FAYTETTEVILLE, Ark. — Mediocrity might be where this Arkansas team is best suited for the rest of the season after being dominated at home by Ole Miss, 63-31, on Saturday.

The Razorbacks football program isn’t in the worst shape it’s been, but it’s far from where fans think it should be. Yesterday’s loss to the Rebels isn’t the worst loss we’ve seen in the last 12 seasons either, but in the fifth year of a coaching tenure, a team should be playing with a little more life than at home.

Football is all about having a good time, but sometimes the emotion has to be felt when you get clobbered by 32 points in the second half. Players were seen celebrating with a WWE Championship belt on the sidelines, screaming at the camera and dancing while having a great time with no remorse for the product on the field.

The biggest problem at home was the lack of energy and preparation to fight for 60 minutes. Similar to most other games since 2022, Arkansas is in the middle of a terrible hot streak inside Razorbacks Stadium.

Sam Pittman’s teams have been outscored 414-324 since hosting Alabama in 2022. Arkansas is 5-9 in that stretch and with just two wins against SEC teams (Ole Miss 2022, Tennessee 2024).

In SEC play, Arkansas is now 2-7 in this stretch and has been outscored by a whopping 302-165. That’s essentially an average score of 34-18, including five losses by 21 points or more.

In defending the Arkansas offense, it wasn’t able to put much together due to quarterback Taylen Green and starting defensive end Ja’Quinden Jackson being unavailable again. The offensive line couldn’t block, making eight sacks and a season-high 13 tackles for a loss to a very active Ole Miss defensive front.

Arkansas’ defense was outclassed by the Rebels’ talented players with school-record days from quarterback Jaxson Dart and receiver Jordan Watkins. The duo exposed Arkansas’ defensive scheme, which helped slow down Tennessee and No. 4 Nico Iamaleava.

Although Pittman could have placed the blame for the loss on the shoulders of his defense’s terrible performance, that’s not how he conducts business. When asked if the defense is letting go of the rope in the same way as last season, he intends to build his group with the intention that the players and assistants hang on to the rope.

“Every team is different,” Pittman said. “I know what you’re talking about in that we played really well and then we didn’t. I understand the question and I think it’s a good question. But teams are different.

“We’ll probably have to go back and look at this during the bye week and say, ‘OK, do we show our hand?’ What are we doing here? Because obviously they and Lane had something going on today. I don’t know if it was the D-lineman alignment. But he didn’t play a lot of fastball.

“It was a matter of seeing what we gave, check. (Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis) and (Travis Williams) were going check for check. Obviously, they won. We have to go back and look at that, because if you look at even last week we didn’t play except turnovers we gave up about 500 yards last week.

“I believe in our kids and in our coaches. We’re going to look at this and see if we can’t fix it. I believe we can.”

Against league opponents, Ole Miss had averaged just 406 total yards of offense per game (No. 7 SEC) and 24 points (No. 11 SEC) before embarrassing the Razorbacks. Ole Miss shredded the Razorbacks defenders early with 562 passing yards, which is the most given up since 2021 against Alabama (Bryce Young 559 yards).

The Razorbacks certainly aren’t a bad team right now considering they beat who they needed to and upset a top-five opponent. This season has been an improvement, but not by much when opponents can walk into a road stadium, announce their point totals and dictate the pace of the game.

Arkansas was throttled against Ole Miss and will be throttled again if the defense that came to play Saturday shows up again in two weeks with Texas in town. This November offers the same type of feeling as last year, with wheels spinning but no ground being made up.

Louisiana Tech will likely be the game that makes this team bowl eligible, but the cost could be another frustrating season. Mediocrity isn’t the basement, but it’s definitely not a place people want to call home.

• Yurachek’s comments about Ole Miss come to fruition regarding Hogs.

• Just a Whiplash: The Razorbacks Had a Plan Until They Got Shot in the Mouth

• Arkansas’ last line of defense had its toughest day

• Razorbacks help unknown Ole Miss receiver tie SEC record

• Ole Miss quarterback throws darts all over Arkansas defense

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