FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It really wouldn’t matter if Arkansas’ defense pitched in against Ole Miss on Saturday. Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman was probably stating the obvious in coach speak.

There was no special secret sauce or any clue that Rebels coach Lane Kiffin found. He had better players and didn’t really need any of them. Ole Miss just played with focus, without making the mental mistakes they’ve had in a few games, which is to be expected in this situation.

Some Razorback fans point out that 31 points is a positive. It’s like hunting for diamonds on a stall in the barn. The vast majority of those came against Ole Miss reserves, who poured into the game early in the second half.

Many Arkansas fans also didn’t want to accept that the Rebels had lost two games in two games. That’s how good things are going in the SEC these days. Nine of the 16 teams have at most two losses and everyone has at least one loss.

With only three games remaining in the regular season, there are currently nine teams with a chance to play in Atlanta for the SEC Championship game without buying a ticket. While this was exactly what the league office wanted, it destroyed the old ways of hindering college football.

On any given Saturday, literally any team can beat every other team. Shoot, Florida held Georgia tied midway through the fourth quarter until things went south for the Gators. No one predicted Ole Miss would trail the Hogs by 32 points in Fayetteville.

However, as we enter the final month of the season, we will see talent become more and more prominent. The Rebels have more than the Razorbacks.

Another thing that was overlooked in this tremendous win was that they did not have perhaps the best defender in college football in Tre Harris, and Princely Umanmielen, one of the best defenders who was a colorful name, left the game early with an injury.

The Razorbacks will try to find ways to hide their defensive actions for a week before Texas. The problem is, it’s like Ole Miss the Longhorns have a quarterback and receivers who can easily react to what happens after they grab the ball. That’s exactly what Dart did.

When the quarterback and receiver are making the snap read at the same time, it looks like a well-oiled machine and it doesn’t really matter what the defense does.

Barry Switzer was doing the same thing with Oklahoma’s offense in the mid-1970s. He didn’t even bother looking at defensive play film. He was running the triple option with such skill that no matter what the defense did, it would look wrong.

If the quarterback and receiver aren’t reading the same things, everyone looks like a complete idiot. Pass plays these days are nothing more than former Sooners throwing the ball forward instead of throwing it back to the running back.

Pittman’s head was often spinning like crazy when it came to postgame press conferences. This is because most of the time he can’t see things like watch game footage. This is understandably why coaches are sometimes vague in what they say.

They don’t know because they deal with so many things. That’s probably why the first reaction from the Razorbacks’ defense was to “put our hand out” to the defense. Not really, Sam.

Ole Miss has made players react quicker to whatever you want to do and then make plays. It happens sometimes. When your only hope is that better players don’t play to their skill level, you have a chance, but it’s not a great plan.

But that was actually the only plan the Hogs had coming into Saturday’s game.

• Momentum neutralized, pigs stuck in mediocrity