Mississippi offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil (78) watches as Arkansas players celebrate an interception returned for a touchdown during the second half of an NCAA college football game in Fayetteville, Ark., Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014. Arkansas beat Mississippi 30-0. (Photo/Thomas Graning)
Fayetteville, Ark.- What Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze has preached all season is true. You have to take care of the ball offensively in order to win football games.
That wasn’t the case Saturday in Fayetteville.
The Rebel offense turned the ball over six times in rainy conditions, four of them by quarterback Bo Wallace, which ultimately led to the dominating win for Arkansas 30-0.
Previously losers of 17 straight SEC games, Arkansas has now won two SEC games in a row; last week at home against LSU and now with their assertive performance against Ole Miss.
The offense for Ole Miss outgained Arkansas 316-311 yards, but the team was unable to shake off the multiple turnovers, resulting in three straight SEC losses.
It’s as if Arkansas and Ole Miss are polar opposites when it comes to recent conference play.
With their SEC championship and playoff hopes still alive, the Rebels could not muster up any offense and it the hopes that once existed are now lost.
“It was a tough one. They put it to us pretty good,” Freeze said. “I was concerned all week for whatever reason that we weren’t locked in totally. I think that showed at the beginning of the game. That’s my fault. I’ve got to make sure our kids are locked in. It was a weird week for whatever reason. It’s disappointing that we didn’t start better.”
After the bye week, Freeze preached that his players stay mentally locked in and prepare the same way. Freeze mentioned that there wasn’t one thing that caused him to feel such uncertainty in his team, but it was just a feeling he had.
“Our kids didn’t do the little things right. It wasn’t everyone, but we had too many (players) that weren’t quite as crisp and locked in to the task at hand,” Freeze said. “We’d see some mistakes on practice film on things that we do that should not be mistakes. It was just a feeling I had.”
With Freeze sensing there was something off about the week of preparation for Arkansas, the players should take notice how their coach felt.
“I know coach was really paranoid about coming off the bye week,” sophomore tight end Evan Engram said. “I know it’s typical to start off slow off a bye week, but he was just really paranoid this week. I thought offensively we had a solid week, but I guess it didn’t show tonight.”
Freeze credited his players for fighting until the end, but the slow start haunted his team and helped cause the no-show.
“We did some things that you can’t do in order to be an elite team. We’ve been a good team this year, but we haven’t been elite at times,” Freeze said. “It’s where we want to get to.”
Where the game seemed to be put out of reach was early in the second quarter. Already down 17-0, sophomore defensive lineman Darius Philon sacked Bo Wallace on fourth down which caused a fumble that was recovered by Arkansas. Wallace was hurt on the play with a right foot injury and was taken out of the game after that. Wallace would return later in the second quarter after missing two series, but didn’t have the power in his legs to make the necessary throws later in the game.
Returning from injury, Wallace helped the Rebels drive down the field late in the second quarter, but threw an interception in the left side of the end zone to stop an 84-yard drive and a chance to get on the scoreboard.
In the third quarter, Wallace would have a similar incident. On a six play 59-yard drive, Wallace threw an interception in the left side of the end zone at the Arkansas 16-yard line and was returned for a touchdown. The pick-six increased the Arkansas lead to 27-0. Making a comeback seem impossible.
The injury to the right ankle of Wallace may have caused both interceptions and not getting enough power in his throws. Co-offensive coordinator Dan Werner wasn’t sure about the decisions that his quarterback was making.
“I saw why he threw one, the other one I thought was a little shaky,” Werner said. “We’ll see it on film and try and correct it.”
The injury may have affected Wallace on both interceptions, but it was also decision-making.
“His foot was hurting, so he probably wasn’t getting everything into it,” Werner said. “Our whole thing is decision making. I don’t care how he throws the ball as long as he makes the right decision. We’ll have to look at that and see.”
The Razorback defense has shown major improvements over the past two games. The defense has now posted back-to-back shut outs against SEC opponents and held a potent Ole Miss offense in check.
The Ole Miss defense has been the staple of success all season long, but they did not play like it Saturday on the road. It didn’t help that the defense was constantly pushed against the wall with bad field positioning, but they gave up big runs up the middle as Arkansas outgained Ole Miss on the ground 159-63.
“I thought our kids played extremely hard and I saw some really good things,” defensive coordinator Dave Wommack said. “There’s no question that this is a team game. It takes everybody to be able to focus on what they got to do. You have to give Arkansas a lot of credit for how they came out and played.”
Defensively, the Rebels did not show up and bad field positioning cost them.
“Very, very frustrating,” senior linebacker D.T. Shackleford said. “It’s a team game though, and I just felt like offensively, defensively, and special teams, we just didn’t show up the way we should have against a very good Arkansas team.”
The Rebels will need to bounce back quickly with rival Mississippi State coming to Oxford for the Egg Bowl. Even with the demoralizing loss to Arkansas, there is still a lot to play for.
“It’s everything. It’s the Egg Bowl, it’s senior day,” Shackleford said. “I feel like if I have to motivate some people to play next week, they probably shouldn’t be playing.”
