Ole Miss had a horrid first half in Fayetteville, falling to Arkansas, 42-27, on Saturday night to fall to 8-3 on the season. The Rebels host Mississippi State on Thursday to close the regular season.
We’ll start here before we move on: the officiating was horrid and lopsided in the first half, and that definitely altered the game. It was offensive pass interference on Arkansas on the touchdown, and it was pass interference when the officials picked up the flag on the long pass play for Ole Miss. The first touchdown was called back on an iffy penalty. I thought the second one was legitimate. They missed several pivotal holds on Arkansas before it was a blowout. If it’s closer early, maybe it stays closer. Who knows. If it’s tilted against out, if it’s just coincidence, eventually it has to be tilted toward you, too. Especially when you’re theoretically the better team.
Moving on, officiating wasn’t the only reason it was 35-6 at halftime. Ole Miss had no answer for Rocket Sanders, and KJ Jefferson was excellent in building the lead. He looked healthy, and he plays very well against the basically hometown Rebels. Ole Miss got pressure on him often but didn’t complete the plays and routinely overran Jefferson in the pocket. Sam Pittman said Arkansas figured out Ole Miss defensively in the second quarter, and it was just a steady diet of Sanders against the three-man front.
Jefferson was 14-for-18 for 164 and three touchdowns in the first half.
Jaxson Dart’s mistake on the interception was a dagger. His biggest errors this season have been not seeing defenders sitting in coverage. There were a couple times that, even despite the early bad luck and officiating whatevers, Ole Miss could have steadied itself and got back into the game. The Rebels didn’t make the plays in those instances. Ole Miss had 314 yards in the first half, but it was meaningless with only six points. Dart threw some nice passes, and the run game was quality. You don’t get credit for yards without points though, and considering the defensive situation, any trip that didn’t include a touchdown meant major issues.
This was the worst case scenario for what transpired this week. Lane Kiffin doesn’t talk about other jobs or really anything to do with his job — with his team or the media — but perception equals reality and the blowout to a .500 team brings in questions of distractions and flat play. Is that true? I don’t know. I never put one reason or emotion on 85 different people, and there are a lot of reasons, including maybe, partly the lack of moving past Bama, but when there’s a contract on your desk and another program that clearly wants you to be their next head coach and there’s no movement to quell the conversation, this isn’t the result that benefits that decision.
I don’t know if Lane Kiffin is considering Auburn, decided on Auburn or using the panic and uncertainty to drum up NIL dollars and whatever at Ole Miss. I just know this is a really bad look when you allow that level of unknown to sit on the program. The contract offer adds to that considering Richard Cross phrased it as a variable in the Auburn situation. And Richard was right; I don’t mean that negatively against him. This is all just the spiraling negative of allowing all that’s happened to fester. The decision to ignore it publicly or with the team is calculated and has a benefit in some instances. This is the opposite of those instances.
Maybe I’m seeing what I just think I’m seeing, but I thought Ole Miss had bad body language negative emotion as soon as anything bad happened. It seemed frantic at times and not as organized with lining up and executing the way it usually is. Nothing looked right.
I thought Isheem Young played well defensively. That’s about all I got, but I did.
Arkansas routed Ole Miss, 30-0, in Fayetteville in 2014, and the Rebels won the Egg Bowl a week later. This doesn’t necessarily have an impact on that. A ninth win has some significance. Another Egg Bowl win has some significance. Those aren’t nothings, but this is a program conversation for the next week. What is going to happen with Kiffin and what the Rebels need to do to avoid days like this. There are losses and then there is whatever happened here.
For what it’s worth, Quinshon Judkins and Zach Evans were really good, and Judkins went over 100 yards again. They were really impressive, and I thought Dart was good in the first half outside of the interception. He made some quality throws despite pressure and kept some plays alive. Judkins now holds the single season school record for yards and touchdowns. Ole Miss ran for around 400 yards and lost in a blowout. It’s an amazing stat line.
Arkansas was trying to run the clock out, but Ole Miss did keep playing in the second half. I don’t know what weight to put on it, but it’s something. The Rebels could have just packed it up, but they made it less embarrassing.
The SEC Network crew discussing Auburn or Ole Miss and mentioning Auburn’s facilities and NIL but not Ole Miss’ which is same on both accounts is shoddy stuff. Taking AU’s word for it on NIL and ignoring anything with Ole Miss’. I don’t know if Lane said something to them this week or they are willfully ignoring it or what, but it’s an injustice for Ole Miss. The Rebels need to get aggressive with PR — promoting NIL amounts and overall commitment.
We’ll start here before we move on: the officiating was horrid and lopsided in the first half, and that definitely altered the game. It was offensive pass interference on Arkansas on the touchdown, and it was pass interference when the officials picked up the flag on the long pass play for Ole Miss. The first touchdown was called back on an iffy penalty. I thought the second one was legitimate. They missed several pivotal holds on Arkansas before it was a blowout. If it’s closer early, maybe it stays closer. Who knows. If it’s tilted against out, if it’s just coincidence, eventually it has to be tilted toward you, too. Especially when you’re theoretically the better team.
Moving on, officiating wasn’t the only reason it was 35-6 at halftime. Ole Miss had no answer for Rocket Sanders, and KJ Jefferson was excellent in building the lead. He looked healthy, and he plays very well against the basically hometown Rebels. Ole Miss got pressure on him often but didn’t complete the plays and routinely overran Jefferson in the pocket. Sam Pittman said Arkansas figured out Ole Miss defensively in the second quarter, and it was just a steady diet of Sanders against the three-man front.
Jefferson was 14-for-18 for 164 and three touchdowns in the first half.
Jaxson Dart’s mistake on the interception was a dagger. His biggest errors this season have been not seeing defenders sitting in coverage. There were a couple times that, even despite the early bad luck and officiating whatevers, Ole Miss could have steadied itself and got back into the game. The Rebels didn’t make the plays in those instances. Ole Miss had 314 yards in the first half, but it was meaningless with only six points. Dart threw some nice passes, and the run game was quality. You don’t get credit for yards without points though, and considering the defensive situation, any trip that didn’t include a touchdown meant major issues.
This was the worst case scenario for what transpired this week. Lane Kiffin doesn’t talk about other jobs or really anything to do with his job — with his team or the media — but perception equals reality and the blowout to a .500 team brings in questions of distractions and flat play. Is that true? I don’t know. I never put one reason or emotion on 85 different people, and there are a lot of reasons, including maybe, partly the lack of moving past Bama, but when there’s a contract on your desk and another program that clearly wants you to be their next head coach and there’s no movement to quell the conversation, this isn’t the result that benefits that decision.
I don’t know if Lane Kiffin is considering Auburn, decided on Auburn or using the panic and uncertainty to drum up NIL dollars and whatever at Ole Miss. I just know this is a really bad look when you allow that level of unknown to sit on the program. The contract offer adds to that considering Richard Cross phrased it as a variable in the Auburn situation. And Richard was right; I don’t mean that negatively against him. This is all just the spiraling negative of allowing all that’s happened to fester. The decision to ignore it publicly or with the team is calculated and has a benefit in some instances. This is the opposite of those instances.
Maybe I’m seeing what I just think I’m seeing, but I thought Ole Miss had bad body language negative emotion as soon as anything bad happened. It seemed frantic at times and not as organized with lining up and executing the way it usually is. Nothing looked right.
I thought Isheem Young played well defensively. That’s about all I got, but I did.
Arkansas routed Ole Miss, 30-0, in Fayetteville in 2014, and the Rebels won the Egg Bowl a week later. This doesn’t necessarily have an impact on that. A ninth win has some significance. Another Egg Bowl win has some significance. Those aren’t nothings, but this is a program conversation for the next week. What is going to happen with Kiffin and what the Rebels need to do to avoid days like this. There are losses and then there is whatever happened here.
For what it’s worth, Quinshon Judkins and Zach Evans were really good, and Judkins went over 100 yards again. They were really impressive, and I thought Dart was good in the first half outside of the interception. He made some quality throws despite pressure and kept some plays alive. Judkins now holds the single season school record for yards and touchdowns. Ole Miss ran for around 400 yards and lost in a blowout. It’s an amazing stat line.
Arkansas was trying to run the clock out, but Ole Miss did keep playing in the second half. I don’t know what weight to put on it, but it’s something. The Rebels could have just packed it up, but they made it less embarrassing.
The SEC Network crew discussing Auburn or Ole Miss and mentioning Auburn’s facilities and NIL but not Ole Miss’ which is same on both accounts is shoddy stuff. Taking AU’s word for it on NIL and ignoring anything with Ole Miss’. I don’t know if Lane said something to them this week or they are willfully ignoring it or what, but it’s an injustice for Ole Miss. The Rebels need to get aggressive with PR — promoting NIL amounts and overall commitment.
