Hugh Freeze offered a wry smile on Wednesday when he was asked about his team being in the middle of a rugged September schedule. One that has the Rebels facing the No. 1 and 2 ranked teams in the country in the first three weeks.
“It’s not much fun for sure,” Freeze said. “The Saturdays are. We’ll be excited to compete this Saturday but you know that the games can go either way.”
Here Ole Miss sits, two weeks removed from having the wind knocked out of them in a lopsided second half on Labor Day night against Florida Sate, and just a couple of days away from facing top-ranked Alabama to open SEC play. The mental toll is definitely taxing, but has it felt a physical one?
“No doubt,” Freeze said. “And with us already having suffered some injuries that have hurt us, this stretch is very critical.”
Freeze is right on both fronts. His group has lost its best cover corner in Ken Webster, a big red zone target in D.K. Metcalf and a running back in Eric Swinney among others.
“You sure hope we come out of this stretch without anymore than we’ve already suffered. No question. It can prepare you or take a toll on you,” Freeze said.
Here Ole Miss sits, poised to hit the back end of the gauntlet that this month of September has been. Facing a game that the program for the last two years has used as a springboard to hurl itself into the national spotlight. But this year the feeling leading in seems different.
Coach Hugh Freeze speaks at Monday’s presser about this week game against Alabama. (Photo by Ariel Cobbert)
“We typically are as healthy as you can be. This year is a little different. We have lost three really good players and you don’t like that; that has been one of the reasons,” Freeze said.
Here Ole Miss sits, trying to find an identity with a team hungry for redemption waiting at the other end.
“Still a little early, I think the first half of Florida State we looked like one of the nation’s top 10 teams and the second half not so much,” Freeze said. “It is hard to tell about last week. I felt like we took care of business offensively, did what we needed to do defensively on a short week to win.”
The feel leading into this game simply isn’t the same as the last two years. Ole Miss was ready to come into the spotlight in 2014 and 2015, but this year it began the season in limelight and was pushed out of it. This Saturday is an opportunity to get back in it.
“To play the No. 1 team in the country at our home, it is an opportunity that I relish,” Freeze said. “I love the attitude we had yesterday and we are excited about this great challenge.”
The schematic questions are still there like the other games. Can Ole Miss put pressure on a quarterback in his first true road game? Will its young secondary give it enough to win the game? Can it find any semblance of a rushing attack against a strong Crimson Tide front seven?
It will all be answered this weekend in a game that will be very telling in terms of where this program stands.
“We played No. 2 Florida State very well for a half and you’ve got to finish those games,” Freeze said. “This is another measuring stick for sure.”
Here Ole Miss sits, with everything to play for and everything still in its control. It will have its maturity tested as well as its depth, but those two things are required to win big time college football games.
“You don’t have much room for error,” Freeze said. “And you put in there the fact that you lost some key people – that’s a tall challenge.”
