Five Questions with The Morning Sports Beat’s Erik Gee About Ole Miss vs. Arkansas Matchup

OXFORD, Miss. — We visited this week with our good friend Erik Gee about the upcoming game between Ole Miss and Arkansas. Erik is the Program Director for 92.1 The Ticket in Fayetteville and host of The Morning Sports Beat.

Erik is incredibly plugged in to the Arkansas sports scene, and we appreciate all his information and insight on the matchup with the Hogs and Rebels.

Please give Erik a follow and check out his show.

Five Questions with Erik Gee

Rebel Walk: Lane Kiffin talked in his press conference earlier this week about the improvement this year in the speed of the Arkansas defense. The Razorbacks have a lot of new faces in the unit. How do they compare to last season’s group? Where are they improved, and how do you think they match up to Ole Miss? 

Erik Gee: That’s an interesting question. The most improvement has come in the secondary with the addition of Kani Walker (Oklahoma). When you pair him with Jordan Young, this gives you two corners over 6 feet. As much as speed was a concern for Sam Pittman this offseason, so was size.

The Razorbacks also have a 6-foot-4 safety in Larry Worth. If you strictly go by the depth chart, 6-foot-3 Devin Price might be the only Ole Miss WR with an advantage vs. these guys.

This is the first time Arkansas has been tested this season, and while the front seven performed well against Arkansas State, it was shaky against Alabama A&M. IF, Quincey Rhodes and Phillip Lee can come off the edge and help contain Kewan Lacey, or put pressure on either quarterback, the Razorbacks could make it a nightmare for the Rebels.

Rebel Walk: Taylen Green is in his second year in Bobby Petrino’s offense and he currently sits among the top three QBs in the nation in total QBR and is on every awards watch list there is. Is he as good as his numbers say he is? What impresses you the most about him?

Erik Gee: I ignore numbers. For me, it’s all about the eye test. What impresses me the most about Taylen this year is the fact that he’s not hesitant when he runs. Last, you would see him dance around in the pocket for five seconds or longer, making his offensive line work too hard while he waited for a receiver to get open downfield. You don’t see that this season; if nothing is there, he takes off, and his ability to run and make defenders miss will drive defensive coordinators crazy.

Despite his two picks, he’s more accurate this season, and this is his team; he doesn’t have to defer to upperclassmen this season.  He’s much more confident, and talent-wise, there’s NO question he’s one of the best three quarterbacks in the SEC.

Rebel Walk: Do you think it’s any motivation for Arkansas knowing that Patrick Kutas, Jaylon Braxton and Luke Hasz are now wearing Red and Blue? Or is it a non-factor? 

Erik Gee: It’s a non-factor. The first reason this doesn’t matter is that there are so many new players on this Arkansas team that they won’t care about these guys. Second, CFB is more like the NFL than it has ever been, and while no one in Pittsburgh likes to see a former teammate leave for Baltimore, they all want the opportunity to make money and do what is best for themselves. Unless you’re petty, everybody wants to see their teammates have success.

This is a business, plus when someone leaves, it also means there is an opportunity for someone else to take that spot. Lastly, the only one that is making an impact is Kutas. If Luke Hasz were to catch three touchdown passes, that might pour some salt in the wound, but other than Sam Pittman being hurt because Kutas told him that he “wanted to be a Hog” it’s hard to imagine that too much time or thoughts are being spent on any of these guys this week.

Rebel Walk: I read where Sam Pittman thought the Rebels’ win last season was so big that he wondered if Arkansas was “tipping plays” to Lane Kiffin. 

The writer says:

“Ole Miss dominated Arkansas enough last season to the point where Sam Pittman began to ask questions. He wondered if Arkansas was tipping plays to Lane Kiffin immediately after the game. After all, Ole Miss put up 63 points and 562 total yards.

“A season later, Pittman admits it’s something the Razorbacks looked at during the offseason. Pittman also heavily implied he does not believe there was any cheating involved. Just something Kiffin and the Ole Miss picked up on in the game, giving them a massive advantage. He now hopes Arkansas has it cleaned up heading into Saturday.

“All offseason with that,” Pittman said. “We certainly had a conversation again last night about that. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong — if someone is telling me what they’re doing, offensively, every play and I know it, I’m probably going to use it. I don’t look at that as anything and I’m not saying they did or anything like that. I’m just saying that we’re the only ones that should know what we’re running, unless they have some tendency on us… whether if we’re playing Ole Miss or whoever.”

My question is have you heard anything about that and if so, what are your thoughts? Lane Kiffin says it was just more that everything that could go right, did go right last year for Ole Miss. 

Erik Gee: If Arkansas was tipping plays last year, I’m sure it made some difference. But the truth of the matter is, Ole Miss kicked their butt. I’ll even go so far to say that Jaxson Dart could have told the Razorback DBs who he was throwing the ball to and it wouldn’t have mattered.  The problem in last year’s game wasn’t the offense, it was the defense’s inability to slow down Dart. Once the avalanche started it wasn’t getting better.

Rebel Walk: What do you think the outcome of Saturday’s game ultimately comes down to or which matchup will play the biggest factor?

Erik Gee: Arkansas’ ability to contain Kewan Lacy and force either Simmons or Chambliss to beat them. Chambliss scares me more because of his experience, but Ferris’ State is a long way from the SEC, and Simmons has already thrown four picks. Neither may be able to handle what Arkansas is going to throw at them. But if Lacey is running the ball effectively, it could be a long day for the Hogs.

Next up:

Ole Miss and Arkansas kick off at 6:00 p.m. CT Saturday in Vaught-Hemingway. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.