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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Looks To Rebound Saturday At Arkansas
10/21/2002 | Football
Oct. 21, 2002
OXFORD, Miss. - After playing five of its first six games at home, the Ole Miss football squad knew the second half of the 2002 campaign was going to have a little road flavor. The Rebels' stretch of playing four of their final six contests away from Oxford continues Saturday when they travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to face the Arkansas Razorbacks. The contest, which will not be televised, is set for a 1:00 p.m. (CT) start.
The Rebels are looking to rebound after a Southeastern Conference Western Division setback at Alabama last Saturday. As it has been under his tenure, Ole Miss head coach David Cutcliffe expects his squad to bounce back and get ready for the challenge of playing Arkansas.
"We will go back to work and pick our heads up," said Cutcliffe, whose Rebels are 5-2 overall and 2-1 in SEC play. "We have no choice but to get back out there on that practice field.
"We've bounced back every time we've been beat, and I expect that to happen again. I expect them to be excited about the opportunity and the challenge in front of us. We are facing a really fine Arkansas football team."
The Razorbacks (3-3, 1-3 SEC) also enter this Saturday's game after a 29-17 setback to Kentucky. Despite Arkansas' home loss, Cutcliffe expects an all-out effort from the Razorbacks this week.
"This is a very talented Arkansas football team," Cutcliffe said. "They are an extremely fast football team. We will certainly have our hands full this week, and we know we are going to have to play extremely well to be successful in Fayetteville."
Quarterback Matt Jones leads the Arkansas offense, throwing for 827 yards and six scores while also rushing for 367 yards on 64 carries. Senior Fred Talley is the team's leading rusher with 546 yards on 71 carries. Defensively, linebacker Tony Bua is tops on the squad with 68 total tackles, including six TFLs and three sacks.
"Arkansas has a quarterback that is an extremely dangerous threat running the football," said Cutcliffe. "They can do a lot of things, and they have fine, fine tailbacks and an outstanding offensive line. That's a lot of the same ingredients that Alabama has. It's a big challenge this week, and one that we are looking forward to."
The Rebels come into the game not only trying to bounce back after Saturday's loss at Alabama, but also having to contend with last season's heart-breaker to Arkansas, a 58-56 seven-overtime thriller in Oxford. The seven-overtime contest is the longest in NCAA history. Both Cutcliffe and Manning recall the historic game.
"The effort that both teams displayed was tremendous," Cutcliffe said. "The players displayed a lot of courage, and it was a well-played game. The players maintained not only a physical intensity, but also a mental focus. Maintaining that focus is hard to do for that period of time, and that's what sticks out in my mind."
Manning said, "By the fifth overtime, I was ready to get it over. I wanted something to happen to end it. We would score, then they would score, and we would answer them. It was going on forever. It's one of those games that could have ended earlier on certain plays.
"It was a tough game to lose because we gave it our all. We competed for over 90 plays. We tried everything we could to win the game, but things didn't fall in our favor."
Manning, who passed for a school-record six touchdowns in last year's Arkansas game, enters Saturday's contest needing one score to break the career mark for touchdown passes. Manning has 43 and is tied with Romaro Miller atop the chart. While Ole Miss fans may watch the record books, Cutcliffe is looking to get the Rebel ground game going again.
"Obviously, we're not running the football like we would like to run it," said Cutcliffe. "It's something we're going to continue to address. There is no question that it (lack of a running game) puts a great deal more pressure on Eli. This is something that has been an issue. It is difficult to play quarterback in this league when you lose the ability to run or throw. You better maintain an ability to threaten teams with the run or it will get extremely difficult (for the quarterback)."
As for the Rebel rushing attack, senior Robert Williams leads Ole Miss with 307 yards on 61 carries, but suffered an injury in the Alabama contest and did not practice on Monday.
"We're not certain about Robert," Cutcliffe said. "He's having some more tests done today, and will not practice today. We'll see what the tests show, and we'll know a little more on Tuesday."
Also announced on Monday, Jefferson Pilot will televise the Rebels Nov. 2 meeting with Auburn at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field. Kickoff is at 11:30 a.m. (CT).
