FAYETTEVILLE — Players and coaches from both sides of the Arkansas-Ole Miss game downplayed the relevance of Rebels Coach Houston Nutt’s second game day return to Arkansas today.
But the majority of Arkansas fans know the emotional stake Nutt will place on today’s morning meeting at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. The Rebels (3-3, 1-2 SEC), represented by their new Black Bear mascot, will take on Coach Bobby Petrino’s BCS No. 23 Razorbacks (4-2, 1-2) at 11:21 a.m. before a sold-out crowd.
The winner can claim an outside chance, hanging on by a fingernail, in the rugged SEC West race, while the loser can kiss its chances goodbye with three conference losses.
“This one’s for the state,” Arkansas cornerback Ramon Broadway said. “We’re going to do it for Coach P and we’re going to do it for ourselves, so we’ve definitely got to get this win.”
The Razorbacks are favored by 91/2 points in a game that could be played on a wet field. The forecast calls for a 50 percent chance of showers.
Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett, knocked out of last week’s 65-43 loss at Auburn with a second-quarter concussion, is expected to make his 20th consecutive start with sophomore Tyler Wilson waiting in reserve after a big showing last week.
Ole Miss had embarrassing early season losses at home to FCS Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt, but the Rebels have made strides with former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli running a hurry-up offense while the defense appears to be improving. There is little doubt Nutt, the Little Rock native and former Razorbacks player and coach, will have his team up for the game.
“He tries not to talk about it, but all the players know it’s something personal and something he wants to go out and win, and we try to give it to him,” Ole Miss tailback Brandon Bolden said.
“I’m going to tell you right now, he’s going to have those guys ready to play,” Broadway said of his ex-coach.
Nutt has gone 2-0 against the team he coached for 10 seasons, including a 23-21 thriller at Fayetteville in 2008 just 11 months after his departure.
Petrino said he hasn’t heard chatter from his team about facing their former coach.
“We just focus on the game and on our performance,” he said. “We’ve got to go out and perform.
“We need our crowd to get up early, come here, fire us up like they did for the Alabama game. Have that same type of atmosphere, because that was awesome. Let the whole state, university and football team be upbeat, happy and go play football like we know how.”
Nutt, whose emotions have always been more overt than Petrino’s, took a similarly low-drama approach to his return.
“I’m sure that there’s a few people that naturally want to see that [Nutt vs. the Razorbacks]. But you know, the thing about the SEC that I’m more concerned with is because our league is so tough and so good, you better be focused on the task at hand,” Nutt said.
The Razorbacks, playing at home for the first time in four weeks, are looking for redemption after being manhandled by Auburn quarterback Cam Newton and thrashed 28-8 in the fourth quarter.
“Auburn did a great job of game-planning and Cameron made some big plays,” said Masoli, the former Oregon star who was booted after run-ins with the law. “If it’s there, I’m definitely going to capitalize on it.”
The Razorbacks would like to forget the Auburn game.
“The way you make everybody, the critics and stuff, forget about what happened last week is you go out and put up a lights-out performance,” Broadway said. “You go all out, you go show the world that wasn’t the team you saw a few weeks ago.”
The Rebels and Razorbacks present drastically different offensive styles. Ole Miss ranks 19th in the nation with 215.5 rushing yards per game, while Arkansas boasts the nation’s second-rated passing team with 366.3 yards per game.
“They’re a high-powered offense,” Ole Miss defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix said, noting Arkansas’ 421 offensive yards against Alabama and 566 against Auburn. “I don’t know who’s kept them under 400 yards. Has anyone?”
The answer is no, with Alabama faring the best. Still, Arkansas’ prodigious amounts of yardage have not always produced big points. While the Hogs are 10th nationally in total offense (480 ypg), they rank 39th in scoring with 32.2 points per game.
“I wish that we were finishing games better,” Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick McGee said, a reference to the Razorbacks 59-32 scoring deficit in the fourth quarter. “In both games that we’ve lost, we’ve been in position as an offense to finish off the game. ... I believe we will this weekend.”
Masoli and the Rebels have gotten solid results from a hurry-up style similar to Auburn’s in recent games.
“It’s fast-pace and massive substitution,” Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said. “The main thing is we’ve got to take away the run and make this guy throw.”
Said Arkansas defensive end Damario Ambrose, “If we stop the run and get them into passing downs, then we’ll have them where we want them, but we can’t let them get ahead and get a lead.”
Sports, Pages 21 on 10/23/2010