NO. 12 MISSISSIPPI AT NO. 22 ARKANSAS

Solution to Hogs riddle eludes Rebels

Mississippi quarterback Chad Kelly (10) runs the ball during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Arkansas in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015. (AP Photo/Thomas Graning)
Mississippi quarterback Chad Kelly (10) runs the ball during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Arkansas in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015. (AP Photo/Thomas Graning)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Ole Miss is the only SEC team to beat Alabama since 2014, and the Rebels have done it twice.

The Rebels won 23-17 in 2014 and 43-37 in 2015 before No. 1 Alabama rallied to win 48-43 at Ole Miss this season.

Arkansas, which has lost 10 consecutive games to Alabama, is the only SEC team to beat Ole Miss in each of the past two seasons.

Even when Arkansas went 0-8 in the SEC in 2013, the Rebels needed a field goal as time expired to beat the Razorbacks 30-27.

Ole Miss was ranked No. 8 coming into its game at Arkansas in 2014 when the unranked Razorbacks won 30-0.

Last season, the Rebels were No. 18 when they lost to unranked Arkansas 53-52 in overtime.

So how does anything in this bizarre triangle with Alabama, Arkansas and Ole Miss make sense?

"They've been a tough matchup for us the last few years," Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze said. "I think matchups are important in college football.

"Sometimes you look at them and you feel like, 'I like this matchup.' Then other teams seem to give you more of a problem. They've been that to us the past few years."

Arkansas, coming off a 49-30 loss to Alabama, will try to give Ole Miss more problems when the No. 12 Rebels (3-2, 1-1 SEC) play the No. 22 Razorbacks (4-2, 0-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday.

"We've got a lot of work to do to try to make sure our plans are efficient, and we're asking our young men to do something they can do," Freeze said. "So that they have the best chance to win on the road in a tough environment."

The Rebels are coming into the game after an open date, as was the case in 2014 when they were shut out at Arkansas.

"That was an ugly day from the jump," Ole Miss senior tight end Evan Engram said. "Stuff wasn't going our way -- turnovers, the weather was cold and rainy, we couldn't really make a big play.

"That's a big part of our offense, is being able to be efficient through the air. It's really tough to do that in those conditions. And that weather played perfectly into their scheme -- ground and pound.

"I don't really think about that game too much because of how bad it was. But definitely looking forward to getting back to Fayetteville and having a better result."

It was the Rebels' first SEC game since a 35-31 loss to Auburn, in which star receiver Laquon Treadwell suffered a season-ending leg injury when he was inches away from what would have been the winning touchdown.

"The weather was awful, and we were disappointed after a Laquon Treadwell injury that kind of knocked us out of things," Freeze said. "I didn't do a good job getting our team ready to play.

"Offensively, we were atrocious that night up there."

Rohan Gaines also had a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown for the Razorbacks.

The Razorbacks and Rebels combined for 1,195 yards in last season's matchup.

"Last year was a shootout," Freeze said. "We couldn't stop them, and they couldn't stop us."

Freeze said a lot of Ole Miss' matchup problems with Arkansas last season had to do with quarterback Brandon Allen and tight ends Hunter Henry and Jeremy Sprinkle.

Allen completed 33 of 45 passes for 442 yards and 6 touchdowns -- with Henry and Sprinkle combining for 10 catches for 99 yards -- and he ran for the game-winning two-point conversion.

Allen and Henry have moved on to the NFL, but Sprinkle is back and Austin Allen has passed for 1,632 yards and 15 touchdowns after taking over for his brother as Arkansas' starting quarterback.

"It definitely motivates us," Ole Miss sophomore safety Zedrick Woods said of last season's loss to Arkansas. "We fought and gave up a lot of points on the defensive side of the ball, so we kind of take that as a challenge to hold them to the lowest points we can this year."

Rebels senior quarterback Chad Kelly accounted for six touchdowns against Arkansas last season, with three passing and three rushing.

This season, Kelly is averaging 344.0 yards in total offense to lead the SEC and rank 10th nationally. He's completed 115 of 174 passes (66.1 percent) for 1,596 yards and 13 touchdowns with 4 interceptions, and he's rushed 38 times for 124 yards and 1 touchdown.

"I think he's played extremely well outside of the four turnovers," Freeze said. "I think if you take those four things away, it would be hard to argue with many mistakes that he's had.

"He's been efficient, he's accurate and led us to explosive plays. Just taking care of the ball is the thing that we've got to continue to work on and improve."

Engram, who has 30 catches for 479 yards and 4 touchdowns, said Ole Miss can win out.

"We have the talent, we have the offense," Engram said. "Our defense is getting confident and getting better. We've got a lot of great teams left to play, a lot of tough road games. ... But from what I've seen the first half of the season, I definitely think we have enough to run the table."

To have a chance to do it, the Rebels will need to solve their Arkansas problem.

Sports on 10/12/2016

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