Daniels: A Deeper Look Into The Alabama Game

Photo courtesy of Josh Boner

The Ole Miss Rebels are looking to make it three straight against the Alabama Crimson Tide come Saturday night. The Rebels enter this game as an 11 point underdog as of Thursday, but the Rebels can say that they were not favored in either of their last two wins against Alabama. Ole Miss is coming off of a game against Wofford where the attendance was 64,232 which set a school record and was the biggest college football crowd in the state of Mississippi. I can guarantee you, that record will be broken this Saturday.

Looking at the numbers, both teams enter this game with high-powered offenses as Alabama is coming in scoring 45 points per game while the Rebels are scoring 36 points a game. There is one big difference and that has been on the defensive side of the ball. Alabama has given up just 216.5 yards a game and eight points a game against the likes of USC and Western Kentucky. For Ole Miss, they have given up 442.5 yards a game and 29 points a game. The Rebels will either have to step up big time on defense and be that swarming Landshark D that we love or be ready to play in a shootout in Oxford.

So far, the Rebels have been plagued with season ending injuries as Ken Webster, Eric Swinney, and D.K. Metcalf are all out for the year. Despite the adversity, the Rebels still sit at 1-1 and have a good chance at knocking off the number one team in the land. The Rebel offense has got to be clicking to defeat Alabama. They must score points and not turn the football over. Chad Kelly is definitely the guy to accomplish those things. Kelly is 41/66 through the air with 532 yards, seven touchdowns, and three interceptions entering this game. If Kelly can keep his options open as the play unfolds, the Rebels could have big success against the Alabama defense.

The depth in the running game is a bit depleted with the loss of Eric Swinney. If the offensive staff makes the adjustments to establish the running game, the offense becomes much more successful. In games when Ole Miss runs for 150 yards or more in a game, the Rebels are 30-3 under Hugh Freeze. This will be a tough feat for the offense as the Alabama defense has given up just 69 yards all season on 52 runs against them.

The Alabama offense has a bit of a different look this season as they have a dual-threat in starting quarterback, Jalen Hurts. The Rebel front seven will have to be stout to stop all of the options for Alabama in the running game. Alabama has Damien Harris and Bo Scarborough at running back who are both dangerous threats as well as a mobile Hurts at quarterback. Our front seven has the physical strength, quickness, and talent to stop the Alabama running game if we can keep their backs inside the tackles and plug up the holes that the offensive line will try to create.

The Rebel secondary is definitely the area that is going to have to come through if we want to win this marquee matchup. Alabama has two dangerous threats on the outside in Calvin Ridley and ArDarius Stewart. In Alabama’s opener, Stewart had four catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Against Western Kentucky, Ridley had nine catches for 129 yards and a touchdown for the Crimson Tide. Last year, it was guys like Ryan Mulaney that gave our defense trouble, but in his absence the Rebel defense will still have to watch Alabama’s slot receiver, Gehrig Dieter.

For Ole Miss to win this game, they are going to have to play fundamentally sound defense, win the turnover battle in a big way like last season, and the Rebels need some breaks to fall their way. It’s time; we are due some of those breaks.

My Pick: Ole Miss over Alabama 41-35

Grant Daniels, a student at Oxford High School, is a sports correspondent for HottyToddy.com. Email him at hottytoddynews@gmail.com

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