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The University of Mississippi Athletics
GAMEDAY PREVIEW: No. 14 Ole Miss vs. Fresno State
9/12/2015 | Football
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TV Network: ESPN2 | Ole Miss Radio Network: (Sirius 157, XM 191)WATCH | LISTENOXFORD, Miss. - The 14th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels host the Fresno State Bulldogs after winning their season opener against UT Martin 76-3 last week. Game time is 2:30 p.m., televised by ESPN2.
The Rebels (1-0, 0-0 SEC) will look to continue their nonconference regular-season success under head coach Hugh Freeze, who is 12-1 in those games.
The Bulldogs (1-0, 0-0 MWC) are coming off a 34-13 win against Abilene Christian. Fresno State is looking for its first ever win against an SEC team and looking to knock off a top-25 ranked opponent for the first time since 2004.
"From my short time in San Jose, one thing was evident to me from the kids at Fresno that play for Coach DeRuyter: they love challenges," said Freeze. "They love playing in environments against schools people would consider the bigger schools … He is a great guy. He does a really nice job coaching the defense."
The Bulldogs look to continue their solid start to the season. Fresno State running back Marteze Waller leads the offense. The Georgia native ranks No. 7 among all active FBS players in career rushing yards (2,342) and No. 9 in career yards per carry (5.7).
"They have five returning starters on both sides," Freeze said. "Offensively they spread you out all over the field with tempo, which will be a great challenge for us to be prepared for that. It will be a better test for us this Saturday to judge exactly where we are."
The Fresno State defense had an impressive debut, only allowing 34 rushing yards and 247 total yards in its season opener. The Bulldogs also recorded five sacks and two interceptions in their victory. Fresno State is led by senior linebacker Kyrie Wilson, who tops the team with more than 200 career tackles.
"They are a 3-3 multiple defense that gives you a lot of problems," said Freeze. "They can come from a lot of different areas."
They will be tested by the Ole Miss offense, which put up 662 total yards on the UT Martin Skyhawks, the second-highest total in school history. They did this without All-SEC left tackle Laremy Tunsil.
The quarterbacks look to stay hot, as Chad Kelly, Ryan Buchanan and DeVante Kincade all saw playing time and threw at least one touchdown pass in the season opener. Freeze hopes their success continues into week two. A definite starter still has not been announced.
"Time will tell. I like all three of them," Freeze said. "It wouldn't surprise me if I had a package for all three, and they really zone in and work on that package that week. I hope that they would know the answers to whatever that package is that they would have, not to say they wouldn't get reps with the others, because they never know when they will be called upon. I tell them all the time to prepare for your opportunity, even if it doesn't come. You prepare for it, and I know they will. I wouldn't hesitate to play any of them."
Meanwhile, wide receiver Laquon Treadwell had a solid start as he stepped on the field for the first time since his lower leg injury in the Auburn game last year. He caught four balls for 44 yards last Saturday. Freeze hopes he continues to improve.
"I think he would be the first to tell you that he was a little rusty. He had a couple balls that he typically would catch and he didn't. I was just like the crowd, excited to see his first catch, tackle and bounce back up and play the next play. I think he just needed that. And whether or not I prepared him adequately to play the game probably could be questioned. I question myself on that. But I'm glad he's healthy and ready to go now."
This will be the third time the two teams have met. The first meeting was a 55-38 win for the Rebels in Oxford in 2010. They met again in 2011 in Fresno, which resulted in a 38-28 road victory for Ole Miss. They will look to finish the two-for-one series against the Bulldogs with a perfect record.
