Ag Football Preview: Ole Miss

This year's Ole Miss squad is a tough one to wrap my head around.  Here is their schedule thus far:

• W 49-27 v. Central Arkansas
• W 28-10 v. UTEP
• L 66-31 v. texas
• W 39-0 at Tulane
• L 33-14 at Alabama

How do you lose that badly, at home, to a texas squad that hasn't shown that they can score like that in any game other than that game.....and then turnaround and play 'Bama in Tuscaloosa in a relatively close affair.

The biggest difference between those games was how their rush defense played.  The horns ran all over them for 350 yards but then two weeks later they held 'Bama, who has 5 future NFLers on their OL and two freakishly talented RBs, to just 125 yards.

This is a spread zone read offense so our DEs are going to be a huge key in this game (go get'em DaMontre!).  The Rebel Black Bears have two QBs, but Bo Wallace has been starting.  He is 70-for-112 for 840 yards and 7 TD/6 IN.  He can run a little bit but if they bring in Barry Brunetti that's where we need to watch for it - he has run for 154 yards on 29 carries.

We can get pressure on the QB and cause problems - Wallace has thrown 6 INTs in their last three games ('Bama had 5 sacks and 6 QB hits that caused 3 INTs and texas had 5 sacks and 3 INTs).

On the ground Jeff Scott is their top runner and the little guy has 317 yards on 15 carries and 3 TDs. 
Randall Mackey is a guy that can give us problems - he plays WR and RB (so watch for the end-around) but he QBed the team last year in almost half of their games.  Just be cautious when you see the ball in his hands behind the LOS.

Donte Moncrief is a guy at WR that we're going to need to be careful with.  He is an athletic 6'3" and 216 lbs and lit up the horns for almost 150 yards, but he has had only 3 catches in the two games since then. 

Their top receiver against Tulane had two receptions.

Defensively, how they play the run will be important because we're going to get yards through the air.  If David Ash can thrown for 300+ we're going to get there too.

Should be an interesting game.  In these SEC games that we're favored in, I'm a bit timid to go out and say, "Yeah, we're going to crush them" because every week in the SEC something crazy happens.  Even though the teams at the top are GREAT, there is a level of parity.  Maybe it's because they all have such a long history with each other but it just seems something unexpected happens weekly.

Bottom line: KEEP TURNOVERS IN OUR FAVOR AND WE WIN.

Gig'em and BTHO Ole Miss!  WHOOP!