Ole Miss is no stranger to the trauma that always seems to follow when it’s time to face the Arkansas Razorbacks every year.
No matter how many teams get added to the conference or how the landscape of college football changes, it seems that the Rebs will always have to face Arkansas in their annual “fight to the death” matchup. In honor of the Lane Kiffin era at Ole Miss, that’s how far we will reflect today. (None of that 4th and 25 BS in this article.)
Kiffin kicked off his rivalry with Arkansas
in his first season as head coach, and it definitely wasn’t his best. The Rebs travelled to Fayetteville in 2020, and with all of the Covid-19 restrictions, it felt like it might be an advantage to hear only half of the stadium doing the ole Woo Pig Sooie.
Wrong.
Kiffin and the Rebs lost that game 33-21 and Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral threw six (6!) interceptions in the game. The most crushing part of this loss is that it felt like there was still a very good chance late in the game. That’s where these games often get you. Believing you can do it until the very end.
Fast forward to 2021 and we’ll take a look at what is arguably Kiffin’s most famous Arkansas win. The Razorbacks game to Oxford and everyone knew that a revenge game was top of mind for both Lane Kiffin and QB Matt Corral. While every player wants to win, no one wanted that redemption win more than Corral. Thanks to a risky decision from Razorback head coach Sam Pittman to go for a potential game-winning 2-point conversion, the Rebs were able to get the 52-51 win at home. It was an offensive shoot-out for the ages and one that we could potentially see again this Saturday. This one in particular feels like one of those games that every Rebel fan remembers where they were watching when the 2-point conversion sailed out of the back of the end zone to end the game. Pure relief.
Back to Fayetteville in 2023 and it was another peculiar one. Arkansas was horrible that year and finished out the season 4-8. In a surprise to no one, it was a close game with Ole Miss. The Rebs walked away with a 27-20 win, but not unscathed. The Rebels had a slow start to the game, but managed to put together two back-to-back scoring drives late in the fourth quarter to get it done. Of all of Kiffin’s meetings with Arkansas, this is the one I remember the least about, and for that, I’m grateful. Bring back mediocre and headline-less games please.
The 2024 matchup was an anomaly. Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin and his high-powered offense managed to go on the road to Fayetteville and beat Arkansas 63-31. It was such a refreshing welcome and a good reminder that good things can happen to good people, but not without a little turmoil. Despite the big numbers and win, that first quarter was absolute hell. Even with all of our stars on offense, the Rebs only led 7-3 at the end of the first quarter and a long shoot-out felt imminent. Lucky for Ole Miss fans, things started to click on all three phases and they were able to get it done. That’s the kind of energy we need forever please.
As we look ahead to this weekend, there are still a lot of questions left unanswered. It’s rare for these two teams to have a meeting this early in the season, and it will be Arkansas’ first SEC meeting. They could be great, they could be awful. Either way we are going to need to all collectively do some breathing exercises to get through it.
Kiffin spoke about this week’s matchup and didn’t mince any words.
“They play really hard and playing really fast and give people a lot of problems and play as well as anybody. We’re going to have to deal with their improved speed on defense and we’re going to have to be ready for a lot.”
Time will tell just how well their defense can hold this Rebel offense.
Ole Miss will kickoff in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium this Saturday at 6 p.m. CT. The season is a long one, and after last week’s close game, I am manifesting a smooth-sailing, blow-out win for Ole Miss. A girl can dream, right?
