OXFORD — Arkansas and No. 16 Ole Miss square off Saturday night (6:30 p.m., SEC Network) with the Razorbacks looking to snap a three-game losing streak and the Rebels looking to stay in conference and CFP contention heading into next week’s open date.

RebelGrove.com publisher Neal McCready and HawgBeat.com managing editor Riley McFerran exchanged questions and answers to help get you prepared for Saturday’s contest.

Neal McCready: 1. It's Year 4 for Sam Pittman and obviously, the Razorbacks are struggling. I know there is Internet chatter, but in your opinion, how close to the hot seat is he as Arkansas prepares for back-to-back road games against teams ranked 16th or higher in the Associated Press Top 25?

Riley McFerran: Whew buddy, does Sam Pittman need a win in the worst way right now. Sure, social media and message boards aren’t always the greatest sources to determine if a coach is on the hot seat or not. But, I’d be lying if I said that Pittman was in the clear this season.

Poor coaching decisions, bad game management and the inability to win close games or games that the team held a double-digit lead in (BYU and LSU) are things that won’t get you into the good graces of the fanbase.

On paper, it’s likely that the Hogs will drop the next two games to Ole Miss and Alabama. That would put Arkansas at 2-5 (0-4 SEC). After that stretch, you have winnable games for the rest of the schedule. Mississippi State, Auburn, FIU and Missouri are all at home. Florida will be tough on the road, as the Razorbacks have never won a game in The Swamp.

Finishing 5-7 and missing a bowl game will put Pittman squarely on the hot seat going into next season, no doubt about it. Go 4-8 or somehow worse, and athletic director Hunter Yuracheck will have some thinking to do.

Neal McCready: 2. Pittman was known for his prowess as a recruiter and as an offensive line coach at Georgia. What is the talent level at Arkansas and, specifically, how do you explain some of the offensive line woes there this season?

Riley McFerran: Keeping in mind the dumpster fire that Pittman inherited, he’s done a pretty solid job in the recruiting department overall. If we look at offensive line recruiting specifically, though, it hasn’t been great.

In Pittman’s three recruiting cycles, he’s landed one two-star, eight three-stars and two four-stars along the offensive line. All three from the 2020 class are no longer with the program, including one of the four stars.

When Pittman was hired, the hope was that he would be able to land some high-caliber guys, but that just hasn’t been the case up to this point.

As for the current line’s struggles, it all stems from a lack of experience, position changes and injuries. One of the top-rated guards in the country last year, Beaux Limmer was moved to center in the offseason and hasn’t been the same ever since. 19-year-old Patrick Kutas has been manning the right tackle position, and although he’s talented, he’s not quite ready for the SEC yet. Devon Manuel was the clear starter at left tackle leading into the year, but a string of injuries forced Andrew Chamblee into the starting role for the first few games. Brady Latham has been really good for the Hogs in his left guard spot during his career but is really struggling this season in pass protection and with penalties. Florida transfer Joshua Braun has been solid at right guard but is inconsistent at times.

Pittman did say on Monday that they were looking at moving some guys around again. Some of those changes could include Limmer back to guard, Kutas to center and Latham to tackle. We’ll see if those changes are enough to fix what’s been an abysmal offensive line performance so far this season.

Neal McCready: 3. KJ Jefferson is off to a slow start. He looks a little tentative from my perspective. If I'm right, is it a new offensive coordinator? Does he not trust his receivers? Is it a protection issue? All of the above?

Riley McFerran: I really think the lack of production can be blamed on some clashing of styles within the offense. Jefferson has always been an RPO, deep-ball guy. Now he’s in more of a slower, pro-style system under Dan Enos. That transition isn’t always easy for a quarterback.

A major, major issue has been the lack of protection. Slow-developing plays don’t work when your quarterback gets sacked before he can make his reads. You might be wondering, ‘Why not use the quick game, then?’ Well, Jefferson has never been amazing with short/touch throws. As I said, everything is clashing against each other.

Arkansas’ wide receivers are plenty good enough for the SEC, in my opinion. One could argue they’re better top-to-bottom than last year’s group. Are they perfect? No, of course not. But I think if Jefferson was given the time to make some throws, he would find some of these guys open.

Neal McCready: 4. Ole Miss rolled up more than 700 yards against LSU. Obviously, the Razorbacks had a lot of success against the Tigers in Baton Rouge, so maybe some of us (hand raised) were a little too wooly on LSU in the preseason. Regardless, how do you see Arkansas trying to slow Ole Miss' offense Saturday in Oxford?

Riley McFerran: I definitely think the LSU game was a bit of fool’s gold for the Razorback offense. They didn’t even look particularly great against the Tigers, but looked much, much worse against Texas A&M.

I’ll be honest, I don’t see a whole lot Arkansas’ defense can do to stop the Rebels' passing attack. The secondary has been better than in years past, but is still allowing 227.0 yards per game in 2023. On top of that, the Hogs’ top cornerback — Dwight McGlothern — might not play after suffering a concussion against the Aggies. Preventing big plays and getting to Jaxson Dart is going to be key.

Linebackers Jaheim Thomas and Chris Paul Jr. are good run-stoppers, but lack coverage ability. The defensive line is deep, but lacks top-end talent. If the Razorbacks want to win, they’ll need to force some turnovers.

Neal McCready: 5. How do you see Saturday's game playing out and, if you don't mind, what's your predicted final score?

Riley McFerran: This is a crucial game for Sam Pittman. Win, and he’ll quiet the naysayers for the time being. Lose — especially in the same ugly fashion as the Texas A&M game — and the heat is going to crank up another notch.

I do think Arkansas will put up some solid offensive production against an Ole Miss defense that has been less-than-perfect so far. Still, not having talented freshman tight-end Luke Hasz available due to a broken clavicle really hurts. Can the offensive line protect KJ Jefferson? That’s the main question.

On the flip side, I think the Rebels will be able to score at will. The Hogs were tough against LSU in the first half and Texas A&M in the second half, but have yet to put a full game together.

It’ll be close for a half, but self-inflicted mistakes and an elite Ole Miss offensive attack are too much to overcome in Vaught Hemingway Stadium. The Rebels pull away in the third quarter and run up the score in the fourth.

Score prediction: Ole Miss 45, Arkansas 24

Riley McFerrin: 1. Arkansas’ offense ranks 101st in the country in yards per game at 342.2 and Ole Miss’ defense ranks 104th in the country in yards allowed per game at 408.8. In a battle of weakness vs. weakness, which side do you believe has the advantage and why?

Neal McCready: That’s a good question. It really is. I think the answer is Arkansas has the clear advantage there. KJ Jefferson is a handful. So is Rocket Sanders. Arkansas has other quality running backs. It’s bewildering to me, really, that the Razorbacks are struggling so mightily on offense.

LSU is very talented on the defensive front. Texas A&M is talented, active and well-coached. Ole Miss’ front-seven, meanwhile, is fairly pedestrian. I’m not sure it can do to Arkansas what LSU and Texas A&M did. There’s no dynamic playmaker that you simply must account for. Freshman linebacker Suntarine Perkins will be that player one day, and he flashes now, but the point stands.

Arkansas should have some offensive success on Saturday. Georgia Tech rolled up 477 yards a couple of weeks ago and the Yellow Jackets aren’t exactly world beaters. They just lost to Bowling Green.

Riley McFerrin: 2. What was the difference offensively between the Alabama game and the LSU game for the Rebels? What clicked against the Tigers that didn’t against the Tide?

Neal McCready: I’m sure it’s more complicated than this, but I think it was a couple of things. First, Ole Miss was healthier on offense. Tight end Caden Prieskorn was fully healthy after looking sluggish in his return versus Alabama. Tre Harris was healthy after only playing a few plays in Tuscaloosa. They’re difference-makers for this offense. Second, the Ole Miss offensive line went to more of a gap-scheme blocking strategy and it really paid dividends. They were able to establish some inside running game for the first time this season and that negated some of LSU’s pass rush. The Ole Miss tackles held up on the edge against LSU, and that gave Jaxson Dart time to throw and receivers time to exploit a soft Tigers secondary. One couldn’t say any of that when Ole Miss lost at Alabama.

Riley McFerrin: 3. The Razorbacks’ offensive line has really struggled this season in both the run game and pass protection. Sam Pittman said on Monday that some players might move positions to get the best five on the line. He also said the Ole Miss defensive front is better than it has been in past years. Could you speak to the Rebels’ defensive line and if they’ll be able to take advantage of a weak Arkansas offensive line?

Neal McCready: I saw where Pittman said that and was a bit surprised. I mean, I think he’s basically right, but no one around here views the defensive line as a strength of the roster. James Madison transfer Isaac Ukwu has helped on the edge. Georgia Tech transfer Akelo Stone has helped some on the inside and JJ Pegues is a very good interior player. However, Cedric Johnson has struggled a bit in his new role in Pete Golding’s defense and the Rebels have had a difficult time getting to opposing quarterbacks.

I’m sure Ole Miss will try to exploit Arkansas on the edges; the Hogs have seemed to struggle there. And I’m sure Golding will try to do some things to get to Jefferson, but the problem is if the blitz doesn’t get home or it doesn’t bring Jefferson to the ground, you’re playing with fire once he gets away and gets to improvise.

Riley McFerrin: 4. The Hogs’ fanbase has been less-than-happy with some questionable in-game coaching decisions by Pittman this season. How is Lane Kiffin viewed amongst the Ole Miss fanbase right now?

Neal McCready: A diety. The second coming. They adore him. I know that sounds crazy, but he can do no wrong (other than during Alabama week, when he gets borderline nutty on Twitter). He lost a little support late last season, but it’s all back now, especially following the win over LSU. Kiffin has a way of winning these last-play games (Arkansas 2021, Tennessee 2021, Kentucky 2022, LSU 2023) that further endear him to the fans. Throw in his Twitter persona and the way that he’s finally begun to embrace Ole Miss and Oxford — at least as much as he’s really ever going to; he’s quiet and aloof in real life — and he can do no real wrong in the eyes of the fans.

Riley McFerrin: 5. How do you think the game plays out and what’s your score prediction?

Neal McCready: Everyone here buys into the whole “this game always gets drunk” thing and expects crazy. I don’t. Three years ago, Ole Miss had a new offense and a young quarterback and he got baited into a lot of mistakes by Barry Odom. If you take a step back, the outcome was pretty predictable.

Two years ago, both teams were coming off losses and had experienced quarterbacks and porous defenses and the game came down to the final play. Neither defense could stop the other offense and both Matt Corral and Jefferson had special days. Last year, Ole Miss was flat and a bit distracted and Arkansas played an absolutely laser-focused, elite first half of football and blew the Rebels off the field.

Arkansas looked off Saturday in Arlington. I think the loss of Luke Hasz devastated that offense and I don’t think Jefferson trusts his line or his receivers. My guess is Ole Miss is a little sluggish early but then gets rolling on offense. I think Arkansas scores some points but ultimately can’t keep up and then Ole Miss pulls away late for a fairly comfortable win.

My guess is something along the lines of a three-score Ole Miss win after a close first 2 1/2 quarters or so. I’ll go Ole Miss 41, Arkansas 24.