Mississippi motivated

OXFORD, Miss. -- Ever since his eighth-ranked Ole Miss team was beaten 30-0 at Arkansas last Nov. 22, having a return shot at the Razorbacks has been in the back of Coach Hugh Freeze's mind.

But it wasn't until Freeze shook hands with Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn at the end of last Saturday's 27-19 victory at Auburn that Freeze allowed himself to focus on the opportunity to avenge that defeat.

"I'm a competitor and an offensive coach," said Freeze, whose No. 18 Rebels get their shot at redemption against the Razorbacks at 2:30 p.m. today at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. "As soon as we were able to turn our attention from Auburn, that was on my mind. I like getting another shot at that. It motivates me."

Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said he realizes the motivation for Mississippi will be strong.

"It's a game I'm sure they've had on their radar since last year just because of the way the game panned out," he said. "Obviously I think there's going to be a little bit of that, but 2014 is 2014 and 2015 is 2015. New players, new rosters.

"I get the question, why it has to get asked, but when you're at this point of the schedule everyone should be motivated no matter the situation."

Ole Miss (7-2, 4-1 SEC) possesses extra motivation. If the Rebels win out against Arkansas, LSU and Mississippi State, they will make their first trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game. The 2003 season was previously the closest Ole Miss has come to representing the West in Atlanta when the Rebels tied LSU at 7-1 but lost the head-to-head meeting and the tiebreaker to the Tigers.

Today's game offers Ole Miss a chance to get back at the Razorbacks, who forced six turnovers, including Rohan Gaines' 100-yard interception return, on a cold, rainy evening at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

"It's in the trash," Ole Miss tight end Evan Engram said about last year's game. "This Saturday, I know we'll be ready. We can't really do anything about it but win this week. That's our mind-set, and that's our goal."

Ole Miss safety Trae Elston said the Rebels can't get caught up in the revenge factor for fear of losing concentration.

"It's anger at ourselves, Elston said. "You can't be mad at the other team if they beat you and you didn't execute well. We didn't execute last year. They wanted to win, and we didn't."

Current Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly, the SEC's passing leader, watched that game from his dorm room at East Mississippi Community College.

"That was the old team, this is the new," Kelly said. "You've got to have a chip on your shoulder going into this game for sure."

The victory was significant for Arkansas, which became the first unranked team to shut out consecutive ranked opponents since World War II.

Arkansas defensive tackle DeMarcus Hodge said he knows what to expect from the Rebels.

"I think they remember that," Hodge said. "We've really come along in the last couple of weeks, and I think they've taken notice of that. We're preparing for them to bring their best game."

The Razorbacks jumped out to a 17-0 first-quarter lead, and Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen ended up attempting 10 passes.He had to leave the game in the third quarter after taking a shot to his right oblique muscle on a broken play.

Allen recalled the Razorbacks' frame of mind that day as they tried to follow up a 17-0 shutout of No. 17 LSU from the previous week, a victory that ended Arkansas' 17-game losing streak to SEC opponents.

"You obviously didn't expect a 30-to-nothing game,"Allen said, "but the way we played, the way we continued to fight, I was really proud of the team and the way we came out on both sides of the ball,"

The Rebels were in a fragile emotional state when the Razorbacks kicked off in the rain that day.

They had opened the season 7-0 and reached No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings before losing 10-7 at LSU, a game in which the Rebels were in position to attempt a game-tying 42-yard field goal when Bo Wallace threw an interception at the LSU 1 in the closing seconds.

The next week against No. 3 Auburn, receiver Laquon Treadwell was inches short of a go-ahead touchdown late in the game when a tackle from Kris Frost not only broke Treadwell's leg and tore up his knee, it forced the ball free in the end zone and the Tigers recovered to hold on for a 35-31 victory.

Ole Miss thrashed Presbyterian 48-0 after the Auburn loss and came into the Arkansas game off an open date.

Freeze said he sensed everything wasn't right with his team in the lead-up to the game, and he was right. Arkansas took the opening kickoff and scored in three plays, runs of 12 yards by Keon Hatcher and 15 yards by Alex Collins followed by Hatcher's 25-yard touchdown pass from Allen.

"Coming out of the gate, the way they went 1-2-3 and scored on us didn't set the tempo very good for the game," Ole Miss defensive coordinator Dave Wommack said.

Martrell Spaight forced a fumble from Wallace and Trey Flowers recovered to set up a field goal later in the first quarter.

Then, the Rebels ran out of bounds at their 2 with the ensuing kickoff and Arkansas capitalized on good field position after a punt, driving 49 yards to take a 17-0 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Collins on fourth down.

Arkansas will be without several of its stars from that game, including Flowers, Spaight, Hatcher, defensive tackle Darius Philon, who returned a fumble 7 yards to the Ole Miss 1, Tevin Mitchell, who had one of Arkansas' three interceptions, and running back Jonathan Williams, who ran for a game-high 81 yards.

Flowers, Spaight and Mitchell are gone because their eligibility has expired. Philon, a third-year player, decided to enter the NFL draft. Hatcher and Williams were caught up in the rash of injuries that has affected the Razorbacks this season.

The shutout was the second of Freeze's career, following a 25-0 loss at No. 1 Alabama in 2013.

"I don't know about our kids and how that affects them, but certainly as a competitive coach in this business, you take pride in competing at a high level, and when you don't it motivates you, so that is definitely a motivating factor for me," Freeze said. "It's probably not one that will matter in the outcome of the game.

"The kids will decide it, and who executes the best, but certainly as a coach that motivates you."

Sports on 11/07/2015