Arkansas Razorbacks vs. Ole Miss Rebels: TV channel, game time, odds and predictions (September 7, 2019)
The Arkansas Razorbacks will travel to Oxford, Mississippi this Saturday, September 7, 2019, to take on the Ole Miss Rebels.
The game will take place at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, which has been the home of the Rebels since 1915.
Both teams enter week two of the college football season unranked and both teams have not received any votes in the AP Top 25.
This game is of enormous meaning to both programs. For Ole Miss, a win here would do wonders for a young team and a discouraged fan base after losing in week one to Memphis. Chad Morris is still searching for his first SEC win as the head coach at Arkansas, and some Razorback fans are getting impatient. More importantly, a win here would mean that one of these teams is going to start out conference play strong.
Arkansas vs. Ole Miss football TV channel
The Arkansas-Ole Miss game will air on the SEC Network. Kickoff is currently scheduled for 6:30 p.m. central time or 7:30 p.m. eastern time.
Arkansas vs. Ole Miss players to watch
Rakeem Boyd was the lone bright spot for the Razorback offense last season. He rushed for over 700 yards in only eight starts last year. This season he looks to improve on those numbers in his second year playing in the SEC. Many “Last Chance U” fans remember seeing Boyd on season three at Independence Community College. Boyd had 18 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown last week against Portland State.
Matt Corral won the starting quarterback job in the offseason for Ole Miss, after the graduation of Jordan Ta’amu in 2018. Corral was a four-star recruit coming out of High School and played in the Egg Bowl last year when Ta’amu was hurt. It will be interesting to see Corral progress throughout the year under first-year OC Rich Rodriguez. Last week against Memphis, Corral went 9-19 with 93 yards and an interception.
Ben Hicks has earned the starting quarterback job this offseason for Arkansas. Hicks was the quarterback at SMU while Morris was head coach there. In 33 starts at SMU, he threw for over 9,000 yards with 71 touchdowns. Last week against Portland State, Hicks went 14-29 with 143 yards passing.
Scottie Phillips is hands down the star of the Ole Miss offense. Last year he rushed for just north of 900 yards in only ten games, so imagine what he will do with a full season. Having Phillips in the backfield with Matt Corral is going to make things easier on Corral. Last week against Memphis, Philips rushed for 62 yards and also had a touchdown.
Arkansas vs. Ole Miss football odds
The line currently favors Ole Miss by 6.5 points. The over/under is currently set at 50.5.
The line has held steady for much of the week.
Arkansas vs. Ole Miss predictions
This is a very close game to pick. Some experts are predicting Ole Miss to win in a close, low scoring game, and others are predicting Arkansas to win in a close, low scoring game.
Arkansas vs. Ole Miss previous meetings
This will be the 65th meeting between Arkansas and Ole Miss. The teams have played every year since 1981. Arkansas leads the all-time series with 36 wins compared to Ole Miss’s 27 wins. The two teams have also tied once.
The last meeting came in 2018, where the Rebels came out on top, 37-33 in Fayetteville. In 2017, Arkansas won 38-37, and in 2017 the Razorbacks won again 34-30.
The largest margin of victory in the series came in 2007 when Arkansas beat Ole Miss 44-7.
The longest win streak in the series is five consecutive wins for Arkansas in 1985-1989.
Arkansas Razorbacks week one review
Arkansas opened their season at home last Saturday against FCS opponent Portland State. This game was a close one from the get-go. Arkansas took a 10-6 lead into halftime and eventually won the game 20-13, but boy was that a sloppy game for Arkansas.
Ben Hicks was benched mid-game after going 14/29 with only 149 yards, but Nick Starkel didn’t perform any better. The only bright spot for the Razorback offense was Rakeem Boyd who had 114 yards rushing and a touchdown.
The Arkansas defense didn’t do much better. Giving up 13 points doesn’t seem like a bad performance, but when you consider the quality of the opponent, it makes a fan worry. Portland State was statistically one of the worst offensive teams in the FCS last year. They rushed for only 75 yards but passed for 155.
Chad Morris in opening road games
This will be Chad Morris’s second year at Arkansas and his fifth year overall as a coach. Let’s take a look at how his teams have faired in their opening road games:
-2015: SMU loss at TCU
-2016: SMU win at North Texas
-2017: SMU loss at TCU
-2018: Arkansas loss at Colorado State
Ole Miss Rebels week one review
The Ole Miss Rebels opened their season on the road against Memphis last Saturday. This game was a low scoring defensive battle between both teams. Ole Miss was down 13-0 early on, but after scoring 10 unanswered, they found themselves with a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter. That drive ended up in a safety and that sealed the victory for Memphis, 15-10.
The Ole Miss offense was atrocious, and that’s putting it in a nice way. Matt Corral was very inconsistent against Memphis, going 9/19 with 93 yards passing and a horrible interception. There were a few glimpses of what Corral could be, but just a few. The offensive line did a bad job in the passing game and the run game and didn’t give Corral enough time and every time Scottie Phillips touched the ball there was someone in his face.
The Rebel defense was easily the best part of the game for Ole Miss, and I bet a lot of Ole Miss fans were shocked about that. Props to DC Mike Macintyre for an outstanding job of improving the Ole Miss defense. The defense gave the Ole Miss offense every chance to win, and that Memphis offense isn’t a bad one, either.
Matt Luke in home openers
This will be Matt Luke’s third year at Ole Miss and his third year overall as a head coach. Let’s take a look at how his teams have done in home openers:
-2017: Ole Miss win over South Alabama
-2018: Ole Miss win over Southern Illinois