Game Preview: Ole Miss vs. Louisiana Tech

By Ben Garrett

OleMissSports.com Insider

OXFORD, Miss. - Following a tough road loss to Georgia, the Ole Miss Rebels are set to take on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Saturday in the team’s 80thannual Homecoming game. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. CST inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field.

“Louisiana Tech is a good football program,” said Rebel head coach Ed Orgeron. “I am very familiar with them. I played against them and have coached against them. I know a lot of the coaches there.

“Louisiana Tech has traditionally been a great passing team, but they have a good running back in Patrick Jackson. I know their staff is fired up and ready to play Ole Miss. I have a lot of respect for what they do in their program.”

Orgeron is not the only Rebel coach familiar with the Bulldogs, as three members of the Ole Miss staff have been assistants at Tech. Rebel defensive Coordinator John Thompson served in the same capacity for the Bulldogs from 1990-91 and helped the Tech defense rank No. 8 in rushing defense, 19th in scoring defense and 23rd in total defense during the 1991 season.

Ole Miss offensive Coordinator Dan Werner worked as the running backs and wide receivers coach at Louisiana Tech from 1991-94 and was on the sideline for the last meeting between the two schools in 1992. In addition, Rebel tight ends coach Tony Hughes coached the Bulldog outside linebackers and defensive backs from 2003-05.

After winning their season opener, the Bulldogs (1-3) are playing their third straight road game and looking to snap a three-game skid. The Tech offense is averaging 21.0 points and 303.8 yards per game.

Second-year starting quarterback Zac Champion has completed 74-of-138 passes for 584 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions in his senior season. Jackson, a junior tailaback, is the leading rusher with 361 yards on 80 carries with three TDs, while sophomore Daniel Porter has 171 yards on 26 rushes with a pair of scores.

For Ole Miss (1-4), senior signal-caller Seth Adams is currently on pace to throw for 2,856 yards, which would be the fourth-highest single-season total in school history and most by a player other than Eli Manning.

Adams ranks fourth in the SEC in total offense (237.6 ypg), passing average (238.0 ypg) and passing efficiency (137.9). He has four 200-yard passing outings, including his 228-yard performance against Georgia, and two 300-yard games.

With his 45-yard touchdown reception against Georgia, junior wide receiver Mike Wallace has a TD catch in four consecutive games, which marks the longest such streak since Roell Preston pulled down a score in five straight from 1993 into 1994.

Wallace’s touchdown catch marked his fifth of 40 or more yards this season. The New Orleans native has been the SEC’s best deep threat, leading the league in yards per reception (24.3) and ranking third in receiving yards per game (92.4).

The Ole Miss defense continues to boast two of the SEC’s top tacklers in junior DB Jamarca Sanford (third at 9.0 tpg) and junior LB Ashlee Palmer (fourth at 8.8 tpg). In addition, the duo shares the team lead in pass breakups with four apiece.

Louisiana Tech is coached by Derek Dooley, who is in his first season as the team’s head coach. The son of legendary Georgia leader Vince Dooley, Derek has spent the last seven years as an assistant under Nick Saban at LSU and with the Miami Dolphins.

The Rebels own a 7-1 lead in the series, with all eight encounters staged in Oxford. The lone series win for the Bulldogs was in 1946, and this is only the third meeting since that game.

Ole Miss is 64-13-2 all-time in Homecoming games and is riding a 10-game win streak on Homecoming.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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