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Daniels: A Preview of the Fresno State Game on September 12
Robert Nkemdiche scores a touchdown on offense for the Rebels. Photo by Josh Bonner of Libertine Images for Hottytoddy,com
Ole Miss is coming off a dominant performance against Tennessee-Martin where they put up 76 points in front of a sea of 60,000 fans wearing white. This week, the opponent is a much tougher assignment in Fresno State.
Last season, Fresno State won three straight games to become bowl eligible as they finished off the season with a 6-8 record losing in the Mountain West Championship against Boise State and losing in the Hawaii Bowl against Rice.
Against Power 5 conference teams, Fresno State went 0-3 with losses to USC, Utah, and Nebraska last season. Like Ole Miss, Fresno State begins the season with a 1-0 record as they beat Abilene Christian in Fresno.
Fresno State ran a balanced, fast attack in week one as they ran 84 plays for 442 total yards; 225 rushing yards and 217 passing yards. One thing for certain is that Fresno State really stopped the rushing attack of Abilene Christian. The Wildcats ran to ball 28 times for just 34 yards on the ground.
Ole Miss will have to stop Marteze Waller on the ground as we will see if we can rebound following the season-ending injury to Isaac Gross.
Waller had 22 carries for 154 yards against a subpar defense compared to that of the Rebels. Zack Greenlee threw three touchdown passes with one interception on a night that he completed under 50 percent of his passes going 14/32 for 156 yards.
I think Ole Miss will have another big offensive day as all of our quarterbacks should get playing time once again.
The running back situation looked good last week, but the Bulldog defense will be a slightly more challenging test.
Hopefully, we will have continued success with our running backs to open up the big pass plays. Ole Miss forced just one turnover last Saturday which was a pick six by Trae Elston. I think we will see more turnovers forced, which will give added confidence for the defense in the weeks to come.
My Pick: Ole Miss over Fresno State 55-6
Grant Daniels, a student at Oxford High School, is sports correspondent for HottyToddy.com. Email him at hottytoddynews@gmail.com
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| Fri, Nov 8 |  | vs Grambling | W, 66-64 |
| Tue, Nov 12 |  | vs South Alabama | W, 64-54 |
| Sat, Nov 16 |  | vs Colorado State | W, 84-69 |
| Thu, Nov 21 |  | vs Oral Roberts | L, 100-68 |
| Thu, Nov 28 |  | vs BYU | W, 96-85 OT |
| Fri, Nov 29 |  | vs 13 Purdue | L, 80-78 |
| Tue, Dec 3 |  | @ Louisville | W, 86-63 |
| Sat, Dec 7 |  | vs Lindenwood | W, 86-53 |
| Sat, Dec 14 |  | vs Southern Miss | W, 77-46 |
| Tue, Dec 17 |  | vs Southern | W, 74-61 |
| Sat, Dec 21 |  | vs Queens University | W, 80-62 |
| Sat, Dec 28 |  | @ Memphis | L, 87-70 |
| Sat, Jan 4 |  | vs Georgia | W, 63-51 |
| Wed, Jan 8 |  | @ 23 Arkansas | W, 73-66 |
| Sat, Jan 11 |  | vs LSU | W, 77-65 |
| Tue, Jan 14 |  | @ 5 Alabama | W, 74-64 |
| Sat, Jan 18 |  | @ 17 Mississippi State | L, 81-84 |
| Wed, Jan 22 |  | vs 13 Texas A&M | L, 62-63 |
| Sat, Jan 25 |  | @ Missouri | 5:00 PM SECN |
| Wed, Jan 29 |  | vs Texas | 8:00 PM ESPN2 |
| Sat, Feb 1 |  | vs 2 Auburn | 3:00 PM TBA |
| Tue, Feb 4 |  | vs 10 Kentucky | 6:00 PM ESPN |
| Sat, Feb 8 | | @ LSU | 7:30 PM SECN |
| Wed, Feb 12 |  | @ South Carolina | 6:00 PM SECN |
| Sat, Feb 15 | | vs 17 Mississippi State | 5:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Feb 22 |  | @ Vanderbilt | 2:30 PM SECN |
| Wed, Feb 26 | | @ 2 Auburn | 6:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Mar 1 |  | vs 12 Oklahoma | 1:00 PM TBA |
| Wed, Mar 5 |  | vs 1 Tennessee | 8:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Mar 8 |  | @ 6 Florida | 5:00 PM SECN |