By Nate Allen
Special to the News-Times
FAYETTEVILLE - Like they say advertising Oaklawn horse racing: “Somebody’s going to win.”
That means somebody among the Arkansas Razorbacks and Ole Miss Rebels will crack the SEC win column in tonight’s 6:30 p.m. contest televised by the SEC Network at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Coach Matt Luke’s Rebels (4-2, 0-2) were 4-0 non-conference, but have lost their first two SEC games, 62-7 at home to No. 1 Alabama and 45-16 at currently No. 13 LSU.
Arkansas (1-5, 0-3) under new coach Chad Morris has lost five consecutively since opening the season with a 55-20 win over Eastern Illinois, their lone opponent from the lower FCS (Football Championship Subdivision).
The Razorbacks and their fans actually exude more positives about their team post their three SEC games than before them.
Heavy underdogs in all three SEC games after going 1-2 as favorites in their non-conference games, the Razorbacks defensively played well against Auburn considering the Tigers capitalized on special teams.
They were in it to the finish with the ball and down seven before falling to Texas A&M at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium.
Last Saturday in Fayetteville with 31 points and 405 yards total offense, Arkansas scored more points and made more yards than anybody has scored and amassed on 6-0 Alabama this season.
So though fans wondered aloud if their Hogs would win a game immediately after the debacle against North Texas, most now see Arkansas finally picking on somebody its own size even as Ole Miss rates a six- to seven-point favorite among the Las Vegas casinos.
Arkansas’ offense and special teams improved immensely against Alabama over its performances against North Texas and Auburn.
The defense, even allowing for Alabama’s pick-six on a Ty Storey pass among its 65 points, obviously didn’t fare as well against the Crimson Tide as previous foes, but Alabama has been unstoppable against all in its path thus far.
And even while beaten, Arkansas’ defense never quit against the Tide.
These Hogs have grown tougher every week
“I think anytime you are around each other as much as we are and when you go through adversity like we have, you find the growth,” Morris said. “You find what you are really about. You force yourself to continue to grow. When you go through adversity, you become closer, you become better. I think the staff has become better. I think the players have become better and closer. That's why you have seen the progress that you have seen.”
That said, Ole Miss remains the favorite with cause.
Arkansas hasn’t beaten a Power Five team since last year’s 38-37 Oct. 28 victory over Ole Miss on Connor Limpert’s field goal with four seconds left, which extended their winning streak to four straight over the Rebels.
Last Saturday, Ole Miss flexed its offensive muscles 76-21 over Louisiana-Monroe.
Rebels quarterback Jordan Ta’amu during last season beat out Shea Patterson, the quarterback now starring as a graduate transfer at Michigan.
This season in total command, Ta’amu has completed 120-of-187 passes for 1,911 yards with 13 touchdowns against four picks. Rebels receivers A.J. Brown (44 catches for 586 for four touchdowns), D.K. Metcalf (28 catches for 520 yards and five touchdowns) and tight end DeMarcus Loge (25 catches for 386 with a touchdown) can bedevil any secondary.
Skill-wise, the Rebels receivers rank with Alabama’s. While no Tua Tagovailoa, Ta’amu ranks with the best of the rest of the SEC quarterbacks.
As Arkansas enthuses that junior college transfer running back Rakeem Boyd became Arkansas’ first to top 100 rushing yards (15 rushes for 102 yards) on Alabama since Darren McFadden in 2007, Ole Miss junior college transfer running back Scottie Phillips averages 7.1 yards per carry.
Both teams approach this Little Rock kickoff believing they have the somebodies to emerge victorious.
But the somebody is going to win Oaklawn edict at Hot Springs reminds that only one team’s somebodies will win tonight in Little Rock.