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Arkansas and Ole Miss enter their Week 10 matchup each having won three of their last four contests. Both programs are playing well right now on the backs of high-powered offenses and more-than-capable defenses.
For Arkansas (4-4, 2-2 in the SEC), a win over Ole Miss lifts the Razorbacks above .500 for the first time since Week 1. A victory for the Rebels (7-2, 4-1 in the SEC) helps them keep pace with LSU and Alabama, while keeping their SEC West division hopes alive, if only for one more week. Arkansas blanked No. 8 Ole Miss 30-0 last season.
Here are five players to keep an eye on when the Arkansas Razorbacks travel to Oxford in Week 10 to take on the Ole Miss Rebels:
Arkansas RB Alex Collins – Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema lashed out at Alex Collins before the Razorbacks’ Week 9 tilt against Tennessee-Martin after the star running back failed to show up for a team meal. The junior responded to the discipline with 173 rushing yards and five touchdowns against the Skyhawks. Collins is 40 yards shy of his third 1,000-yard rushing performance in as many years. The Ole Miss defense, however, is capable of slowing the Hogs running back. The Rebels are comparable in total defense (121.6 YPG, No. 25 nationally) to Toledo (125.0 YPG), which held Collins to his second-lowest rushing total of the season (54 yards) and a touchdown in Week 2.
Bielema: Alex Collins pissed me off–he was late for breakfast this morning. He’s got so much potential. The only guy who limits him is him.
— Bo Mattingly (@SportsTalkwBo) October 24, 2015
Ole Miss QB Chad Kelly – Chad Kelly and the Ole Miss offense puts up videogame-type numbers. With Kelly under center, the Rebels (4,676 yards) have more than 1,000 total yards than the next closest school, Arkansas. As a team, Ole Miss has thrown for 400 yards three times this season. For context, Hugh Freeze’s squad entered the year with just six 400-yard passing games in program history. The junior Kelly leads the SEC in passing with 2,856 yards and 20 touchdowns, five more than Arkansas’ Brandon Allen for tops among the conference’s signal-callers. The transfer from Clemson is working on an Ole Miss-record six-straight 300-yard passing performances — listing him third on the Rebels’ all-time list trailing only Bo Wallace (11 300-yard games) and Eli Manning (10).
Arkansas WR Jared Cornelius – Jared Cornelius returned Saturday for the first time since suffering a brutal forearm injury in Week 3 against Texas Tech. The sophomore hauled in four passes for 33 yards and returned a punt for another 33 yards in the Razorbacks’ 63-28 beat-down of Tennessee-Martin. In the three games prior to the injury, Cornelius had 150 yards, for an average of 21.4 yards per catch, and a touchdown. With Hogs’ leading receiver Drew Morgan expected to play, but with a nagging shoulder injury, there’s an opportunity for Cornelius to see more balls thrown his direction.
Ole Miss DE Marquis Haynes – Ole Miss defensive end Marquis Haynes is coming off an SEC Defensive Player of the Week effort against Auburn in which the sophomore tallied 6.0 solo tackles, three of them for a loss, 2.0 sacks and a quarterback hurry. Haynes paces a Rebels defense that ranks No. 25 in the nation against the run (121.6 YPG) with a team-high 7.5 sacks. The Jacksonville, Fla., native now has 15.0 sacks in two years (21 games, really), tying him for sixth overall with Dewayne Dotson on the Ole Miss all-time leaderboard. Haynes will be a challenge for the stout Arkansas offensive line
Arkansas TE Jeremy Sprinkle – Jeremy Sprinkle is becoming a favorite target of Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen. The junior tight end has touchdowns in each of the Hogs’ last two games and set a career-high with 67 yards last week against Tennessee-Martin. The White Hall, Ark., native is now Arkansas’ third-leading receiver (222 yards). His highlight-reel moment came in Week 9, catching a 2-point conversion to extend the Razorbacks to a fourth overtime against Auburn.
Chris Wuensch is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers South Carolina and Tennessee.
