“Ole Miss – we are certainly looking forward to starting the SEC season”.
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The 19th-ranked Rebels have beaten the top-ranked Tide in back-to-back seasons, including a 43-37 victory past year in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
That’s what Alabama fans are hoping as the Crimson Tide travels to Oxford, Mississippi on Saturday to face Ole Miss. Defensively, these guys are very aggressive and very quick; a very quick, aggressive front and they have a lot of movement, they always have against us.
Arkansas showed they could be a team to be reckoned with.
Playing at his best will become a little easier for Mageo as he becomes more comfortable with the Ole Miss defense. They are very well coached. Barnett started the opener against USC while Hurts started against Western Kentucky. This is Notre Dame players sobbing in the locker room last season after another last-second loss-this time at Stanford-kept them from earning a spot in the playoff.
I haven’t seen Coach Saban blow his top quite so well in a long time and WKU provided him with the flawless platform to prepare Alabama for the task this weekend at Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium. “The best way to get [to the CFP] is to win them all”.
Saban has dropped two straight to Ole Miss, but this year’s team looks like one that should be able to walk into Oxford and hammer home a win. You enter the season with plans to go undefeated and one loss can ruin your season.
Minkah Fitzpatrick, Marlon Humphrey and Eddie Jackson help make up a strong secondary, which is where Ole Miss tight end Evan Engram has noticed the biggest difference with the Crimson Tide’s defense, which has been known for its size and strength in the past.
Kelly led the SEC in passing (310.9 yards per game, 10th in nation), total offense (349.4 ypg, seventh), passing touchdowns (31, ninth), and points responsible for (246, seventh). Taylor spent his first two seasons inside at guard, but coaches like his footwork and athleticism at 329 pounds. Ole Miss has proven it can beat Alabama, yet is still doubted even with the game in Oxford and with a more experienced quarterback. “I’m ready to get down there and start playing”, he said. “But if you think we’re going to line up and rush for 300 yards against this team, that doesn’t happen”. Alabama’s defense has 7 sacks and 3 interceptions through two games. The additions of players such as Robert Nkemdiche, Laquon Treadwell, Laremy Tunsil and others provided the on-field talent that Ole Miss had been lacking in recent years. Now, Alabama is trying to change its approach going into Saturday’s visit to the 19th-ranked Rebels. Working on routes and timing with Kelly paid off in the season opener against Florida State. For what its worth, Nick Saban has never lost to the same team three years in a row.
“We love quarterbacks that take risks”, Alabama defensive end Jonathan Allen said. “With the schedule set up and the way we performed in the first week it is kind of hard to tell exactly who we are yet”.
A second loss in another marquee game would pretty much spell doom.
“You have to believe you can and our kids do”, Freeze said. We are just focusing on playing well. If we all do what we are supposed to do better, that is going to take a lot of pressure off whoever is playing quarterback. You’ve got to use your feet, improvise. But there are also games that could start a chain reaction of chaos.
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The rest of the September 24 schedule of SEC games is: Kent State at Alabama, Noon (SEC Network); Mississippi State at UMass, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN3); Florida at Tennessee, 2:30 p.m. (WCBI); Delaware State at Missouri, 3 p.m.
