Arkansas defense faces challenging test in Oxford
Save for a bad first drive in the season-opening win over Alabama A&M, Arkansas‘ defense has collectively done its job against teams it should have in the first two games.
Between the Bulldogs, and then last Saturday’s triumph over Arkansas State in Little Rock, the Hogs have held each of their opponents under 300 total offensive yards. This week’s trip to Oxford, Mississippi, will be the first true test of the season in the SEC opener against No. 17 Ole Miss. The Rebels boast SEC leading rusher Kewan Lacy and leading receiver Harrison Wallace III, plus no shortage of unpredictability at quarterback.
“Honestly, it’s not about what challenges they bring,” Arkansas senior defensive end Phillip Lee said. “It’s about us being in the right gaps, fitting the run, fitting them being able to pass when it’s time to pass. It’s about us doing our job, honestly.”
Wallace is averaging 27.4 yards per reception and logged over 100 yards in each of the Rebels’ two games, while Lacy has eclipsed the century mark on the ground in both contests.
How will Rebels look at quarterback?
Despite the challenge that Lacy and Wallace bring, the Arkansas defense at least knows their status, unlike what the Rebels could look like under center. It is assumed first year quarterback Austin Simmons will be good to go, but the question is will he be at 100 percent?
Simmons was helped off of the field in the Rebels’ 30-23 win at Kentucky last Saturday due to a right leg injury and Division II transfer Trinidad Chambliss took over in the fourth quarter. According to Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said Simmons is “fine.”
“He was able to go back in,” Kiffin said on his local media call earlier this week. “They taped it up and he was cleared to go back in. Knew the type of plays we were going to run at that point and went with Trinidad because of that. I would expect [Simmons] will be fine.”
Simmons got off to a rough start against the Wildcats, throwing two first quarter interceptions, before leading three consecutive scoring drives in the second quarter. On the season, Simmons has completed 33 of 55 passes (60%) for 576 yards and three touchdowns to four interceptions. His passing yards rank third in the SEC, right ahead of Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green’s 561.
Chambliss completed 4 of 6 passes for 59 yards and a touchdown in the Rebels’ 63-7 season-opening win over Georgia State, and also had immense previous success at the D-II level. He threw for 2,925 yards and 26 touchdowns, plus put up another 1,019 yards and 25 scores on the ground while leading Ferris State to a national championship and being named second team All-America last fall.
“They definitely throw a lot of stuff at you,” Hogs defensive back Miguel Mitchell said. ” They try to go fast and get you to kinda miss some easy things that you normally wouldn’t mess up. But, I feel like Austin Simmons is a good quarterback. He’s a really good young guy coming into the SEC.”
Regardless of whether they see Simmons or Chambliss – or both – the Hogs know they must come out stronger than last season when they got embarrassed 63-31 by the Rebels on their home field.
“Last year, I feel like we just got off to a slow start,” Mitchell said. “And in SEC play, getting off to a slow start is something you can’t do. You want to get ahead and be on top of these teams. So, once they get rolling and get ahead of you, it’s kinda hard to catch up. So what we wanna do is come out, start fast pretty much.”
The Razorbacks and Rebels will face off under the lights at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT and the game will air on ESPN.
