Game Preview: Ole Miss vs. Alabama

OXFORD, Miss. The Ole Miss Rebels face their first SEC Western Division foe Saturday as the Alabama Crimson Tide. Kickoff is set for 11:30 a.m. CT, and the game will be televised by Lincoln Financial Sports.

Rebel Sports Marketing is encouraging fans to wear blue to the game as part of the Beat Bama Blue’ promotion. The Rebel Shop has $10 blue t-shirts at locations on campus, and all Ole Miss blue merchandise is on sale.

“I think that it is going to be very exciting on campus,” said Ole Miss head coach Ed Orgeron. “I know our team is going to be fired up. I know we will be ready to play our best against Alabama. We are looking forward to that challenge.”

The last two encounters between Ole Miss and Alabama have been decided on the final play in three-point wins for the Tide. First-year UA head coach Nick Saban also saw some tight battles with the Rebels during his five seasons at LSU, as the average margin of victory was 5.8 points with an average of 2.3 points in the final three meetings.

Alabama (4-2, 2-1 SEC), who has risen as high as 16th in the polls, snapped a two-game losing streak by defeating Houston 30-24 in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. Alabama opened the season with wins over Western Carolina, Vanderbilt and No. 16 Arkansas, before falling to Georgia and Florida State in consecutive weeks.

Freshman running back Terry Grant leads the Tide ground game with 88.5 yards per game and five TDs and is a three-time SEC Freshman of the Week honoree. Junior quarterback John Parker Wilson has completed 115 of his 213 attempts for 1,248 yards, and senior D.J. Hall, who is the Tide’s all-time leading receiver, has 26 receptions for 439 yards and three TDs this season

Ole Miss (1-4, 0-3) also returned to the win column Saturday, ending a four-game skid with a 24-0 homecoming triumph over Louisiana Tech. It marked the Rebels’ biggest win under Orgeron, and their first shutout since a 31-0 win at Mississippi State in the 2003 regular-season finale.

The Ole Miss offense continues to look to senior leaders BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Seth Adams. At his current average of 95.0 rushing yards per game, Green-Ellis is set to finish with 1,140 yards, which would be the second-highest single-season total in school history. Meanwhile. Adams is currently on pace to throw for 2,715 yards, which would be the fourth-highest tally ever by a Rebel and most by a player other than Eli Manning.

Defensively, junior linebacker Ashlee Palmer is turning in an impressive first season in the Red and Blue. A JUCO transfer from Compton, Calif., Palmer is second in the SEC in tackles (9.8 per game) and is coming off a career-best 15-stop performance against Louisiana Tech. He has posted 12 or more tackles in three games and is also tied for the team-lead in pass break-ups with four.

This meeting will be the 55th all-time between Ole Miss and Alabama dating back to 1894. The Crimson Tide holds a 43-9-2 advantage in the series, including a 44-8-2 lead on-the-field. Ole Miss received a win by forfeit for Alabama’s 19-14 victory in 1993.

Ole Miss has won two of the last three Oxford encounters with Alabama, although the Tide enjoys a 5-2 on-the-field edge at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

Related News

Related Videos