Wally Watch: Where we read Wally Hall so you don’t have to.

Oct. 18, 2007: Only White knows what future holds for Nutt.

Primary Theme: Chancellor John White is the only person who knows what record the Hogs have to finish with for Houston Nutt to keep his job.

For the “Hard to Argue with” File: “Soon-to-be athletic director Jeff Long might know [if a 7-5 record would save Nutt’s job], but since he is currently an adviser to White, he might not know.”

We Get It: ” … Nutt’s contract is good to 2012. That’s 2012. If you missed it, 2012.”

Choice Analogy (Three for One Special): “The Razorbacks should roll through the Grove like Sherman did Atlanta. Like Appalachian State did Michigan. Like Bill Callahan did Steve Pederson.”

What Team Have You Been Watching?: “The Rebels rank 76th in defending the pass, and since the promise was made to open up the offense this week, the Hogs should be in fine form there.”

Our Analysis: A classic Wally effort, one in which he once again careens from point to point. After stating his thesis, he says the Hogs should adopt the spread offense for the next two seasons. Then, he compares Stan Heath’s winning percentage to Nutt’s and says allowing Nutt to stick around after this year may hurt White’s effort to hire more minorities. Then, it’s off to a detailed comparison of Ole Miss and Arkansas’ stats and to a glance at Arkansas’ chances against its remaining opponents. Finally, like a high school student ending a paper, he closes the article by restating a point he made way back at the beginning: “Of course, only Chancellor John White knows if there is even a magic number Houston Nutt needs to win.” Our heads are spinning.

Oct. 19, 2007: Grab a pencil for Hogs-Rebels entrance exam.

Primary Theme: Professor Hall gives his audience bad flashbacks to school by crafting his column in the form of a multiple choice test about the Arkansas-Ole Miss matchup.

Sample Question: If [Ole Miss Coach Ed] Orgeron and Reggie Herring got in a fight before the game, it would: A. Give the Hogs an advantage. B. Give the Rebels an advantage. C. Be worthy of HBO pay-per-view. D. Be a mild surprise.” Answer, according to Wally: C.

Sample Question, No. 2: “If [Marcus] Monk plays Saturday, he will have missed: A. Some bad football. B. Some team meetings. C. Two months. D. Breakfast.” Answer: C. Um, okay.

Our Analysis: A completely random and bizarre effort. We appreciate his attempt to shake things up, and we love a good game of trivia, but this column feels like Wally found himself slammed up against his deadline without the slightest idea of what he should write about. But, as we think more about it, don’t most of Wally’s columns seem that way?

OK, that headline is probably something of an overstatement. But Houston Nutt’s spot in coacheshotseat.com’s weekly ranking of coaches most in danger of getting fired has fallen from No. 1 to No. 5. Charlie Weis of Notre Dame tops this week’s list, followed by Phillip Fulmer of Tennessee, Mike Stoops of Arizona and Bill Callahan of Nebraska. (The Hogs’ Nov. 10th battle against UT in Knoxville is shaping up to be a coacheshotseat.com dream match-up. Maybe to drum up interest in the game, the schools should agree that the losing coach will be fired in a televised post-game ceremony and then thrown into a pit of angry fans.)

Here’s part of what the site’s blog page had to say about Nutt’s spot in this week’s ranking:

“Now at 4-3, we do think there is a way for Houston to keep his job in Fayetteville, but that would entail running the table by winning all the remaining games, which would include beating LSU in Baton Rouge on November 23^rd. You have the talent to do, so do it. Wouldn’t that be sweet to stuff a 9-3 record into the faces of all of your critics, including us? We don’t think, no we know you cannot do it!”

Also, you should check out The Slophouse’s take on a cbssportsline.com blogger’s Butch Davis-to-Arkansas musings.

Once again: thank God for Mississippi. Just when it was beginning to feel like the Razorbacks might never win another SEC game, the Rebels came riding to the rescue.

I didn’t listen to the game, but from reading the reports, it looks like the Hogs turned in a fine performance. McFadden and Jones once again each rushed for more than 100 yards. The defense, one week after keeping Auburn out of the end zone, gave up only one touchdown and made four interceptions. And Casey Dick, while passing for only 96 yards, still threw three touchdown passes and began the game with seven straight completions.

Before we get too carried away with the happy vibes, it’s important to remember that this was Ole Miss. Objectively speaking, the Hogs didn’t do a whole lot to ease the well-founded doubts about them.

Still, the fan in me can’t help but feel some twinge of optimism after yesterday. And when you consider all the upsets that have taken place in the SEC this year and how close the Hogs’ losses to Alabama, Kentucky and Auburn were … well, it’s not a huge reach to see Arkansas making things interesting down the stretch.

After all the disappointments of the preceding weeks, optimism, however fleeting and irrational it may prove to be, is a welcome feeling indeed.

Silencing their critics for well, the rest of the day, the Hogs handed out a good old-fashioned 44-8 butt-kicking against Ole Miss. For a few moments, at least, all is right with the world.

In case you need any extra help getting fired up, we’ll be providing a handy pre-game cheat sheet detailing why you should hate each one of the Razorbacks’ opponents this fall. Some weeks will be easier than others…

1. They Can Make a Bad Season That Much Worse. At the beginning of the year, this game was viewed by many Arkansas fans as a sure win, a rout on the way to the Hogs being a serious national factor. Now, it’s a face-off between two teams that are winless in the conference, a battle to avoid staying at the bottom of the SEC West for at least another week. A loss to Ole Miss — a real possibility — would blow wide open the dispiriting gap between pre-season expectations and in-season reality. We’ll take a win any way we can get it - even if it takes seven overtimes.

2. Enough Already of the Mannings. Two members of the Greatest Football Family Ever were star quarterbacks for Ole Miss. Archie Manning played for the Rebels in the late 60s and early 70s; his son Eli did so more than 30 years later. To be truthful, we don’t the Mannings particularly unlikable (and several of Peyton’s recent TV ads are outright funny), but we’re kind of sick of hearing about the whole clan. Perhaps we’re just jealous.

3. Unhappy New Year. Speaking of Archie Manning, he and his Rebels defeated the Hogs 27-22 in the 1970 Sugar Bowl. The loss came several weeks after then-No. 2 Arkansas lost a 15-14 heartbreaker to No. 1 Texas in a regular season finale that was billed as the “Game of the Century.” After watching their national championship hopes slip away, the Hogs were looking to at least end the season on a positive note. Archie and Co. denied them that chance. The nerve. Ole Miss also defeated Arkansas by a score of 17-13 in the 1963 Sugar Bowl, so the Rebels have a not-insignificant role in a subject we never tire of making smart-ass remarks about: the Hogs’ miserable bowl history.

4. Coach Orgeron - Apparently Not Such a Nice Guy. For those going to Saturday’s game and sitting near the Ole Miss sideline, we recommend that you don’t make Ole Miss Coach Ed Orgeron mad at you. About 15 years ago, a Dade County, Fla., court ordered Orgeron, then an assistant at Miami, to stay away from the home and workplace of a woman who accused him of repeated domestic violence. In 1992, he was charged in an incident in which he allegedly head-butted the manager of a Baton Rouge, La., nightclub. According to the Associated Press, the manager later dropped the charges and reached an out-of-court settlement with Orgeron.

5. They’ve Pretty Much Kicked Our Butts in Basketball Recently. Since the start of the 1996-1997 season, the basketball Hogs have a 7-15 record against the Rebels. And to rub salt in our wounds, Ole Miss has often clobbered the Razorbacks with the help of players who are natives of the Natural State. Perhaps Hog assistant Rob Evans, who was head coach at Ole Miss from 1992 to 1998, can spill the Rebels’ secrets to new coach John Pelphrey and help him restore order to the universe.

As part of our ongoing series of Q&A’s with our fellow SEC bloggers, we spoke (well, emailed) with Seth over at the Hotty Toddy Blog about this Saturday’s battle of last place teams. Seth was kind enough to share his thoughts on Ole Miss football, that crazy ending to their game against Alabama last week, and of course, Coach O.

Our answers to his questions are over at the Hotty Toddy Blog, but for the Ole Miss side of the story, read on…

1. This might be the last thing you want to think at this point, but now that a few days have passed, what’s your take on the controversial ending to last week’s Alabama game? And how do you think it will affect the Ole Miss players for the game this week?
I think it was a bad call. According to the rules, if a player goes out of bounds he is unable to touch the ball first. However, if someone else touches the ball first then it is fair game. It looked like to me that Alabama’s defender touched the ball first and Hodge pulled it away from him. I don’t believe there was indisputable evidence to the contrary.

2. Ed Orgeron: crazy like a fox or just crazy?
I don’t think he is crazy at all. He is a hard and tireless worker. He has always acted professional while at Ole Miss.

3. Following up from that question, are the streets of Oxford clogged with people driving Hummers because of this commercial?
Absolutely.

4. Obviously both teams have had very frustrating SEC seasons so far. Which team do you think will play with more desperation and urgency, and why?
It’s hard to say. We will be very upset over the horrible reversal at the end of the Alabama game. Technically we both still have shots at bowl games. Ole Miss will play for revenge (bad call) and for respect. Arkansas will play with more desperation and urgency.

(Read on …)

If nothing else, the Ole Miss game ought to be fun in the sense that it pits the two most ridiculed SEC coaches (sorry, Sylvester) against each other.

In this corner, Houston Nutt, called out by SI’s Stewart Mandel today as one of three college coaches who are “Dead Men Walking”. The entire article is definitely worth a read, but here’s a key excerpt:

“Remember all the craziness that hovered over Arkansas’ program last winter and spring (lawsuits, fans requesting cell-phone records, etc.)? Remember how bizarre it seemed to anyone outside that state that even a segment of the Razorbacks’ fan base could be so put out by a coach who had just orchestrated the school’s best season in 17 years?

Turns out, the very events that touched off their outrage — Nutt’s condescending treatment of offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn and subsequent transfer of ballyhooed QB Mitch Mustain — are what’s biting him now. Arkansas has no passing attack. None. Zippo. Certainly star receiver Marcus Monk’s season-long injury hasn’t helped, but neither has Nutt’s continued, puzzling faith in career 51-percent passer Casey Dick, or his mistaken belief that bringing back former assistant David Lee to be offensive coordinator (Malzahn, who subsequently left for Tulsa, was still on staff at the time), would fix the problem.

Which brings us to an important lesson to be learned from these three (not including Doba) high-profile coaching downfalls, all of which can be traced to one common trait: arrogance.”

And in the other corner, Ed Orgeron, whose work mostly speaks for itself. Best of all, he’s inspired a new website called FireCoachO.com, which features one of the most bizarrely catchy YouTube videos of all time. I’m sure I’ll be singing this song for days now:

The early winner: the final verdict will come on Saturday, of course, but for now I give Orgeron the edge. None of the anti-Nutt sites I’ve seen have been nearly that entertaining.

Most Arkansans have surely heard (or used) the expression “Thank God for Mississippi”…a self-deprecating way of noting that when we’re ranked 49th nationally in a variety of statistics, at least we can rest easy knowing that our friends to the southeast would likely be bringing up the rear one place behind us.

Is Houston Nutt muttering this phrase to himself as he prepares for the game this week? Or does he realize that what once seemed like an interlude between the much tougher matchups before and after it could now wind up being another huge shovelful of dirt tossed on his coaching grave?

Ole Miss certainly hasn’t been a powerhouse lately, and in the preseason everyone couldn’t help but think that this would be one of the “gimme” games that would propel to the Hogs to a bare minimum of six wins this season. But the fact is, this year the Hogs haven’t won any more SEC games than Ole Miss has. And the Rebs came within a highly controversial instant replay call of possibly beating Alabama last week and they threw a major scare into Florida before that, so they’re obviously tough at home.

Maybe this will be the week that the Razorbacks put it all together and live up to their potential (I’m not exactly betting on that, but hey - anything can happen). Or maybe the Hogs will lay another egg and fans will be waiting outside Nutt’s house with pitchforks and torches. Either way, the days of “Thank God for Mississippi” - in a football sense, at least - seem pretty far away

This article is a few weeks old now, but in light of recent events is probably more true than ever…Bruce Feldman of ESPN The Magazine (mental note: maybe we should change this site to RazorbackExpats The Blog) says that five of the top 10 toughest schools to coach at are in the SEC (and three of the top five). You’ll be happy to know that he has Arkansas at #5…at least we’re in the top five at something!

The Houston Nutt news is flying fast and furious these days, but here’s a quick recap of where things stand:

* Houston says he’s planning on being at Arkansas until his contract expires in 2012. Um, right.

* The Hog Blogger breaks things down with a report from a leading message boarder over at Hogville and a summary of the post-Auburn events.

* The RazorBloggers are skeptical about Nutt’s claim that the offense is going to “turn it loose” now.

* Wally criticizes Nutt’s coaching in his typically veiled, passive-aggressive, one-sentence paragraph style.

* Lastly, in the Least Surprising News Ever department, Houston remains on top of the hot seat rankings over at coacheshotseat.com.

Despite the urgent pleas of John Pelphrey, we were unable to attend Friday night’s opening of basketball practice at Bud Walton Arena (we were meeting with some Hollywood producers to discuss selling the RazorbackExpats.com movie rights). In our place, however, we were able to send the finest stringer around: CharlieHog, one of the proprietors of the excellent HogNation site and all-around Razorback expert. Many, many thanks to Charlie for taking the time to compile and send us the following report. Without further ado …

“Well…I’m not very good at analyzing practices/scrimmages, especially basketball, but here goes…

An okay crowd, everything considered. A few Hog calls. A spontaneous echo (Arkansas-Razorbacks) cheer erupted right before the team was going to be announced. Loudest cheered were Steven Hill, Patrick Beverley and Coach Pelphrey.

Steven Hill has a full beard. And it. Is. Glorious.

They scrimmaged for 20 minutes. Red team was Marcus Britt, Sonny Weems, Darian Townes, Stefan Welsh, Charles Thomas, and Nate Rakestraw. White was Steven Hill, Gary Ervin, Patrick Beverley, Michael Sanchez, Levan Patsatsia and Vincent Hunter.

Beverley and Ervin took turns running the point for the white team, although Ervin probably ran it more. Marcus Britt ran the point for red. There were a lot of missed shots early so it was hard to get a read on offensive and defensive sets. Both teams played mostly man defense, and both played some full court press. All the returning guys played like we know they can. Everybody was hustling and seemed to be having fun. Britt handled the ball pretty well and had two nice ally-oop/dunk passes, one to Weems and the other to Thomas.

White won the scrimmage 39-37 on a three pointer from Vincent Hunter with about a second left.

It’s hard for me to get much from the scrimmage. We all know the returning guys are good, and 20 minutes isn’t really enough to get a gauge on anybody else. We’ve heard all summer about the conditioning, and everybody looked to me to be in great shape. But I wasn’t really keeping track of how long everybody played since it’s weird to have 20 straight minutes of basketball after being conditioned to have a timeout every four minutes (plus SEC refs calling a foul on every ticky-tack hand check).

After the scrimmage Pelphrey gave a short speech about how anybody that doesn’t think Arkansas can win the SEC and compete for a national championship just needs to look up at the banners. He said that Arkansas has had their share of great players and coaches in the past but what makes it a really special place is the fans. (awww we love him and he loves us!)”