OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss really isn’t a new position the way things are working out this season. They can’t afford another loss, but they’ve been there since that overtime debacle in Baton Rouge against LSU.

Shoot, the Rebels were there last week against an Oklahoma team getting little respect, but still having a lot of talent.

Now they have to travel to the foothills of the Ozarks to play an Arkansas team that is in a similar position. With two conference losses, Ole Miss doesn’t have any wiggle room, which everyone saw coming when they stumbled around and lost to Kentucky back in September.

The hole was dug when they gave up that miracle pass by the Wildcats and it got deeper by not being able to stop LSU in the fourth quarter on the road.

The Razorbacks know the feeling, but probably worse. They couldn’t find a way to win against Oklahoma State, couldn’t stop Texas A&M in the fourth quarter and were blown out at home by LSU.

The Hogs may have some other issues, too. When two tight ends were kicked off the team after a 58-25 win over Mississippi State, folks are wondering if there’s something else going on. One of them, Ty Washington, went on a podcast and blamed it on coaches ignoring his mental health issues and booting him off. He refused to go into the game down in Starkville in the second half when instructed to do just that.

Ole Miss is almost consensus favorite to win the game. That has appeared to lead to some over-confidence at times for the Rebels this year. Arkansas is good enough to take advantage of that with quarterback Taylen Green and a talented backup running back who will be playing (Braylen Russell).

But he is a freshman and the Rebels’ defense will be the best he’s seen this year — if they are playing up to their talent level. The same is true on offense with quarterback Jaxson Dart having his top receiver back and Tre Harris may mean that much to this team.

The weather forecast may give Ole Miss a break this year. There have been some games played in Fayetteville recently where that did play into the game with cold temperatures. That shouldn’t be the case Saturday.

The rain and chance of thunderstorms predicted probably won’t arrive until the second half which could make a fast start critical. If Ole Miss can get out of the blocks, then keep the defense playing at full force without the late hits and pass interference calls, they can win comfortably.

Considering the closeness of this series for the last few years, it wouldn’t be that surprising to see something change. That’s how the law of averages work out.

If Ole Miss has their offense working, they can manage the Razorbacks’ defense that isn’t too impressive. If the Rebels are taking this game lightly, it could easily go the other way.

That’s how these things tend to work out.