2024 cbhsports Arkansas Football Preview: Ole Miss, Texas, Missouri

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Saturday, November 2
Ole Miss
12-1 PM ET, TBA
Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels have never won against the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville at Donald W. Reynolds Razorbacks. In 2020, the Razorback defense picked Rebel QB Matt Corral off six times on their way to a 33-21 win and Arkansas beat Ole Miss 42-27 behind a dominant ground attack. Now, the two guys at the forefront of those victories, quarterback KJ Jefferson and running back Rocket Sanders, have transferred out and former Boise State signal caller Taylen Green and former Utah tailback Ja’Quinden Jackson are in. Receivers Andrew Armstrong, Tyrone Broden, Isaiah Sategna, and tight end Luke Hasz will have to be able to match Ole Miss’ terrific offensive production, led by returning QB Jaxson Dart. The Razorback defense has been able to deal with pretty well since taking over Kiffin’s offense. But, a new group of defensive starters for Travis Williams will have to deal with this challenge after he lost a big group to the portal. Returning senior receivers Tre Harris, Jordan Watkins, and former South Carolina receiver “Juice” Wells will be the group catching passses from Dart. What the Razorback defense needs to take advantage of is the new Ole Miss running back room. With former starter Quinshon Judkins at Ohio State now, seniors Ulysses Bentley and Jacory Croskey-Merritt will have to step up this season and against the Razorbacks. The Rebels defense is now stronger entering the 2024 season following the additions of defensive tackle Walter Nolen (Texas A&M) and senior linebacker Princely Umanmielen (Florida) under second year defensive coordinator Pete Golding, who came over from Alabama. A name on the Rebel defense Arkansas fans will be familiar with is junior linebacker Pooh Paul, who led the Razorbacks in tackles last season. Those are just three of the names Kiffin and Golding added on the defensive side, so Bobby Petrino’s offense will have its hands full. The chess match between the two coaching staffs will be fun to watch in this game. Only Lane Kiffin can be blamed if his Ole Miss Rebels are unable to finally get a win in Fayetteville on November 2. Projected Score: Ole Miss 45, Arkansas 24

Saturday, November 16
Texas
12 PM ET, ABC/ESPN
Hatred fills the Arkansas-Texas rivalry. Gone permanently since the Razorbacks left the Longhorns and the SWC for the SEC in the early 1990s, the two teams reignited their rivalry in 2021 at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in primetime. The Razorbacks dominated the Longhorns 40-21. Since that loss to Arkansas in just the second week of his tenure, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian proved his time under Nick Saban as Alabama’s offensive coordinator was worth it, turning the Longhorns into a College Football Playoff team this past season. The momentum created from making a College Football Playoff will gave Texas the ability to attract many top transfers in the portal and future recruits down the road. But, the challenges the Texas will face as a full SEC member will be different than the ones they faced in the Big 12 over the last two and a half decades or so. Junior QB Quinn Ewers matured last season as the starter after an inconsistent first campaign in Austin after transferring from Ohio State. Of course, with sophomore Arch Manning waiting in the wings, Ewers must play quality football again this fall if he wants to keep his starting job. After losing many offensive weapons to the NFL (receivers Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Jordan Whittington, tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders, and tailback Jonathan Brooks) Sarkisian went into the transfer portal to add former Alabama receiver Isaiah Bond, former Alabama tight end Amari Niblack, former Houston receiver Matthew Golden, and former Oregon State receiver Silas Bolden next to returning running backs Jaydon Blue, CJ Baxter, and returning receiver DeAndre Moore. Arkansas may end up facing the two toughest offenses it will face all year back to back games when it plays Ole Miss, takes November 9th off for its bye, before playing Texas. Defensively, Texas was phenomenal in 2023, losing three important front seven pieces to the NFL Draft. With Outland Award winner T’Vondre Sweat, Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year Byron Murphy, and All-Big 12 linebacker Jaylan Ford out the door, former Arizona defensive tackleTiaoalii Savea looks to help the returners up front stop Arkansas’ offensive attack. Fantastic kicker Bert Auburn returns so if special teams determines this game, I would favor the Longhorns over Razorback kicker Matthew Shipley. The Longhorns should come into this game, focused on winning this game after being dominated three seasons ago, just two weeks before the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry returns. Projected Score: Texas 38, Arkansas 28

Saturday, November 30
@ Missouri
3:30-4:30 PM ET, TBA
After most of their fanbase wanted Eliah Drinkwitz fired entering the season, Missouri won 11 games in 2023. The Tigers put a punctuation mark on their season with a 14-3 win over Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl last New Year’s. Losing defensive coordinator Blake Baker to LSU will hurt (Corey Batoon takes over for Baker), but the offensive weapons returning for the Tigers gives me confidence that they can be just as good as they were last season. Since the two programs became permanent Thanksgiving weekend rivals, Arkansas has gone 2-8 against the Tigers. This season, Arkansas and Missouri will square off on a Saturday for just the second time as SEC members (COVID 2020 season was the only other time) after the conference decided to not flex the game to Black Friday with new conference members Oklahoma and Texas in the league. Instead, the Georgia-Georgia Tech “Old Fashioned Hate” and Mississippi State-Ole Miss “Egg Bowl” rivalries were flexed to Black Friday. Terrific receivers Luther Burden and Theo Wease Jr. are awesome targets for Brady Cook, who could become one of the best quarterbacks in the nation this season. Drinkwitz was able to add former Notre Dame and Arizona State QB Drew Pyne to back up Cook, in the off-season. Incoming senior transfers Marcus Carrol (Georgia State) and Nate Noel (Appalachian State) will have to attempt to replace the production last season’s SEC leading rusher Cody Schrader but the Tigers get half of what he produced in 2023 this fall, they should not skip a beat offensively. Returning starters edge Johnny Walker (senior), tackle Kristian Williams (senior), nickleback Daylan Carnell (junior), and safety Joseph Charleston (senior) should make things easier for Batoon in his first season as the defensive playcaller in Columbia. Missouri will keep their winning ways against the Razorbacks going with another “W” to finish the season in 2024. Projected Score: Missouri 42, Arkansas 28

Final Projected Record: 5-7 (2-6) SEC