Vassallo: Similarities Abound Between Rebels Last Season, Today

The previous two football seasons have more in common for the Ole Miss Rebels than first meets the eye.
To start out, the 2013 season started and ended in the same city (Nashville) with the Rebels winning both games — 4 points over Vanderbilt and 8 over Georgia Tech. This season started and stops in Atlanta with Ole Miss already having won the first contest by 22 over Boise State.
Last season, we faced 9 bowl teams (counting Georgia Tech). This season, we will have faced 11 counting TCU. In 2013, we defeated four of these teams; this year, we defeated seven of these bowl bound teams with the Horn Frogs possibly becoming No. 8 which would double last season’s harvest!
In 2013 as well as 2014, we suffered defeat to the hand of Auburn. On the other side of the coin, we defeated Vanderbilt both years. We split with Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, Arkansas, the combine of Missouri/Tennessee and MSU. Our non-conference slate reflected eight different opponents for the two years.
All in all, both years were successful. The high point of the 2013 was definitely the large and unexpected home win over LSU. The high point of the 2014 season was definitely the large and (somewhat) expected home win over Alabama. Both victories were huge in the Hugh Freeze journey to excellence. The two biggest disappointments in these two seasons were without a doubt the OT loss in Starkville (2013) and either the LSU or Auburn contests this year. A victory over LSU would have reflected an 8-0 worksheet at the time!
As we look forward to New Year’s Eve, TCU presents our most difficult challenge of the year. Here’s why:

• The Horn Frogs are 11-1; No. 6 in the nation; seventh in passing; second in points scored (46.8 avg.) and 16th in scoring defense.
• They faced 7 bowl teams with the only L coming at the hands of No. 5 Baylor.
• TCU defeated Texas by 38 points and scored more points (82) against Texas Tech than Texas and Oklahoma combined!
• They defeated Minnesota 30-7; Oklahoma 37-33; Oklahoma State 42-9; and Kansas State 41-20 (all four of these teams are headed to bowl games.)

For my friends and acquaintances who keep telling me to ignore the fact we’re a 3 point underdog and believe this is going to be a walk through the Ft. Worth park, I ain’t buying it. I hope they’re right, but let’s don’t fall into this philosophy.
Don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind’s made up!

Steve Vassallo is a HottyToddy.com contributor. Steve writes on Ole Miss athletics, Oxford business, politics and other subjects. He is an Ole Miss grad and former radio announcer for the basketball team. In addition, he is a certified economic and community developer and currently, a highly successful leader in the real estate business with Premier Properties of Oxford.You can contact Steve at sovassallo@gmail.com or call him at 985-852-7745.