi (5-3, 2-3 SEC) hosts Arkansas on Saturday,then gets Sun Belt Conference member Troy and SEC East leader Missouri to conclude the six-game stretch.
Even when the Rebels go back on the road, they’ll stay in the state to play at Mississippi State on Nov. 28 in the regular-season finale.
“As opposed to playing all those away games at the beginning of the season, we love it,” Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze said. “Having said that, I do think it presents some challenges, particularly to our fans that have to come to that many home games in a row.
“But with the situation that we’re in, it’s great … knowing we’ll have the 12th man there for us.”
Freeze said it’s nice for coaches and players not having to return home late from a road trip and be fresh for the start of another game week.
“But I don’t know that I want to repeat it year after year, particularly having to go to all those away games right in a row,” Freeze said.
The Rebels went 2-2 on the road and are one victory from being bowl eligible for a second consecutive season under Freeze.
“We could easily have a couple more wins, and we could easily have a couple more losses,” Freeze said. “Your mind usually concentrates on the ones you let get away, but you have to move on from those.
“Winning the last two games has helped tremendously with that. I believe we have gotten better at mostly every spot.”
The Rebels are 12-9 since Freeze since came to Ole Miss from Arkansas State - including a bowl victory over Pittsburgh last year - after they were 4-8 in 2010 and 2-10 in 2011.
“I think we’re probably ahead of schedule in the journey that I had originally thought of,” Freeze said. “I know not everybody may feel that way, but if I look at the totality of the season with injuries and our schedule, I think we’ve gotten better.”
Arkansas (3-6, 0-5) has lost six in a row, the losses coming against teams with a combined 39-12 record. The past five losses have come against SEC opponents, all of which were ranked when they played Arkansas.
“I’m not astounded that they’ve lost the games, because I’ve seen their schedule, and I know what this conference is like,” Freeze said.
“But they’re closer than people realize. … They scare me. … For whatever reason, they just haven’t finished drives, and I hope Saturday doesn’t come that time where they find out the answer to that, or it could be a very difficult game.”
Junior quarterback Bo Wallace leads the Rebels offense, having completed 165 of 263 passes for 1,976 yards and 11 touchdowns with 3 interceptions after throwing 17 interceptions last season in 368 attempts.
Freeze said quarterbacks coach Dan Werner has reduced the offensive package to help Wallace have a clear understanding which reads he should make.
“As the year has gone on, we continue to cut back to make sure we put ourselves in position to take care of the ball,” Freeze said.
“We’ve also been able to run the ball, which is a huge thing for anyone that understands what our offense is like. When you’re able to run the ball it gives you a little more time to throw, and the decisions become better.”Ole Miss Rebels (5-3, 2-3 SEC) DATE OPPONENT RESULT Aug. 29 at Vanderbilt W 39-35 Sept. 7 SE Missouri W 31-13 Sept. 14 at Texas W 44-23 Sept. 28 at Alabama L 25-0 Oct. 5 at Auburn L 30-22 Oct. 12 Texas A&M L 41-38 Oct. 19 LSU W 27-24 Oct. 26 Idaho W 59-14 Nov. 9 Arkansas Nov 16 Troy Nov. 23 Missouri Nov. 28 at Miss. State
Up next Arkansas at Ole Miss WHEN Saturday, 11:21 a.m. Central WHERE Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, Miss.
TV KATV, Channel 7, in Little Rock; KHBS/ KHOG, Channels 40/29, in Northwest Arkansas; KAIT, Channel 8, in Jonesboro
Sports, Pages 17 on 11/05/2013