By
Brian Harbach
Arkansas/Ole Miss is being completely overlooked
The Rebels vs. the Razorbacks was never a game that drew a lot of attention nationally and to be honest it was never an attention grabber for SEC fans either. The game was under the radar by most standards until now and Arkansas vs. Ole Miss is must see TV. Think of this game on Saturday in Fayetteville as an appetizer for Nick Saban’s return to Baton Rouge. Houston Nutt will be returning to the school where he won two SEC West titles and took the Razorbacks to eight bowl games in ten seasons.
Nutt did a good job at Arkansas, not a great job, but a good job. He resigned last season after the team defeated the National Champion to be LSU, he was quickly hired at Ole Miss to replace “Wild Boy” Ed Orgeron. It should be an emotionally charged atmosphere because Nutt did a lot of great things for Arkansas. He had his struggles as well, but for the most part, Nutt left the Razorbacks in a better position than when he took over the team in 1998. With all the success he had as the head coach at Arkansas the question has to be asked why he is no longer coaching there.
Why is Houston Nutt at Ole Miss?
Ten years is a long time for any coach to be in one place, coaches like Paterno and Bobby Bowden are the exception, not the rule. Houston Nutt’s time in Arkansas just ran its course and the fans wanted someone new to lead their program. Usually it comes down to wins and losses for any coach, but Nutt’s win/loss record at Arkansas was pretty good. In his 10 seasons on the Razorback sideline he amassed a record of 75-48. As mentioned above he brought the hogs to two SEC Championship games and probably would have won the second time if it wasn’t for a misplayed punt.
Fans just grew tired of the run oriented offense and they were furious over the Springdale situation when a number of talented players transferred out in an extremely public manner. In Nutt’s last two seasons the team won 18 games, but they also lost out two big time recruits from Arkansas (Lee Ziemba and Kodi Burns) to Auburn in 2007 due to what was perceived as a poor job by Nutt, the two best recruits from the 2006 class transferred to Southern Cal and there was an odd situation with text messages between Nutt and a local female newscaster. Nutt’s record didn’t end his career at Arkansas; it was all the other baggage that caused him to resign.
Is Nutt Right for Ole Miss?
It didn’t take Nutt long to find new employment and after struggling through three inconsistent years with Ed Orgeron, Ole Miss hired a coach who is consistent. Nutt is a proven winner in the SEC and he has two more trips to the SEC Championship game at Arkansas than the Rebels have had in their history. The Rebels are already reaping the benefits of the hire with a huge upset win over Florida a couple weeks ago and the young running backs Nutt brought in with his first recruiting class.
Schools always tend to look for the opposite of the coach they just fired, Orgeron was pretty much a wild card and Ole Miss needed a strong consistent figure on the sidelines. Nutt fits that mold perfectly. Ole Miss got exactly what they needed and Nutt is a great fit for Ole Miss. It isn’t out of the question to think that Nutt can bring Ole Miss to an SEC Championship game. Arkansas isn’t that much more talented a football state than Mississippi and he knows how to win SEC games. Nutt is the perfect coach for Ole Miss right now, he gives the Rebels some legitimacy on the sidelines and his system works against SEC opponents.
Did Arkansas do the right thing?
It looks like Ole Miss made a good move, but did Arkansas trade up with Bobby Petrino replacing Houston Nutt? Without question, Arkansas made a great hire from stealing Petrino from the Falcons and while it will take a couple years to transition from primarily a roster with running the ball in mind, Petrino will make the transition faster than we expect. Petrino is the most creative offensive mind in the SEC right now and that is exactly what Arkansas needed. Petrino is a great play caller who does a great job exploiting a teams weakness.
It isn’t fair to judge him in his first season because there is such a huge transition from the offense Arkansas was to the offense that Petrino wants to become. That change plus the huge talent vacuum that was left by Darren McFadden and Felix Jones leaving early for the NFL has left Petrino short handed, but there have been moments that show the future in Fayetteville is bright. Petrino’s play calling against Auburn was brilliant and the team played a good Kentucky team very tough in Lexington last weekend. Arkansas may not see the benefits of the hiring this season, but with Ryan Mallett waiting in the wings to take over under center, Razorback fans will be rewarded soon enough.
Did any program make out better in this move?
We won’t know what school got the better end of their coaching changes for a number of years, but the moves have given us is a new rivalry that should be a must watch game each year in the SEC. Houston Nutt vs. Bobby Petrino may not sound like a sexy match up, but when you think about the all the history between Nutt and Arkansas it is hard not to want to see what happens this weekend. Right now neither move looks better than the other because both teams are sitting at 3-4 overall. This game isn’t going to decide which team made out better, but it will give someone a small sample of vindication.
The Arkansas fans would love to send Nutt packing with a loss and ready to move full steam ahead with their new coach, but it is hard to imagine Houston Nutt being more motivated to win any game this season. There are two recent examples of head coaches returning to their old stomping grounds. Tommy Tuberville won his first game back in Oxford while coaching Auburn in 2000 while Stever Spurrier lost his first return trip to the Swamp in 2006. This does not happen often so it is hard to guess what will happen in the outcome of the game.
SEC Predictions
Auburn 16, West Virginia 14
Florida 42, Kentucky 14
Vanderbilt 31, Duke 13
LSU 31, Georgia 30
Ole Miss 34, Arkansas 28
MSU 21, MTSU 13
Alabama 20, Tennessee 17
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me Brian Harbach
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