FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas is going bowling again.

The questions are where and when ?

Somewhere nice in January it appears by the looks of Saturday’s game, in which No. 15 Arkansas pounded Ole Miss 38-3 before a crowd of 73, 445 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

Representatives from the Cotton Bowl and Capital One Bowl also were on hand to check out the Razorbacks (6-1, 4-0 SEC ), who won their sixth consecutive game and became bowl-eligible for the first time since 2003.

ADVERTISEMENT

Records of 5-6 in 2004 and 4-7 in 2005 kept the Razorbacks at home over the holidays after they went to bowls in Houston Nutt’s first six seasons as coach.

“This is a big opportunity,” Arkansas junior fullback Peyton Hillis said. “We’re geared up for it. This means a lot for those of us that haven’t been there before.”

Nutt, in answer to a postgame question, said he doesn’t know how good the Razorbacks are right now.

“What I do know is we take each game one at a time,” Nutt said. “We’re winning, we’re executing, and winning takes care of everything.”

Nutt said Arkansas still has plenty left to accomplish with five regular-season games remaining, including winning its first SEC championship since joining the conference in 1992.

“We’re in the driver’s seat in the SEC. We’re the only team undefeated,” Nutt said. “So let’s try to win the conference.”

Saturday’s 35-point final margin was the most lopsided in 53 meetings between the Razorbacks and Rebels going back to 1908, eclipsing Arkansas ’ 34-0 victory in 1998.

“Give Arkansas and Coach Nutt a lot of credit,” said Ole Miss Coach Ed Orgeron, a former Razorbacks graduate assistant. “They have a lot of talent on that football team.

“ They made some big plays on us today.”

Arkansas’ biggest play came on the opening kickoff, which sophomore tailback Felix Jones returned 100 yards for a touchdown.

In the Razorbacks’ 63-7 rout of Southeast Missouri State last week, sophomore tailback Darren McFadden had a 52-yard touchdown run on Arkansas’ first offensive snap.

“Last week it was Darren, and this week it was Felix,” Arkansas senior defensive tackle Keith Jackson Jr. said. “We’ve got the best duo in the whole nation.”

It was the first kickoff return for a touchdown allowed by Ole Miss (2-6, 1-4 ) since 1988.

Jones also returned a kickoff for a touchdown against Mississippi State last season.

“When you take the opening kickoff back, it sends a strong message to [the Rebels ] that we’re going to be here all day long,” Nutt said. “We had a lot to play for, and our guys realized that.”

The Rebels held McFadden, the SEC’s leading rusher, to 65 yards on 17 carries, but he took a screen pass from Mitch Mustain and turned it into a 70-yard touchdown to give Arkansas a 28-3 lead with 1: 06 left in the third quarter.

“We were kind of sputtering a little bit in the second half,” Nutt said. “But that screen play really broke it open for us.”

Mustain, a true freshman, improved to 6-0 as Arkansas’ starting quarterback and played an efficient game, completing 12 of 15 passes for 157 yards without an interception.

“I thought he did a really good job,” Nutt said. “He took care of the ball and got us in the right plays. I thought he was a real heady player today.”

The only sign of life shown by the Rebels came early in the third quarter when they got out of a third-and-20 hole at their 7 thanks to the scrambling ability of quarterback Brent Schaeffer, who hit flanker Michael Hicks for a 51-yard gain to the Arkansas 42.

With a touchdown, Ole Miss could have closed within 21-10. Instead, the drive stalled, and the Razorbacks forced a punt.

“That could have been a turnaround,” Nutt said. “But the defense stopped them when they had to do it.”

The turnaround for the Razorbacks is in their record this season and best start since 1998, when they were 8-0 before losing to No. 1 Tennessee.

Another big showdown could be looming with the Volunteers on Nov. 11 in Fayetteville, but Arkansas plays Louisiana-Monroe in Little Rock and at South Carolina before then.

“Like Coach Nutt said, we’ve got to keep the blinders on,” Arkansas junior linebacker Weston Dacus said. “We’ve got five more weeks to play, and we’re going to try and keep improving.

“ Not only do we want to go a bowl, but we want to go to a big, exciting bowl.”

Dallas ? Orlando ? New Orleans ?

“Our seniors have kept everything in balance,” Nutt said. “That’s why we’re bowl eligible today, because they have tremendous focus.”

Nutt credited the players and his assistant coaches for hanging tough and together after Arkansas opened the season with a 50-14 loss to now No. 2 Southern California.

“A band of brothers believing in each other, believing in the coaching staff and not worrying about who gets the credit,” Nutt said. “I love the chemistry of this team.”