Pittman has to prepare to face the best Ole Miss team on Saturday

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – Arkansas coach Sam Pittman knows what he’ll face Saturday morning. Now, if he can figure out which Ole Miss team is showing up, the Razorbacks coach will have one less thing to worry about.

Even that comes with a maybe. The No. 19 Rebels have been up and down all year. They can put up yards and light up the scoreboards like the Hogs sometimes do. They can also stumble and stumble to losses like against Kentucky.

We’ll start to find out a little about that at noon today, when Pittman has his weekly press conference. Kiffin’s press conference will be around the same time. But don’t expect many answers from the Ole Miss coach, who also scratches his head at times.

Arkansas is coming off a blowout 58-24 victory over Mississippi State in Starkville. The Rebels, however, played one of those split games. They stumbled and stumbled through the first half and gave up two touchdowns to an Oklahoma team that didn’t seem capable of scoring two touchdowns even if they were given a month.

However, the Sooners led 14-10 at halftime on Saturday. It probably wasn’t the happiest Rebels clubhouse at halftime and it’s probably safe to say Kiffin caught their attention. Those 14 points were all OU was going to get on the day.

When Ole Miss gets the defense going, they can shut down anyone in the league if they can avoid stupid penalties. Former Razorbacks linebacker Chris “Pooh” Paul is one of those guys, racking up numerous late hits and drawing flags that have, at times, given a second life to opposing offenses that are on the verge of collapsing.

Considering the way teams stumbled out of the first bye weeks of the season, the Rebels seemed ready to join that group at halftime last week. Then, quarterback Jaxson Dart got the offense going without leading receiver Tre Harris, uncovering tight end Caden Prieskorn and splitting up the Sooners’ offense.

Perhaps most impressive, however, is Ole Miss at the goal line. They have used 325-pound senior JJ Pegues as a forward, receiver and he has shown nimble footwork at times to get into the end zone. They have come up with a multitude of ways to use it throughout the season.

Pittman’s problem is that he has to prepare for that version to work at full speed. The Rebels are talented and deep, especially on the defensive side of the ball and at wide receiver. They have to keep people healthy and eliminate sanctions.

When they do, they sometimes seem almost unstoppable this year. They can relax with a lead and ruin the game. Thus they lost to LSU in overtime, 29-26. That’s why Ole Miss is almost as mysterious to Kiffin as opposing coaches.

Kickoff at Razorback Stadium is at 11 a.m. The game will be televised on ESPN. You can also listen to the game on the Razorback Sports Network throughout Arkansas.

• This Boogie Fland comparison makes more sense for Aall

• Moses completes his determined journey to the Promised Land

• Calipari’s friend in New York saw something new on Friday