Same Problems Haunt Hogs Again in Loss to Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. — The ugly beast rears its head once again. On a third-and-three midway through the fourth quarter with the Rebels ahead, Ole Miss linebacker Ashanti Cistrunk fought off left tackle Andrew Chamblee to sack KJ Jefferson and force the Hogs to punt it back and preserve the four-point lead.
The Razorbacks defense forced a key goal-line stand to keep it to a one-possession game, but a pick from John Saunders Jr. sealed the Hogs’ fate in a 27-20 loss to Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday night.
Similar to the games against Texas A&M, the defense kept the Hogs in the game throughout the first half. It was the offense though that gave the Hogs hope that many of the issues had been solved. The Razorbacks got 89 yards on the opening drive after the defense forced an opening three-and-out after only getting 174 yards last week. Tight End Ty Washington, replacing the injured freshman Luke Hasz had a career night in his first game as the tight end had five catches for 64 yards on the drive alone including the 3-yard touchdown pass.
"I just kept grinding," Washington said. "Coming out of last year, and coming into this year... Luke’s a hell of a player, and he came in and did his thing, but I just waited for my opportunity. It finally came, so I had to step up to the plate."
Arkansas came into the game leading the SEC with 14 turnovers. However, in the last three and a half games, the Hogs' offense has turned four turnovers from the Arkansas defense (not counting the pick-six against A&M) into just two field goals. The only touchdown that the Hogs scored off a turnover was in garbage time against Texas A&M.
It was only fitting that after the Hogs got the ball back with a 7-3 lead, KJ Jefferson threw a pick to Cistrunk, seemingly just missing him in coverage. Granted Ole Miss only had to go 3 yards, but to rub insult to injury, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin dialed up a direct snap to running back Quinshon Judkins on fourth-and-1 for an easy touchdown, seemingly mocking Arkansas’ struggles on short yardage situations.
The Arkansas defense played more than well enough to give the Hogs the lead, holding a Rebels offense that exploded for over 700 yards against LSU, to 63 yards in the first quarter. The Hogs answered with just 9 rushing yards in the entire half and just 49 yards in the second quarter.
Ole Miss penalized the Hogs to the max. One can only hold an elite quarterback down for so long. Quarterback Jaxson Dart took just 62 seconds to go 50 yards in five plays thanks to three straight chunk plays of over 10 yards each, pointing to ominous signs for the Hogs. Just before the half, a penalty for 12 men on the field in a punt formation extended an Ole Miss drive on fourth and short and was lucky that a missed field goal did not cost the Hogs points before the break.
Washington caught a key pass on third-and-6 for 17 yards, as he continued to have a career night, but the Hogs’ offensive line couldn’t hold its own on third down leading to a Jefferson sack. Cam Little boomed a 56-yard field goal to cut the lead to 17-10. Little has boomed a 50+ yarder two weeks in a row.
When the Hogs got the ball back after yet another stop, a false start on offensive lineman Brady Latham on second-and-goal from the 4-yard line led to more Razorback red zone troubles as the Little’s 26-yard field goal cut the lead to 17-13.
If the Hogs were missing Hasz, they weren’t showing it. Washington finished the night with seven catches for 90 yards including his second touchdown of the night to give the Hogs a 20-17 lead with 13:11 left in the fourth quarter.
Jaxson Dart and the Rebels offense, who had been dormant most of the night, finally put together a drive. Judkins ripped off a carry of 34 yards as Ole Miss leaned on their run game to take the lead for good. Ulysses Bentley IV capped the drive off with a 7-yard run for the 24-20 lead and Ole Miss never looked back.
"We've got good kids," Pittman said. "They're continuing to fight. You don't fight if you don't believe in something. If you don't believe in the coaches or you don't believe in each other or you don't believe that you're going to win. That's when you stop fighting. I don't think we'll have that problem ever with this team. We got to get ready for Alabama."
Arkansas turns their attention to Alabama inside Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa 11 a.m. Oct. 14 . The game will be televised on ESPN and fuboTV.
HOGS FEED:
BEHIND ENEMY LINES WITH OLE MISS BEAT WRITER ON RAZORBACKS-REBELS ON SATURDAY IN OXFORD
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