Tide set for clash with Rebels
By Staff
The University of Alabama football team travels to Oxford today in a battle of ranked Southeastern Conference West Division opponents.
This game had quite a bit of preseason hype as many fans felt one of these two teams would win the division, but the buzz has died down some following Ole Miss' loss at South Carolina a few weeks ago.
Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said the loss was a unifying factor for his team.
"You're going to get knocked down, but you have to get back up," Nutt said.
The Rebels, ranked 20th, responded to the loss by dominating Vanderbilt last week. Nutt said that win reenergized the team and was the dose of medicine it needed heading into the Alabama game.
The Crimson Tide, ranked third, will be the toughest and most balanced opponent the Rebels have faced all season.
"They've got so much more balance this year," Nutt said. "I feel like the backs are better and the quarterback is as good, if not better. You always have to be aware of Julio Jones, but you better worry about those backs too."
Tide running back Mark Ingram is averaging 97.4 rushing yards per game with six touchdowns while teammate Trent Richardson is averaging 60.8 yards and four touchdowns.
Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy is averaging 217.2 passing yards per game and has completed 65.6 percent of his passes while throwing nine touchdowns and only one interception.
Leading the Rebel defense will be linebacker Patrick Trahan, who recorded 11 tackles, including a pair of sacks, against Vanderbilt last week. Defensive end Kentrell Lockett leads the Rebels with 4.5 tackles for a loss and has a team-high three sacks and five quarterback hurries.
Johnny Brown is ranked 11th in the SEC with an average of 7.2 tackles per game.
Of course the Rebels will also have to contend with the Tide defense.
The Crimson Tide is the best in the SEC in rushing defense and second in total defense.
Current SEC Defensive Player of the Week Rolando McClain has a team-high 35 tackles and is one of four players with at least four tackles for a loss.
The Tide is ranked 19th nationally in tackles for a loss with an average of 7.4 per game and 11th nationally in sacks with an average of three per game.
Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead has completed at least one touchdown pass in his last 13 games, including two to receiver Shay Hodge last week. Hodge is second on the Rebels' all-time touchdown scoring list with 17.
This game could be decided by how well the teams play in the red zone.
Ole Miss leads the SEC in both red zone offense and red zone defense. The Rebels have scored 12 touchdowns on 14 trips to the red zone this season while Alabama has allowed its opponents to score touchdowns on four of six red zone possessions – the second worst red zone defense in the SEC.
The Rebel defense has allowed its opponents to score only four touchdowns on 14 trips to the red zone. Alabama has scored 15 touchdowns in 27 red zone possessions – seventh in the SEC.
This could be a tough game for the Crimson Tide. Alabama has won every game in the series since 2003, but have won each of the last three meetings by only four points each.
This could be the year Ole Miss finally gets over the hump. They have what many consider the best team in Oxford in several years.
Alabama coach Nick Saban isn't overlooking them.
"There's a lot of quality teams in our league as well as in our division," Saban said. "There's nobody in our division that couldn't beat somebody that they played. It really talks a lot about the parity and quality of the programs."
