Donte Moncrief

Game Preview: Rebels look to keep bowl hopes alive against Auburn

Ole Miss looks to keep bowl dream alive. Photo by Justin Ford

The Ole Miss Rebels have to get over their last game against the Texas A&M Aggies and focus on the Auburn Tigers. The Rebels enter Saturday’s homecoming game in Oxford with a 3-3 record (0-3 in the SEC) and are still in a position to get to the six wins necessary to receive one of the bowl bids that the SEC has this season. Unlike last season, the Rebels expect to win every game this year. The Auburn Tigers enter the game 1-4 (0-3 in the SEC) and are reeling after an embarrassing 24-7 loss last week to the Arkansas Razorbacks. Looking to end a 16-game SEC losing streak, the Rebels have to take better care of the football and contain the War Eagles running attack. This is the 37th meeting between the schools Auburn has a 27-9 advantage and has won the last three meetings.

Here are some keys to an Ole Miss victory on Saturday vs. Auburn:

Better ball management. The Rebels like run an up tempo pace in games to defenses off balance. Bo Wallace has done a great job of mixing the passing and running game up this season. Donte Moncrief needs to be targeted a bigger part of the Rebels offense. Moncrief is 5^th in receiving in the SEC with 75.5 receiving yards a game and is 2^nd in touchdowns with 5 this season.

Continue to dominate the running game. Jeff Scott has been the workhorse in the running game. Scott is averaging 85.0 yards a game and ranks seventh in rushing yards a game in the SEC. The running attack of the Rebels ranks 25^th in the nation with 213 yards per game. Scott has 425 total rushing yards on the season and is on pace to rush for 1,000 yards.

Handle success better. The young Rebels have to learn how to handle success better. They have to put away teams early and not let them hang around like they did against the Aggies and UTEP. The homecoming crowd of the Rebels will give the team energy and the team needs to feed off that energy more.

Good quarterback play. The Rebels have used three quarterbacks in every game this season. Barry Brunetti and Randall Mackey have played and are used at different times of the game to give the team a new look. Bo Wallace threw for 309 yards against the Aggies last week and need to continue to make good decisions.

Control the line of scrimmage. The major key to the game for the Rebels will be controlling line of scrimmage for the offense and the defense. The Rebels were unsuccessful in stopping the Aggies running attack. The Aggies ran for 352 yards last week and the defense was not able to get the Aggies off the field in key situations.

Terry Davis covers Ole Miss football for MemphiSport. Follow him @Terryd515.

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Ole Miss gave Arkansas all they could handle on Saturday, but in the end the Razorbacks prevailed thanks to a late interception by Eric Bennett that sealed a 29-24 victory for Arkansas. Arkansas improves to 6-1 on the year while Ole Miss falls to 2-5 with ten consecutive SEC losses.

The Rebels dominated the time of possession during the first half holding the ball for over twenty two minutes and led 17-7 at halftime. However, a poor third quarter saw Arkansas score 19 unanswered points and the Rebel lead evaporate, “I wish we had that back,” Coach Nutt said, “There were two series on offense and two series on defense that we did not do anything.”

A pivotal play in the third quarter collapse for Ole Miss was a dropped pass by Donte Moncrief. Moncrief finished with 5 catches for 70 yards, but if he catches that particular pass the Rebels have momentum and the ball inside the Razorback’s 30. “I wish Donte would have caught one more ball. He made some great catches today but I wish he would have caught one more ball” stated Coach Nutt referencing the dropped pass.

The Rebels did do some things well on Saturday holding star quarterback Tyler Wilson without a touchdown pass for the first time all season. Ole Miss also managed to contain an explosive Arkansas passing attack allowing only 232 passing yards, almost 100 yards less than the Razorback’s average of 321 passing yards per game.

The play of true freshman Nickolas Brassell is another bright spot for the Rebels in this loss. Brassell gained 93 total yards while playing both sides of the ball. Coach Nutt was very pleased with Brassell’s performance saying, “He is such a tough competitor… We play him about 30 plays on each side and those are not easy plays because you are covering man to man their best receiver, then you come over here to our place (offensive side of the ball) and get the ball on screens, bubbles, reverses and deep balls… He is just an awesome young man.”

While Ole Miss did do some things well their run defense continued to struggle like it has all year long. Led by Dennis Johnson’s 160 rushing yards, Arkansas gained 206 yards on the ground and really pounded the Rebels in the second half.

Coach Nutt’s seat is hotter than it has ever been thanks to a 1-11 record in his last twelve conference games and a 1-2 record against Mississippi State. Next up for Ole Miss is a trip to Auburn to take on the defending national champions. It is do or die time for Ole Miss as the Rebels are only two losses away from missing a bowl for the second consecutive year. They need to turn things around quickly or Coach Nutt will not be back next year.

CJ Hurt covers college football for MemphiSport. Follow him @churtj09 for live tweets from different college games throughout the Mid-South.

Photos by JD Meredith.