This is not the season Lane Kiffin envisioned at the start of the year as the two-loss Mississippi Rebels can’t afford another defeat and still have Georgia on the schedule. The biggest problem is that Mississippi’s offense has struggled in SEC play. The Rebels haven’t scored more than 27 points in four conference games. Quarterback Jaxson Dart’s play has been a little underwhelming. He is completing just 62% of his passes and has thrown just three touchdowns in four SEC matchups. Meanwhile, Taylen Green and the Razorbacks’ offense has looked great against bad teams but has struggled a little more against good ones. And before the 54-point outburst last game against SEC basement dweller Mississippi State, the Razorbacks were averaging 17.5 points over the last four SEC games.
The Rebels are allowing three sacks and eight tackles for loss per game in SEC play, and PFF has their pass protection ranked among the worst in college football over the past month — including a pressure allowed rate that ranks in the Bottom 10 nationally. That’s made it difficult for Jaxson Dart to hit those big downfield passes, and is a key reason why he’s thrown just three touchdowns in his last four games. The Razorbacks won’t be the best front unit Dart has faced this season, but they had four sacks last week in a 58-25 win over Mississippi State. They got to Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava four times as well in their earlier upset win.