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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Football to Take on Alabama in SEC Matchup
6/21/1999 | Football
October 5, 1998
OXFORD, Miss. -- The Ole Miss Rebels will take its three-game winning streak to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide. Kick-off at Bryant-Denny Stadium is set for 2:00 p.m.
The game can be heard on the Ole Miss Radio Network along its 39 affiliates across the Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Missouri. "Alabama is a good football team," said Rebel head coach Tommy Tuberville. "They have excellent players with a lot of team speed. We're are going into a hostile environment on the road for the first time this year. It will be an interesting situation for this young football team." The Rebels, 4-1 overall, 2-1 in the SEC, are coming off a 30-28 victory over South Carolina at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field last Saturday. Ole Miss once again was forced to come from behind to win. Sophomore quarterback Romaro Miller (Shannon, Miss) engineered a late fourth quarter drive, marching the Rebels 65 yards in seven plays, capped off by Deuce McAllister's (Morton, Miss.) five-yard run to regain the lead for good with 2:48 remaining. The game remained in doubt until the final minute as South Carolina had one last shot to win. Countrey Leavitt, though, missed on a 52-yard field goal to hand the win to the Rebels. "Our offensive line was a big key for us being able to move the ball against South Carolina," said Tuberville. "Romaro Miller made some excellent plays. He's becoming a better quarterback with each game. He's learning to stay in the pocket, and it showed on a couple of passes, especially the touchdown pass to Grant Heard."
Miller was 13-of-20 for 242 yards and a touchdown and no interceptions, while running back Joe Gunn (Amory, Miss) and wide receiver Ken Lucas (Cleveland, Miss.) rushed for 68 yards apiece to lead the Rebels. Alabama enters the game at 2-2 overall, 1-2 in conference play after a 16-10 home loss to Florida last Saturday. The Crimson Tide managed a season-low 41 yards rushing in the loss. Fifth-year senior quarterback J.D. Phillips was benched last week against Florida after completing just one of four passes and being sacked seven times. He has been demoted to second string this week. Back-up quarterback Andrew Zow replaced Phillips and took a career-high 42 snaps against Florida. Zow completed 12 of 26 passes for 185 yards and one interception. He will be making his first career start against Ole Miss on Saturday. The Crimson Tide is lead by junior tailback Shaun Alexander who has 1,430 yards on 250 rushes and 17 touchdowns. In 24 career games, Alexander has a 59.58 rushing average per game. He had a school record five touchdowns in a 38-31 win over Brigham Young in the season opener. Alexander ran for 206 yards against Vanderbilt on Sept. 12. It was the 10th time in school history that a Tide tailback has broken the 200-barrier. Against Florida, Alexander was held to just 57 yards on 16 carries and no touchdowns. Through four games this season, the Alabama defense has accounted for 18 sacks, despite not having one against Arkansas State on Sept. 26. Bama recorded five sacks against BYU, nine against Vanderbilt, and four against Florida. The Crimson Tide sack-leader this season is linebacker Clint Waggoner with five sacks for -45 yards.
Saturday's match up, which will be the Crimson Tide's homecoming game, will be the 46th meeting between the Rebels and the Tide. Alabama holds a 36-7-2 series lead and a 16-1 edge in games played in Tuscaloosa. Ole Miss' lone win at Alabama came on the Tide's homecoming game in 1988 when the Rebels defeated the Tide 22-12.
Since then Alabama has won the last seven meetings, with the exception of the 1993 win the Tide was forced to forfeit due to NCAA sanctions. Although the Rebels are familiar with the Crimson Tide, coach Tuberville thinks they will see a new Alabama team this weekend. "Alabama is a lot different this year. They have really changed their philosophy on offense. They have gone to a more wide-open attack. It's not the same type of offense we faced last year with the two-back running game and play action. They have really opened it up."
