Off The Rails – A Look Back at the 2016 Ole Miss Rebel Football Season

Photo by Bill Barksdale

Fresh off of a Sugar Bowl victory in 2015, the Ole Miss Rebels were in prime position to challenge Alabama for the top spot in the SEC and potentially make a run for the College Football Playoff in 2016. That was the thought process of a large portion of Rebel Nation as the team brought in a top-5 recruiting class and senior QB Chad Kelly was back at the helm.

The Rebels lost key pieces from that Sugar Bowl team in the form of three first-round picks. Tunsil, Nkemdiche, and Treadwell’s departure were accented by the loss of Mike Hilton, Trae Elston, Cody Core and other contributors to the Rebels success. The NCAA Investigation was the talk of the town heading into the 2016 campaign, but Hugh Freeze did his best to present a picture that the team wasn’t focused on outside noise ahead of a matchup with ACC heavyweight #4 Florida State.

“Tunnel vision. What keeps me up at night right now is Florida State’s defensive line. It really is. You can control what you can control,” Freeze said. “When I look those kids in the eyes — the ones who have nothing to do with all this stuff that have worked tirelessly to become a relevant program in this country — that is what motivates me. They are the ones that are important.” 

Ole Miss vs Florida State

Chad Kelly’s claim that he was the best QB in the SEC (and the country) was going to be tested early in a matchup against the Seminoles. Ready to prove himself, Kelly came out and led the Rebels to a 28-13 halftime lead against the #4 team in the country. A second half, that Kelly and the rest of the Rebels would like to forget, quickly spiraled as the Seminoles took over. Unable to stop FSU on defense and unable to move the ball on offense, the Rebels looked like a different team. Four second-half drives ended with turnovers, while Florida State kept scoring. The loss of starting CB Kendarius Webster to a season-ending knee injury on the first snap was evident throughout the rest of the game and the entire season. A 45-34 loss in the opener showed that the Rebels had a lot of work to do with a matchup against the Crimson Tide looming just two weeks later.

Wofford vs. Ole Miss

The first home game in the newly renovated Vaught-Hemingway Stadium followed the loss to the Seminoles. Rebel fans had a lot to cheer as the Rebels easily took care of the Wofford Bulldogs 38-13. A game like this was instrumental in allowing some younger players to get their feet wet before the Alabama game.

Alabama vs. Ole Miss 

#19 Ole Miss at home against #1 Alabama, a game that Rebel fans will forever remember as what could’ve been. A chance to beat Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide three years in a row doesn’t happen every day, and Vaught-Hemingway was filled to its capacity with fans waiting to witness history. A hot start and a Marquis Haynes sack-fumble of Alabama QB Jaylen Hurts returned for a TD by John Youngblood put the Rebels up 24-3. What happened next changed the course of the 2016 season for Ole Miss Rebels. Twenty-four unanswered points by the Crimson Tide gave the lead and the momentum to the #1 team in the nation. The Tide scored on special teams, offense and defense on their way to taking the lead. Another second half of futility for the Rebels had fans in disbelief of the Rebels inability to put another team away after building a 21-point lead. A pick six put the Tide up 41-30 late in the 4th. A desperate attempt by the Rebels to climb their way back into the game saw Alabama’s lead shrink to just 5. Opting not to go for an onside kick, Freeze trusted his defense to get the ball back to Kelly and the offense, but the Tide’s rushing attack was too much as they were able to run out the clock. A 48-43 final saw the Rebels become the first power-5 team in the last ten years to blow two 21-point leads in the same season, according to ESPN. Despite that fact, Freeze praised how his team played, but noted how injuries and a tough schedule were difficult obstacles to overcome.

“Our coaches understand that we will get judged in this arena by what the scoreboard says, but we don’t have to define ourselves by that,” Freeze said. “When we get up tomorrow, we will know that the mission is still the same, and that is to impact the men in this program positively. I think we are competing at a high level. The schedule is a tough one. We knew that. We very well knew that we could get beat by these teams at the front end of the schedule. Injuries haven’t been our friends either. We lost some really good players, and that is next man up. We have to play the next guys and get ready, and we will be excited as coaches to get them in here tomorrow, put this one in the trash and get ready for Georgia.” 

UGA vs. Ole Miss 

A turnover problem on offense and an injury-plagued and undersized defense created a problematic equation for Freeze and the Rebels. Sitting at 1-2, the Rebels needed to make changes or risk their season being over in just the first four weeks. The Georgia Bulldogs came to town and found an angry Rebel team that looked ready to flip the script after a difficult start to the season. The Rebels dominated the Bulldogs on both sides of the ball on their way to a 45-14 win. The Rebels kept their foot on the gas as their lead grew after conservative play calls doomed the Rebels in weeks past.

Memphis vs. Ole Miss 

2-2 as the calendar turned to October, and the Rebels were ready to get revenge on the Memphis Tigers after the Tigers upset win in 2015. A 624-yard performance by the Rebel offense and four turnovers forced by the defense gave the Rebels a 48-28 victory. The Rebels let the Tigers hang around but were able to make plays when it mattered the most to keep history from repeating itself. The Rebels rushed for 263 yards against the Tigers, their highest of the season to that point. A balanced attack was a welcomed sight, taking the pressure off of Chad Kelly.

Ole Miss at Arkansas

Another week, another chance at revenge. The Rebels traveled to Fayetteville to take on the Razorbacks after losing a shootout the year before, highlighted of course by the 4th and 25 miracle play in OT. While the 2016 matchup wasn’t as high scoring, it was a thriller in its own sense. A tightly contested game throughout, the Rebels held a 30-27 lead late. The Razorbacks were able to convert on multiple 3rd downs and a 4th down on their way to scoring a go-ahead touchdown. The Rebels had no late game magic of their own and fell to Arkansas 34-30. Dropped passes and a lack of a running game, combined with Dave Wommack’s defense having no answers for the Razorback’s offense in the 4th quarter, saw the Rebels fall back to .500 at 3-3. Freeze struggled to find answers for the Rebels inability to win on a consistent basis.

“It’s always difficult to go on the road in this conference; you saw that tonight,” Freeze said. “When you’re building a program that is trying to compete in the SEC week in and week out, which we are doing, you’ve got to see the big picture. It’s hard to right now, sitting here. It’s hard for the kids in the locker room right now, but we have had the ability to bounce back and go compete again. I expect nothing less.” 

Ole Miss at LSU

With no time to rest, the Rebels traveled to Baton Rouge to take on the LSU Tigers. Tiger RB Leonard Fournette was fresh off an ankle injury and ready to prove he was back and better than ever. He did just that against the Rebels defense, which ranked last in the SEC. Fournette ran for 284 yards on just 16 carries with three touchdowns, with his shortest TD run of the night being 59 yards. The highlight of the night was a stiff arm of freshman safety Deontay Anderson, which was the result of someone actually being in Fournette’s way for once. The Rebel offense kept them in this one for as long as they could, but the Tigers offense proved to be too much to handle as the Rebels dropped their second straight SEC road game. Sitting at 3-4, the 38-21 final seemed much larger as the Rebels season began to slip away.

Auburn vs Ole Miss 

The next game saw the Rebels facing a Tiger team that ran for over 300 yards with one man contributing 236 yards. If that sounds like your accidentally reading about the LSU game again, that’s unfortunately not the case. The Auburn Tigers came to town to face the reeling Rebels on Halloween weekend. Auburn RB Kamryn Pettway had a career night, and the Auburn rushing attack dominated the game. Once again the Rebels kept pace, but a dropped TD by Evan Engram was followed by an INT that all but sealed an Auburn victory. If Engram made the catch, the Rebels would’ve taken the lead late in the 4th, but once again the Rebels mistakes cost them when it mattered the most. A 40-29 loss dropped the Rebels to 3-5 and 1-4 in SEC, and put bowl eligibility in question with three SEC matchups remaining. Freeze posed questions after the game that he, unfortunately, had no true answers for.

“I think any time you set a vision for the program and that vision isn’t being met, you have to look at the stats,” Freeze said. “You have to look at the indicators at what the issues are. There is an issue there. So it is either the people or the process. It is my job to try to figure out, is it a combination? Is it the people? Will recruiting fix it? Do we need to work on our communication? I assure you there is no give-up on this staff or on us trying to address it. We faced two really good rushing teams the last two weeks.” 

Georgia Southern vs. Ole Miss

Georgia Southern came to town for what should’ve been an easy win, despite the Rebels struggles in weeks past. The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 21-10 lead, leaving the somewhat diminished crowd shocked. The Rebels climbed their way back into the lead at halftime and fans thought that was the end of the drama. Defensive leader John Youngblood was injured early in the game, and in the 3rd quarter, the Rebels saw their worst fear come true. Chad Kelly left the game limping, and all of a sudden the final score wasn’t what mattered most. A torn ACL ended Kelly’s season, bringing up the biggest debate Rebel Nation has seen in recent history. Freeze talked about his hesitation to play Patterson for the remainder of the season after Kelly went down.

“I just think you have to look at the whole scenario for what’s best for individuals and what’s best for the team and how many games are left, and if you want his first start to be in front of 115,000 at A&M or the first game next year,” Freeze said.

Ole Miss at Texas A&M

To take 5-star QB Shea Patterson’s redshirt away or roll with sophomore Jason Pellerin, that was the question. The answer was the beginning of the Shea Patterson era; the true freshman was set to lead the Rebels into one of college football’s biggest stadiums, Kyle Field. Texas A&M came in after suffering a loss that knocked them out of the playoff conversation, and the Rebels came in needing two wins to become bowl eligible. A rocky start for the freshman didn’t have Rebel Nation holding their breath, as the Aggies led 21-6 entering the fourth quarter. What happened next was an electrifying comeback, and the college football world being set ablaze by a true freshman. The Shea Patterson era had begun, and it was supposed to be smooth sailing from there on out. Unfortunately for Rebel fans, the comeback didn’t fix their problems on defense, in the running game or injuries on the offensive line..it masked them.

Ole Miss at Vanderbilt 

A trip to Nashville to take on the Commodores gave the Rebels a chance to lock up a trip to a bowl game before the Egg Bowl, and after taking a 10-0 lead, it seemed that they would do just that. Drops by receivers stalled the Rebel offense and didn’t allow Patterson to get in any type of rhythm as the game progressed. The defense allowed the Commodores to achieve their highest offense efficiency of the season, and couldn’t keep them out of the end zone. Patterson looked more like a true freshman in the late stages of the game, missing open throws and leaving the pocket at the first sign of trouble. A somewhat surprising 38-17 loss put the Rebels in a win or go home situation heading into the Egg Bowl.

“It’s frustrating and the silver lining, if there is one, is that we get to go to the Egg Bowl next week at home to get bowl eligible, and that’s where our focus will turn,” Freeze said after the game.

Egg Bowl 

Even in a disappointing season, an Egg Bowl win goes a long way. The Rebels were playing a chance to win their third straight in the rivalry and become bowl eligible in the process. The Bulldogs wanted to spoil the party, and they did just that. Dave Wommack’s retirement announcement before the game provided the perfect analogy for the Rebels’ defensive gameplan. Poor tackling, communication and effort gave way to the Bulldogs scoring the most points by either team in the Egg Bowl since 1905. The Rebel offense wasn’t able to convert in the red zone, settling for field goals, and turning the ball over were momentum killers that the Rebels couldn’t recover from. One team wanted it more than the other, and that’s the team that won the day. The 55-20 was a fitting end to a season that didn’t go according to plan.

“It stinks. It is disappointing,” Freeze said. “I hate it for our fans, university, seniors and for everyone involved in our program, and our supporters. It’s not the way you want to end the season. I have been in five of these, and I hate the feeling that I have in the two losses that we have had. We have a lot of work to do to get back to where we want to be, starting in the offseason and in spring ball for sure, but tonight was a disappointing night.” 

Bowl Game

Well…. this is awkward. 

The Rebels ended the season 5-7 overall, their worst record in the Hugh Freeze era. At just 2-6 in the SEC, the Rebels finished at the bottom of the SEC West, and miss out on a bowl for the first time under Freeze. Just one year removed from a dominant Sugar Bowl win, not many predicted the Rebels would hit rock bottom. Every season has adversity, and it is dealt with in different ways. This team will be remembered for what could’ve been, the same team that was up by 21 on FSU and Alabama is the same team that lost to Vanderbilt by 21, and Mississippi State by 35. The lows outnumbered the highs by a landslide in 2016, but the good news is come September 2, 2017, when the Rebels kick off a new season, everyone is 0-0, and there’s no doubt they’ll have a chip on their shoulder. 

Steven Gagliano is a writer for HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at steven.gagliano@hottytoddy.com. 

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