UPDATE: The Oklahoma Sooners suffered a third consecutive loss Saturday as the Ole Miss Rebels rolled to a 26-14 win in Week 9 of the college football season.
OXFORD, Miss. — Coming off back-to-back losses, OU football will look to bounce back and snap its skid when it takes on No. 18 Ole Miss at 11 a.m. Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
It won’t be easy, though.
The Sooners (4-3, 1-3 SEC) have struggled offensively all season, leading to the firing of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Seth Littrell after last week’s 35-9 loss to South Carolina.
OU will turn to Jackson Arnold to start again at quarterback after Arnold replaced Michael Hawkins Jr. early in last week’s game. Hawins had replaced Arnold in the Sept. 21 loss to Tennessee.
Joe Jon Finley will take on the offensive playcalling duties while Kevin Johns will coach the Sooners’ quarterbacks.
The Rebels (5-2, 1-2) have been inconsistent offensively themselves of late, but have been excellent defensively — particularly against the run.
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The first half went great for OU. The second half, not so much.
OU drops to 4-4 overall and 1-4 in SEC play.
The Sooners host Maine next Saturday.
More:OU football drops to .500 as Ole Miss dominates Sooners in second half | 5 takeaways
The Rebels go for it on fourth-and-11 but only gain five yards. Still, Ole Miss burned 1:35 off the clock.
OU takes over at its 27 with no timeouts left.
—Jeff Patterson, Staff writer
The Sooners’ offensive line can’t stop the Rebels.
Ole Miss gets two more sacks to give them seven on the day.
—Jeff Patterson, Staff writer
Ole Miss only gets two short runs and one short completion, but the Rebels keep the clock rolling before having to punt.
OU needs two touchdown in under four minutes.
—Jeff Patterson, Staff writer
Back-to-back sacks doomed the Sooners, needing two touchdowns.
First J.J. Pegues got to Jackson Arnold on third -and-15 at the Ole Miss 18.
Then Princely Umanmielen sacked Arnold on fourth-and-21 to end the drive and give the Rebels the ball with 5:34 left.
—Jeff Patterson, Staff writer
The Sooners take care of business, forcing a three-and-out with Danny Stutsman hurrying the quarterback on third down.
However, Fraser Masin’s 64-yard punt went out of bounds at the OU 2-yard line, which is less than ideal for an offense with only 30 yards in the half.
—Jeff Patterson, Staff writer
The Sooners faced fourth-and-3 on their own 32 and kept the offense on the field, yet they used their first timeout and punted away.
OU has 30 yards of total offense in the second half.
—Jeff Patterson, Staff writer
If it’s the fourth quarter, it’s R Mason Thomas time.
Thomas got to quarterback Jaxson Dart on third-and-2, forcing an incomplete pass. That set up a 42-yard field goal by Caden Davis.
—Jeff Patterson, Staff writer
A disastrous third quarter finally came to a close for the Sooners.
OU was outgained 201-23 in the third as a halftime lead turned into a nine-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter.
The Sooners managed just one first down on three drives in the quarter, going 1 of 4 on third-down conversions after going 7 of 9 on third down in the first half.
The Rebels are threatening, with the ball at the OU 24 to start the fourth.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
OU’s offense continues to be stuck in neutral in the second half.
This time, at least, the Sooners picked up a first down but the drive still stalled out, ending in a Luke Elzinga punt.
Tight end Bauer Sharp caught a pass for an 8-yard loss on second down and then was stopped for just a 3-yard gain on the next play to force the punt.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
The Ole Miss offense is rolling now.
J.J. Pegues — a defensive tackle — took a direct snap and barreled through the Sooners’ defensive line for a 1-yard touchdown run to stretch the Rebels lead.
The touchdown was the fifth of the season for Pegues.
It looked like Ole Miss had scored the play before.
Jordan Watkins caught an apparent 35-yard touchdown pass from Jaxson Dart, beating Kani Walker deep.
The play was initially ruled a touchdown but after review, Watkins’ right knee was ruled down with the ball inside the 1, setting up Pegues score.
The touchdown play was also reviewed, with the play standing.
Ole Miss is outgaining the Sooners 158-13 so far in the second half.
Just before Watkins’ near touchdown, Dart hit Micah Davis for a 26-yard gain and Caden Prisekorn for a 14-yard gain.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
OU’s offense still is without a first down in the second half.
The Sooners went three-and-out for the second consecutive drive, unable to take advantage of Jackson Arnold’s 7-yard run on first down as Taylor Tatum was stopped for no gain on second down and tight end Bauer Sharp couldn’t handle the third-down pass.
Luke Elzinga delivered a 56-yard punt to end the drive.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
After its defense stopped the Sooners on the first drive of the third quarter, Ole Miss’ offense kept the momentum rolling, with Jaxson Dart hitting Caden Prieskorn for a 24-yard touchdown pass up the seam to put the Rebels back up front.
But Caden Davis’ extra-point try hit off the upright and bounced away, keeping the Ole Miss lead at two.
Dart is 11 of 16 for 176 yards and a touchdown so far.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
OU’s first drive of the second half couldn’t build on its momentum from just before the half.
The Sooners went three-and-out as the Sooners punted for just the second time in the game after Bauer Sharp was called for a false start on third-and-4 to turn a short conversion try into a much more difficult one.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
So far, so good for Jackson Arnold.
On third-and-goal from the 9 in the waning seconds before halftime, Arnold slipped through Ole Miss’ pass rush, staying on his feet as his jersey extended a couple feet from the grasp of a Rebels player, finding Jacob Jordan for a 9-yard touchdown pass.
The play capped off a 13-play, 92-yard drive to send the Sooners into halftime with the lead.
Arnold is 10 of 13 for 110 yards and two touchdowns so far.
At halftime, the Sooners are outgaining Ole Miss 235-164.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
A penalty looked like it had cost the Sooners dearly.
Danny Stutsman was flagged for a facemask after it appeared the Sooners had stopped big Ole Miss defensive lineman J.J. Pegues for a loss.
Pegues has been regularly used as a short-yardage rusher by the Rebels this season.
All eight of his carries entering Saturday’s game had resulted in either a touchdown or first down, so Lane Kiffin went back to him again on third-and-2 from the OU 29.
The Sooners’ defensive front collapsed in the middle, bringing down Pegues for a one-yard loss, but Stutsman was flagged for the facemask, giving the Rebels the first down.
But a few plays later, the Sooners’ defense came up with a big stop on fourth-and-1, with Stutsman and Kobie McKinzie bringing down Antwane Wells for a loss to give OU back the ball.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
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OU caught a break.
But then it gave it right back.
After Taylor Tatum’s fumble on a long run, OU wide receiver J.J. Hester delivered a big hit to knock the ball free from Ole Miss’ Chris Paul.
Hester then recovered the ball to keep possession with the Sooners.
But on the next play, Jared Ivey broke through the OU line with little resistance, knocking the ball free from Jackson Arnold on the strip sack and then recovering it at the OU 37.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
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Danny Stutsman came up with a big-time third-down stop, helping hold the Rebels to a 35-yard field goal about midway through the second quarter.
Ole Miss drove from their 15 deep into OU territory with a pair of long passes back-to-back.
But the Sooners’ defense bucked up, with Stutsman stopped Ulysses Bentey IV for a two-yard loss on third-and-1 from the OU 15.
Ole Miss lined up to go for it, with big defensive tackle J.J. Pegues in the backfield, before thinking better of it and calling a timeout to go for the field goal instead.
Caden Davis then hit a 35-yarder to put the Rebels back in front.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
OU couldn’t put together another sustained drive, but the Sooners’ offense continues to show a bit of life.
The Sooners drove from their 10 to the 42 before punting on fourth-and-8, after Jackson Arnold was sacked on second down to stunt the drive.
But OU has 80 rushing yards already against the Rebels, the fourth-most against Ole Miss in a game this season.
The Rebels came in leading the nation in rush defense at 66.7 yards allowed per game.
The Sooners looked like they caught a break on the punt when Ole Miss muffed it, but Chris Graves was there to recover for the Rebels, who will start at their 15.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
Ole Miss made it to the end zone.
OU has found the end zone as well.
And so, too, did the squirrel.
During an injury delay, a squirrel made its way ont the field in front of the Rebels’ sideline and seemed utterly unfazed by the horde of players just a few yards away.
The squirrel stayed motionless on the field for a few moments before making its move to the south end zone.
The fans began a low roar as the squirrel headed toward the goal line before stopping outside of the 10.
Finally, after a few moments, the squirrel took off running again, crossing the goal line to a road from the Vaught-Hemingway Stadium crowd.
The Rebels’ offense wasn’t nearly as effective, punting for the second consecutive drive after back-to-back-to-back incompletions following the squirrel’s run.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
Jackson Arnold looked like he had some room to run.
But Arnold had other ideas.
On third-and-5 deep in Ole Miss territory, Arnold floated a pass to Bauer Sharp in the back of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown to tie it.
The Sooners took advantage of two significant penalties by the Rebels on the drive.
First, Chris Paul Jr. was called for a horse collar tackle on Arnold after an apparent incompletion on third-and-6.
On the next play, J.J. Pegues was called for a facemask as the Sooners tried a bit of trickery, with an end-around pass by Brenen Thompson.
Thompson’s pass fell incomplete but the penalty gave OU a first down at the 16.
Sharp has four catches for 44 yards.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
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This time, OU’s defense came up big — with some help from Ole Miss.
Rebels’ tight end Dae’Quan Wright dropped a Jaxson Dart pass in open space on third-and-2, forcing Ole Miss to punt from deep in their own territory.
The Sooners three-and-out led to them starting their second drive at their own 40.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
OU’s offense got off to a hot start.
But then things fizzled.
The Sooners’ 10-play, 74-yard drive ended on an incompletion to tight end Bauer Sharp. Brenen Thompson, behind Sharp, tried to dive for the ball but came up empty.
OU quickly drove down the field, playing with a quicker tempo than they had in recent weeks.
But Taylor Tatum was stopped short on third-and-2 from the 3, then Brent Venables elected to go for it on fourth down.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
OU figures to need its defense to be stellar in order to have a chance to pull off an upset.
It wasn’t a good start for the Sooners.
Ole Miss reeled off a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that was capped by Henry Parrish Jr.’s 9-yard touchdown run less than 2:30 into the game.
The Rebels had pass played of 16 and 35 yards on the drive.
Dasan McCullough made his first start of the season at cheetah for the Sooners.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
OU’s Jake Taylor, who has started the last three games at right tackle, was a late scratch to the trip.
Taylor was not included in any of the Sooners’ availability reports — including the pregame report Saturday morning. An OU spokesman said the news of Taylor’s absence did not reach the person responsible for submitting the availability reports to the league. The SEC and Ole Miss were aware of the scratch, the spokesman said.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
It looks like OU’s offensive line will take on a new look yet again.
Michael Tarquin looks like he’ll make his fourth start of the season at right tackle with Jacob Sexton at left tackle for the fourth time, Febechi Nwaiwu and Heath Ozaeta at guards and Troy Everett at center.
The lineup would be the seventh different starting five in eight games for the Sooners.
Ole Miss will be without Tre Harris, the nation’s leading receiver. Harris was listed as a game-time decision but did not go through warmups and was ruled out just before the game.
Harris has 59 catches for 987 yards and six touchdowns.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
Want a player to watch for Ole Miss?
It’s hard to overlook defensive tackle J.J. Pegues.
Pegues has been one of the Rebels’ best defenders, particularly against the run. He has 21 tackles, 7.5 for loss, four quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery.
Pegues is also a factor on offense, often coming in as a short-yardage option in the run game. In eight carries this season, Pegues has scored four touchdowns. His other carries have gone for first downs.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
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OU vs. Ole Miss will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. Bob Wischusen and Louis Riddick will call the game from the booth at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, with Kris Budden reporting from the sidelines. Streaming options for the game include FUBO, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.
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Here is a look at several predictions from The Oklahoman staff:
Ole Miss 31, OU 10
STUCK IN REVERSE
Sooners’ offense struggles again as losing streak stretches to three — just their second three-game losing streak in 25 seasons. OU’s defense holds up well for a while before the Rebels wear them down. The Sooners’ offense once again struggles to move the ball.
Ole Miss 31, OU 12
SAME OLE, SAME OLE
Offensive staff changes can’t fix broken OU offense. Sooners lose third straight.
Ole Miss 28, OU 10
NEW OFFENSE, SAME PROBLEMS
Mississippi’s defense proves too much for a struggling OU offensive line. The Sooners’ defense tires out in the second half.
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Game lines and odds from BetMGM as of Friday night:
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The Sooners will be without wide receiver Deion Burks and running back Gavin Sawchuk.
Both were downgraded to out in the latest SEC availability report Friday night, meaning OU will once again be without its top five receiving options.
Ole Miss’ Tre Harris, the nation’s leading receiver, is listed as questionable, while receiver Cayden Lee is listed as probable. Running back Matt Jones is listed as out.
More:OU football coach Brent Venables best not miss on next offensive coordinator | Mussatto
Temperature in Oxford at kickoff is expected to be about 72 degrees with 6 mph winds from the north. There’s an 11% chance of precipitation.
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