There’s an incredibly interesting quarterback battle this Saturday between Arkansas and Ole Miss – it will almost certainly decide the outcome
On Monday, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin addressed the media to discuss his 2-0 Rebels hosting the 2-0 Arkansas Razorbacks Saturday night. He quickly made mention of his own quarterback, Austin Simmons, and the opponent’s signal caller, Taylen Green.“Really challenging week playing against Arkansas, preparing for them. They’re a really good team with dynamic […]
On Monday, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin addressed the media to discuss his 2-0 Rebels hosting the 2-0 Arkansas Razorbacks Saturday night. He quickly made mention of his own quarterback, Austin Simmons, and the opponent’s signal caller, Taylen Green.
“Really challenging week playing against Arkansas, preparing for them. They’re a really good team with dynamic offense and a really dynamic quarterback and one of the top offenses, statistically, in the country, both in the run and the pass. These guys present a lot of challenges,” Kiffin said. “Coach (Bobby) Petrino has done a great job there. Even in our game last year, they did as well as anybody offensively against us in moving the ball and different things.”
Green was all but helpless in the game in 2024 – throwing for just 158 yards, running for 16 yards on 10 carries and being sacked 10 times. This year, though, his game has stepped up. The competition hasn’t been great, but Green has tossed it for 561 yards and 10 scores while also toting it for 192 yards and another score.
Saturday, though, will be a different beast altogether. If Ole Miss can keep Green at bay once again, I find it to be very difficult for the Hogs to keep pace with the Rebels at home. Under Kiffin, Ole Miss is an impressive 27-6 at home – including a 14-3 mark versus SEC opponents since 2021.
Austin Simmons has gotten off to a rocky start. But, Lane Kiffin sees the positives thus far.
“Austin (Simmons) made some big plays prior to the fourth quarter. Like on the fourth-and-1 (in the second quarter), he’s thrown the two interceptions and he makes a big throw in our territory down 10-0,” Kiffin said. “He did some good things and there were two times, just like the game before — now that’s two games in a row — where he threw interceptions with a lot of pressure right here in his face when he releases the ball. That will affect any quarterback.”
It’s obvious Kiffin has tremendous belief in his first-year starter. And now he knows his backup, Trinidad Chambliss, can come in when the game is on the line and close things out. Simmons rolled his ankle late in the game last week and the Ferris State transfer came in and iced it away with three runs for 13 yards.
On Saturday, it will be interesting to see if there’s more Chambliss in order to not only keep Simmons fresh but to give Arkansas another look to deal with.
Now, Lane Kiffin is ready to challenge his young quarterback as Ole Miss returns home.
“That was his first road start and we have high expectations for our players, but first road starts at any level, including the NFL, guys sometimes struggle early. I think coming back home will be good,” Kiffin said. “We want him to take care of the ball and not feel rushed when it’s not there. There were times in the game where because they were getting beat on some good rushes early, he started to feel that even when it wasn’t there. So just calming him down.”
Again, he believes in his quarterback and is speaking through the media some here. Simmons was dynamic after the two turnovers in Lexington. He led six scoring drives and finished with 235 passing yards and a rushing touchdown. This is no easy feat on the road in the SEC against Mark Stoops – a coach who has virtually had Kiffin’s number the last four meetings.
I look for the Ole Miss defense to really come after Green – much like last year – and try to force some bad decisions and get ahead in the turnover margin early. You can bet Petrino will have him ready for Pete Golding’s unique pressures and new-look front seven which is still uber-talented, mind you.
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It’s the fifth-straight season Ole Miss has started 2-0.
And in order to move to 3-0, the Rebels offense really needs Cayden Lee to be a factor. So far through two games, the preseason All-SEC pick has just three catches for 21 yards. A lot of this is due to opponents now giving him A LOT of attention. It’s also been nice for Harrison Wallace III.
The Penn State transfer has broken out already in an Ole Miss uniform – leading the conference in receiving yards (247) and averaging over 27 yards per reception.
Alas, if the Rebels are going to get going on offense with Simmons, Lee has to be a major part of it moving forward. I expect to see some wrinkles on Saturday to do this. In last year’s contest versus Arkansas, Lee finished with five receptions for 127 yards.
