It's a rebound game for No. 13 Arkansas, No. 17 Ole Miss

Updated Oct. 7, 2021 10:34 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Mississippi and Arkansas got to see how they stacked up against the Southeastern Conference's two dominant teams.

Now, they get a fairer measuring stick: each other.

The 13th-ranked Razorbacks visit No. 17 Ole Miss Saturday, a week after both not only suffered their first losses of the season but weren't even competitive. Arkansas (4-1, 1-1)

“This is the SEC and the SEC West," Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. "You go and play the No. 1 team, and now you have to go up against a top 15 team that obviously struggled last week.

“What it appears is that there are two super teams this year with great players on both sides but especially defense, and then it seems like there’s a dropoff. So gauging them in that game, everyone has struggled.”

Neither team fell all that far in the poll, and Arkansas coach Sam Pittman figures that's a tribute to

“I think everybody saw we just weren’t ready for the grand stage yet,” he said.

CORRAL'S CHANCE

Matt Corral gets another crack at an Arkansas team that intercepted six of his passes last season. The Ole Miss quarterback also lost a fumble in

Pittman recently watched an interview with Corral from after that game.

“I’m sure he’s going to be really excited to play us because in his words he didn’t play very well,” the Arkansas coach said. "So we’re looking for his best effort, like he’s been giving each and every game. But he’ll probably have a little bit more on this one because of last year.

“We can’t do identically what we did last year because if we do he’ll pick us apart. We’ll certainly put some wrinkles on there on defense.”

GIANT RUNNING BACK

Arkansas's KJ Jefferson, like Corral, is a threat to run. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound Jefferson has run 40 times for 235 yards and two touchdowns and is the only SEC quarterback with 900 passing yards and 200 rushing yards this season.

Kiffin said it's “crazy how big he is. Maybe Cam (Newton) was that big at one point, I don't know. That's an issue because he's like a giant running back back there when he runs the ball and he has improved in some throws.

“So very dangerous. They make a lot of big plays off the run game.”

REGROUPING

Pittman didn't summon his players for a big team meeting to address the Georgia loss, not wanting to be “sending a message that I'm panicking.”

“And I'm not. I think we've got a good football team and we got our butt kicked by a really good football team,” Pittman said. “And we don't like it and we're not accepting it, but I'll be damned if Georgia's going to make us lose this game.”

REGROUPING PART II

Ole Miss tight end Chase Rogers said the Rebels still have the confidence despite a loss to Alabama, when the game was 28-0 by halftime.

“Were going to keep moving forward and on to the next one,” Rogers said. “That's in the past.”

RUNNING TEAMS

The game features two of the nation's Top 20 running teams. The Rebels are 10th averaging 243.5 yards per game on the ground. The Razorbacks' 224.6-yard average is 18th.

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