Publisher's Mailbag: Ole Miss Rebels vs. Arkansas Razorbacks Edition
Hello, faithful readers, and welcome to another installment of the "Publisher's Mailbag" where I take fan questions on social media regarding the Ole Miss Rebels.
This week is a big one in Oxford as Ole Miss is set to host another SEC West rival in the Arkansas Razorbacks. As always, The Grove Report will have full coverage of the game, and you can check out our preview series of the Hogs on our homepage.
You guys gave me a mixed bag of questions this week, and I appreciate the participation and your constant support of the site. Let's dive in.
Nov 7, 2015; Oxford, MS, USA; Mississippi Rebels quarterback Chad Kelly (10) carries the ball past Arkansas Razorbacks linebacker Brooks Ellis (51) to score a touchdown in overtime at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The Razorbacks won 53-52.
Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
@WalkerBailey818: Who are your picks to win the MHSAA state championship in every single classification this year? Go.
A lot of you may not know this, but I covered a lot of high school football in Mississippi through my college days. It gave me a really good start in sports journalism, and I still have a soft spot for what I believe is an underrated area of the state in regards to high school talent and sports tradition.
The MHSAA has moved to seven classifications this year, so let's see if I can do this. I'm a little rusty and don't follow it as closely as I once did, but here we go.
1A: Biggersville Lions
2A: Calhoun City Wildcats
3A: Winona Tigers
4A: Louisville Wildcats
5A: Holmes County Jaguars
6A: West Jones Mustangs
7A: Oak Grove Warriors
Again, I'm taking a shot in the dark with all of this, but I wouldn't be surprised by any of them
@JohnR5522: Who should get the start? Judkins or Bentley?
Despite a slow start to the season, I think it would be foolish to "dethrone" Quinshon and take carries away from him, especially after his performance against LSU. With that being said, Ulysses Bentley IV has really, really impressed me this season, and he, in my mind, is the perfect "change-of-pace" back. He's not as powerful a runner as Judkins, but his burst of speed is something special, and he actually has decent success between the tackles despite his size.
I'll go a step further. If you made me pick an offensive player who had surprised me the most this season, I choose Bentley.
@MackGordon0: If you had to compare the Ole Miss-Arkansas rivalry in football to any Mississippi high school football rivalry, which would it be?
I'll give a couple of examples for my Mississippi audience.
First, I'll give a "big school" example. I'll go with Brandon and Pearl. Those games have a tendency to get hairy, and I vividly remember some wild contests between them when I was on the high school beat. Both of these schools are in the Jackson area, for those of you not familiar with Mississippi geography, so there is no love lost between the two programs. The only holdup in my mind is that these schools are one another's primary rival, which can't really be said for Ole Miss and Arkansas.
Second, let's go with a small school example. I mean, really small school. I'd compare it to an eight-man football rivalry in the MAIS private sector. Those games have the tendency to get extremely weird, and it's not uncommon to have point totals in the 50s or above for both teams. Sometimes, defense is optional, and onside kicks are common at that level. That just adds to the weirdness.
@BrandonFlake3: Does Jaxson Dart make a case for the Heisman if he has another game like the LSU game?
I think this answer is twofold. In my mind, absolutely. I think you would struggle to find a quarterback in college football who has grown as much as Dart has over the last calendar year, and I really expected this jump to take place. For those of us on the Ole Miss beat, I think it's obvious that he is quickly becoming one of the best quarterbacks in the country, especially after essentially carrying this offense early on.
On the other hand, I don't think the national media will view it that way unless Ole Miss finishes at 10-2 or better. I mean, Matt Corral didn't get invited to New York in 2021, and his season was absolutely bonkers. I think this award has become a quarterback award, but it also carries a lot of media bias in the process.
The status quo isn't often challenged these days when it comes to Heisman voting, so would voters consider an Ole Miss quarterback? I'm not convinced they would, especially because, frankly, I don't think a lot of voters are intimately familiar with every program. That's not a knock; it's just how it is.
Long gone are the days where Steve McNair of Alcorn State is in the running for this honor.
@jkurmask: How much does the 4th & 25 still hurt? It haunts me to this day.
I think it will always somewhat haunt the fan base, kind of like Billy Cannon's punt return in 1959, for those who remember it. But I also think that a lot of the populous has moved on from 2015, and here's why.
First, going to Atlanta would have obviously been a big deal, but it was shortly after this season that the NCAA saga really began to affect Ole Miss. Then, of course, you have Hugh Freeze's firing before the 2017 season. I think the "pain" of those experiences haunt fans more than 4th & 25 these days.
Plus, brighter days are here for Ole Miss than the seasons that immediately followed that play. The Rebels still haven't gone to Atlanta, but they're definitely in the running to do so in the near future, if this trajectory continues.
I will add, however, that I remember where I was when this play happened. I was at a high school friend's house, and neither of us could believe what we had just seen. That was a crazy year, and I also graduated high school that year. Not that any of that is relevant, but this is my mailbag, so I thought I'd share.
