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The University of Mississippi Athletics
GAMEDAY PREVIEW: No. 15 Ole Miss vs. UT Martin
9/5/2015 | Football
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TV Network: SEC Network Alternate | Ole Miss Radio Network: (Sirius 134, XM 190)WATCH | LISTEN | BLOG: Time to Take a StandOXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss seeks its fourth straight season-opening victory today as the Rebels begin their 2015 season against UT Martin. The game is scheduled for an 11 a.m. CT kickoff and begins the 100th year of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Hugh Freeze looks to gain his 25th win as the Ole Miss head coach. The Rebels hope for a hot start again after beginning the 2014 season with seven straight wins, which surged them to No. 3 in the College Football Playoff poll. Their regular season resulted in a bid to play in one of the inaugural New Year's Six bowls - the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl - last season.
For UT Martin, Jason Simpson is beginning his 10th year as the Skyhawks' head man. Simpson has led UT Martin to a 58-45 record and a 45-26 mark against Ohio Valley Conference opponents. The Skyhawks are coming off a 6-6 season. They got off to a slow start in 2014 but won five of their final six games.
"They are very balanced on offense," said Freeze of the FCS opponent. "The rush game and pass game were about equal. Anytime you can be about 50/50 on both sides it poses a threat to you defensively. Their quarterback is a very accurate passer and they do a good job of unbalancing sides and playing with some tempo. They line up with different stuff that you don't see every week that can cause you some gap issues. It is a good scheme and he's got good players.
"Coach Simpson has seven guys returning on defense, three in the defensive line and the front seven, and the entire secondary is back. They have good experience on their football team from last year. When they went and played the two SEC opponents last year, I was very impressed with the plan he had and the way those kids competed."
UT Martin visited the Kentucky Wildcats and Mississippi State Bulldogs a year ago. They dropped their season opener, a 59-14 result against UK. UT Martin faced then top-ranked Mississippi State, which resulted in a 45-16 defeat.
The Rebels' Landshark defense returns seven starters and 25 lettermen from a unit that led the nation in scoring defense with 16.0 points per game allowed. They also led the SEC in 2014 with 32 forced turnovers, 22 interceptions and 7.6 tackles for loss per outing. Among the leaders are junior DT Robert Nkemdiche, junior DB Tony Conner, senior DB Mike Hilton and senior DB Trae Elston.
On the offensive side of the ball, transfer QB Chad Kelly seems to have a slight edge in the quarterback competition with sophomores Ryan Buchanan and DeVante Kincade. All three are expected to take snaps for an offense that returns nine starters, including preseason All-Americans TE Evan Engram, OT Laremy Tunsil and WR Laquon Treadwell. Both Tunsil and Treadwell are back from season-ending leg injuries a year ago.
"When a kid goes down with an injury it is heartbreaking," Freeze said of Treadwell. "Then to see him go through the recovery process and then battle back, it is quite rewarding. We haven't tackled him to the ground yet. So, in a strange kind of way, I look forward to seeing him get tackled. Maybe he won't. But I look forward to us throwing it to him for the first time, taking a hit, going to the ground and then bouncing back up and lining up for the next play. I think that will bring a weird kind of smile to my face. I'll know that he's back."
This is the first meeting between the Rebels and Skyhawks. The Rebels are 89-26-5 in season openers and have won 16 of their last 19, including last year's Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game against Boise State, a 35-13 victory.
