Arkansas, Ole Miss remain in AP Top 25, face off Saturday in Oxford

The Associated Press college football pollsters obviously realized what the Arkansas Razorbacks and Ole Miss Rebels were up against last Saturday.

So they kept Arkansas and Ole Miss within the select 17 of their Top 25.

Arkansas dropped from No. 8 but holds top 15 at 13th despite losing a 37-0 rout to the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens, Ga.

The Bulldogs, 5-0, overall, 3-0 in the SEC East, were and are No. 2 in the country.

The reigning national champion/SEC champion Alabama Crimson Tide, 5-0, 2-0, was and is No. 1 in the country.

The Tide swamped Ole Miss, 42-21 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Accordingly the AP voters only dropped the Rebels from No. 12 to No. 17.

The AP voters might not be so apt to be so Top 25 accommodating to Saturday’s SEC West loser when Coach Sam Pittman’s Razorbacks, 4-1, 1-1, and Lane Kiffin’s 3-1, 0-1 Rebels clash at 11 a.m. on ESPN at Ole Miss’ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss.

Whatever the Razorbacks do with referees they bring in officiating their closed practices, apparently they’ll do differently this week.

Pittman vowed it.

The Hogs dodged committing 13 penalties awarding 117 yards in it 38-17 season opening victory over Rice, and committing nine penalties for 93 yards in the 45-10 victory over Georgia Southern and 10 penalties for 75 yards beating then No. 7 Texas A&M, 20-10 in the SEC opener.

They couldn’t dodge committing 13 penalties for 101 yards against Georgia. Georgia’s nationally No. 2 Bulldogs were physically whipping the Hogs. Adding Arkansas’ penalties exacerbated the mismatch.

It prompts Pittman reevaluating his practices preparing against Ole Miss.

Arkansas doomed itself in Athens from the get-go committing a third down pass interference that would have forced a punt instead of Georgia continuing it’s game opening, 7-0 drive.

The Hogs consecutively jumped offsides starting their first possession, first and 20 at their 15, setting a field position that Georgia dictated throughout the game.

The Hogs would have been penalized more than 13 times but for their defense committing three penalties on one play,

Georgia chose accepting pass interference, and two on another.

“I mean, we have officials at every practice,”

Pittman said postgame.

“We're going to have to emphasize it a little more, I guess. We'll have to do something instead of just bringing them out on the practice field. Do something different, because obviously if we knew how to stop it, we would have already been doing it. We’ve just got to keep working on it.”

And just keep at it in the weightroom. They know that what they achieved lifting and conditioning in the offseason allowed them to beat the likes of then No. 15 Texas and Texas A&M still has much catching up to compete against Georgia and Alabama.

“In all honesty, we physically got whipped today,” Pittman said. “There’s not a whole lot of teams physically like the one we just played. That’s what happened and we also poured dirt on the wound because we messed it up in penalties

In the meantime, Pittman knows Ole Miss was last week nationally deemed a contender vs. Alabama while Kiffin knows Arkansas was deemed a contender against Georgia.

That Georgia and Alabama respectively rendered them pretenders last Saturday doesn’t alter what the Razorbacks and Rebels aspire to achieve this Saturday and beyond.

“The sun did come up!,” Kiffin on Twitter tweeted Sunday. “Can’t wait to play at home packed!!! We coach to win games and believe in our players here that won’t change no matter who we play!!!”

Pittman postgame in Athens recalled the Razorbacks bouncing back from losses to upset Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tennessee last year and this season dominating favored Texas and Texas A&M.

“The bottom line is it’s just one game and we can’t let one loss end up being two,” Pittman said. “We’re getting ready to play a good Ole Miss team. We’ve got a good football team. Our kids will bounce back and we’ll do a better job of preparing them. As long as we go back and fight and work this week, we'll field a good football team next week, and I believe that's what we'll do."

“The bottom line is it’s just one game and we can’t let one loss end up being two…We’ve got a good football team. Our kids will bounce back and we’ll do a better job of preparing them.”

– UA Coach Sam Pittman