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The University of Mississippi Athletics
GAME PREVIEW: Ole Miss vs. Northern Arizona
11/2/2009 | Football
Ole Miss (5-3, 2-3 SEC) enters the weekend following a 33-20 road setback against Auburn. Despite the loss, Ole Miss continues to be one of the top offensive units in the SEC. Ole Miss is averaging 34.4 points per outing over its last 12 games and has reached 500 yards of total offense three times this season, including two of the last three games with 501 vs. UAB and 553 vs. Arkansas. The 553 yards against Arkansas marked the most by a Rebel offense since posting 567 against Wyoming in 2004.
Senior Dexter McCluster has been nearly unstoppable the last two games and rewrote the Rebel record book against Arkansas. He is averaging 154.5 rushing yards and 231.5 all-purpose yards over the last two weeks. With a career-high 22 carries each outing, he recorded his first two 100-yard rushing games and totaled a career-high 186 at Auburn, which is the most by a Rebel since BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran for 226 yards against Missouri in 2007.
McClusters' 79-yard touchdown run Saturday marked the longest rush of his career and the longest by an Ole Miss player since Deuce McAllister galloped 80 yards for a score against Oklahoma in the 1999 Independence Bowl. Against the Razorbacks, McCluster became the first Rebel in the modern era (records dating back to 1965) to top the 100-yard mark in both rushing and receiving. He has jumped to first on the team in rushing with 59.0 yards per game and second in receiving with 27 receptions and 352 yards this season.
On defense, Ole Miss has risen to the top of the SEC in sacks with 23 and a 2.9 per game average, which is tied for first in the league. The Rebels are averaging 3.2 per game over the last six games and posted four against Vanderbilt and three each vs. Arkansas and Auburn. Ole Miss notched a pair against Alabama and was also credited with seven quarterback pressures. Senior defensive end Greg Hardy leads the team with 5.0, and his 0.71 per game average is tied for third in the SEC.
"We have relied on our defense pretty much the whole year," Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt said. "We expect a very high level from them and we want to get back to that."
Northern Arizona (5-3, 4-2 Big Sky) had its four-game win streak snapped after a 27-24 upset at Sacramento State. The NAU offense ranks eighth in the FCS (438.4 ypg) and led by the passing of junior quarterback and former Ole Miss Rebel Michael Herrick. He ranks third in the nation in passing at 309.6 ypg with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions.
The wide receiver duo of Ed Berry and Conrad Meadows are tied for the Big Sky Conference lead in receptions per game and boast 774 and 608 receiving yards, respectively. Senior running back Alex Henderson is adding 96.2 ypg on the ground, which is 15th-best in FCS. The NAU defense is surrendering 26.6 points and 389.2 ypg.
"We have just been watching Northern Arizona this morning and a little bit yesterday," Nutt said. "They do a good job of coaching and have some good athletes on both sides of the ball. Offensively they try to spread you out, throw the ball and mix it up with the run. They just do a good job from special teams, offense and defense. Being at Murray State, I can relate to what their coaches are trying to do and the team that they have. I respect that conference."
Saturday will mark the first ever meeting between Ole Miss and Northern Arizona, who is facing its second FBS foe of the year after falling at Arizona 34-17 in the season opener. The Rebels are 34-6 in their last 40 non-conference games in Oxford and have won seven straight. In addition, Ole Miss is 5-1 following a loss under Nutt.
