Chris Bahn: Razorbacks 'Take Step Back' With Loss To Rebels

Arkansas might have done more than lose to Ole Miss on Saturday.

Coach Bobby Petrino knew it. And as painful as it had to have been for him to admit it to a roomful of reporters, he made it known just how damaging the 30-17 loss could potentially be, not just on Saturday or for the rest of the season, but longer term.

Arkansas lost to the Rebels and lost valuable momentum.

"I felt like we really needed this game to get the program going in the direction I want it to go," Petrino said. "This was a big game for us. We have to come back and battle real hard. We've got to get some wins. We've got to get to a bowl game so we can practice more and work our young guys. That's how you get the program better. ...

"Obviously, this is a setback."

Indeed.

Arkansas (3-4, 1-4) must win three of its five remaining games to make the postseason. That shouldn't be too hard with Eastern Michigan and Troy on the schedule, but a 6-6 or 7-5 record won't be enough to woo the Capital One Bowl scouts on hand in Oxford or the Cotton Bowl scouts that watched the Razorbacks knock off Auburn 44-23 three weeks ago.

Sure, making any bowl would be a step up from a 5-7 mark in Petrino's first season. Achieving that and then some seemed like a forgone conclusion last week when the Razorbacks outplayed Florida most of the day in what wound up as a 23-20 loss.

Particularly deflating was the fact the loss came at the hands of the Razorbacks' former coach. Houston Nutt had his team and Ole Miss fans ready for the game and it showed as the Rebels jumped up to a 14-0 lead just a little more than 14 minutes into the contest.

Nutt, of course, coached at Arkansas from 1998-2007. He was 75-48 with eight bowl game appearances before parting ways with the Razorbacks.