OXFORD -- Alex Givens didn't expect to play more than 40 snaps at Memphis this past Saturday, but it proved to be a necessity.

Givens, who missed all of fall camp while he recovered from a July back surgery, played all but 18 of Ole Miss' snaps in the 15-10 loss to the Tigers.

"I felt good," Givens said. "I was a little tight in the first half but I loosened up and started playing good."

Givens said his back felt good and he was in better shape than he thought he was. So that's the good news. The bad news is Ole Miss' offensive front really struggled for much of Saturday's game and has a lot of work to do to get ready for the rest of the season, starting with Saturday night's Southeastern Conference opener against Arkansas (1-0) in Oxford.

"We just need to come together," Givens said. "We've got the guys who can do it. We just need to go out there day in and day out and do our job and work every day to get better. We're going to get it. We're going to be good."

Givens said he believes the Rebels "grew up" in Memphis.

"We just need to show our fans and everyone out there that we did grow up this game and we have a lot of improvement this week," Given said.

Ole Miss offensive line coach Jack Bicknell said Monday freshman tackle Nick Broeker will play Saturday against Arkansas. He also said starting assignments against the Hogs have not been determined.

"We have a bunch of different combinations of guys," Bicknell said.

Ben Brown could play some center Saturday. Bryce Mathews could play guard and tackle. Broeker and Michael Howard are going to share left tackle roles.

"It's still remaining to be determined," Bicknell said. "We're not going to play someone unless we totally trust them. Right now we're still in the process of finding out, 'Hey, where's the best combination of those guys? Who's playing where?' Its amazing. You practice as much as you do but there's nothing like the game. The game intensity and the game speed is much different than practice."