WATCH: Taylen Green a unique assignment for Ole Miss and its top-ranked scoring defense
No. 19 Ole Miss (6-2, 2-2 SEC) is at Arkansas (5-3, 3-2) this week.
Fifth-year Rebel head coach Lane Kiffin, as well as linebacker TJ Dottery and tight end Dae’Quan Wright, met the media following practice on Monday to preview.
The gist? The Rebels know they’re in for a tough fight ahead. Arkansas is fresh off a 58-25 dismantling of Ole Miss’ in-state rival, Mississippi State. They’ve alternated wins and losses since an SEC-opening win at Auburn.
“They always play tough,” Kiffin said. He became the fastest Ole Miss coach to 40 wins in school history with the Rebels’ 26-14 win over Oklahoma. “I think even playing them at Alabama they seem to play tougher at home. We’re going to have to play really well.”
Ole Miss has the top-ranked scoring defense in all of college football.
The Rebels are faced with the unique task this week of slowing Arkansas dual-threat quarterback Taylen Green. They’ll also have to contend with Razorback star running back Ja’Quinden Jackson.
Jackson is fourth in the SEC in rushing (84.6 yards per game). Green has totaled 2,451 all-purpose yards so far. Fayetteville has also been a House of Horrors for Ole Miss historically. The Rebels are 2-13 there all-time.
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“We’ve got to do a great job containing him,” Kiffin said of Green. “This guy is as talented and long as they come. We’re going to have to do what everybody tries to do — rush really well and contain him and have a really good plan.
“Coach (Bobby) Petrino for a long time has done a great job on offense and giving people a lot of problems. We played him last year and he did a good job against us. He just does a really good job of play-actions and coaches the quarterbacks really well. You could see their improvement at A&M.”
Arkansas is led defensively by TJ Metcalf. He’s tied for second in the SEC and No. 14 nationally with three interceptions on the year.
“This is a really well-coached team all around,” Kiffin said. “They made major defensive improvement with their new defensive staff. They’re doing a great job. They’re big up front. Really physical. They plugged in some portal guys at linebacker and defensive back that are doing a really good job for them.”
