OXFORD, Miss. — If the quarterback debate wasn’t settled last night, then University of Arkansas Coach Chad Morris is being way too loyal to his old SMU quarterback.

Ben Hicks played hard, but 137 yards of offense in the first half isn’t good enough in any conference.

When Morris made the switch to Nick Starkel to start the second half, it was a different Arkansas football team.

The Razorbacks moved faster and mostly in the right direction.

It has been 680 days since Arkansas last won an SEC game.

That win, 38-37, was here against Ole Miss. The one year, 10 months and 10 days has seemed like an eternity for Razorbacks Nation.

Starkel wasn’t perfect, but in his first extended playing time as a Razorback he looked like a guy who had been there and done that in the SEC.

And he did for Texas A&M before Jimbo Fisher was hired and went with Kellen Mond, a more mobile quarterback but not one with a better arm.

Starkel has a quick a release, checks down on the receivers and has that strong arm. He might be the most complete passer in these parts since Ryan Mallet.

No doubt Starkel and Hicks will both see action in the future. There will be a time when Hicks’ mobility can be a factor, but it wasn’t Saturday night.

Until the Rebels drove 71 yards to take a 17-3 lead with 2:34 left in the third quarter, it seemed Starkel might stop the SEC losing skid.

Safety Kamren Curl scooped a fumble and scored for the Hogs from 69 yards — the last 10 were agonizing as he stumbled and rumbled into the end zone — to pull the Hogs within 17-10 early in the fourth quarter, and there was hope.

What the Hogs needed was a stop to get their fighter pilot quarterback back in the air. Starkel already had a touchdown pass called back because of an ineligible receiver down field in the third quarter.

Instead of a stop, the Hogs got called for pass interference on a third and short. Three plays later, the Rebels went up 24-10 with 11:09 to play. The defense would give up another touchdown because of too many missed tackles.

Starkel finished 17-of-24 passing for 201 yards, and he connected with Koilan Jackson for the Hogs’ only offensive touchdown to set the score at 31-17.

After a lousy first half for the offense, Starkel gave the Hogs more hope than the other team shooting itself in the foot.

Twice the Rebels changed the field position with big penalties, but their lead was just 10-3 despite having 240 yards of offense to the 137 for the Razorbacks — 49 yards of which came on one pass that should have been intercepted but was deflected to Trey Knox and put the Hogs at the Mississippi 28.

The red flag for the Hogs’ defense came on the Rebels’ second possession when they drove 85 yards for the game’s first touchdown.

Three times the Rebels converted third downs, mostly because of missed tackles.

On its next possession, the home team was driving again when it got hit for offensive pass interference that essentially took a little of the wind out of Ole Miss’ sails.

Arkansas tried to get something going with some old-fashioned trickery such as direct snaps and shovel passes, but the Hogs mostly got crushed at the line of scrimmage.

With Starkel, the Hogs need just a second here and a second there from the O-line. They need a little push. They need the defense to defend.

It won’t be another 680 days before the Razorbacks win an SEC game, but for it to happen this season they are going to need Starkel and some luck.