Ole Miss Football began SEC play last weekend with a road win against Kentucky. On Saturday, Sept. 13, the AP No. 17 Rebels will return home to face Arkansas — another big test for a team with College Football Playoff aspirations.
Arkansas enters this matchup unranked but undefeated at 2-0. The Razorbacks’ wins came against Arkansas State (56-14) and Alabama A&M (52-7). This Saturday marks the Razorbacks’ first SEC action of the season.
Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green is a 6-foot-6-inch, dual-threat signal caller. Over the past two weeks, he threw 10 touchdowns and rushed for another; his 11 total touchdowns lead the SEC. Last season, Green rushed for 602 yards, and he has continued to be aggressive on the ground this season.
Green ran for 151 yards in Week 1 against Arkansas State, but his 41 yards against Alabama A&M in week two were clouded by the two sacks he took.
Through two weeks, the Rebel defense tallied four sacks and 10 tackles for loss meaning, if the pass rush can get home, Ole Miss should be set up well.
Between Georgia State and Kentucky, the Rebel secondary has yielded only 128 passing yards per game. Green is a solid passer — he threw for 3,154 yards in 2024-25 — but he may struggle against his first SEC defense of the season.
The Razorbacks’ top wide receiver, O’Mega Blake, has 12 receptions for 185 yards (15.4 per reception) and two touchdown catches on the season. Blake has the potential to break the game open, as evidenced by his 121-yard Week 1 performance.
The Ole Miss defense has found itself in some tough, short-field situations this season resulting from quarterback Austin Simmons’ four interceptions. However, if Simmons can clean up the turnovers like he did in the second half of the Kentucky game, the defense will be in a better position to keep points off the board.
This may be easier said than done, though. Simmons and the offense have struggled early in both games, scoring just seven total first quarter points — due, in large part, to Simmons’s turnovers, all of which have come in the first 15 minutes.
Arkansas’s defense will be the most talented the Rebels have faced on paper this season. Linebacker Xavian Sorey Jr. is Arkansas’s biggest threat; the senior has 16 total tackles, half a sack, one forced fumble and one interception this season.
The Arkansas defense as a whole has six sacks and 20 tackles for loss this year. Defensive end Quincy Rhodes Jr. leads the team with three sacks, and fellow defensive end Philip Lee is tied with Rhodes as the team leader in tackles for loss with three.
Rebel running back Kewan Lacy has provided relief from Simmons’ woes. Lacy leads the SEC in rushing yards with 246, and his four touchdowns are nothing to sneeze at. Last week, the Rebels leaned on him as a workhorse, and he proved he could manage the load to the tune of 138 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries.
To complement Lacy’s success in the run game, Ole Miss is also home to the SEC leader in receiving yards: wide receiver Harrison Wallace Jr. Last week, Wallace’s 55-yard catch-and-run on 4th-and-1 in the second quarter proved to be a turning point early, and his 43-yard catch in the third quarter kept Simmons in rhythm to set the Rebels up for another touchdown.
Wallace has steady hands and big play ability; if Simmons can remain composed, Wallace has a chance to tear apart the Razorback secondary.
Ole Miss got the job done against Kentucky, but Simmons cannot afford to be careless. Though Arkansas has yet to play a Power 4 program this season, the Razorbacks’ big wins in the first two weeks demonstrate that they are capable of running away with games.
Since 2014 to 2018 (when Arkansas won four games in a row against Ole Miss), neither Ole Miss nor Arkansas have won three in a row in this rivalry. The Rebels look to get their third consecutive victory against the Hogs for the first time since 1990-93, when Ole Miss won four in a row.
This Week 3 matchup is an opportunity for Simmons to prove his stature as a starter and establish Ole Miss as one of the best teams in the country.
