Head coach Hugh Freeze waits to congratulate players after an interception during the first half of the game against Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, Saturday. DM Photo | Thomas Graning
The Rebels’ recent victory over Texas A&M was huge for the Ole Miss football program. The Rebels are now bowl eligible for the third straight year and have had their first 6-0 start since 1962. Head coach Hugh Freeze spoke to the media about the win and looked ahead to the team’s next opponent as well.
“It was a great atmosphere to play in at Kyle Field. I’m really, really pleased with the way our kids prepared and the way they handled the environment and obviously, the start we got,” Freeze said. “We were very, very solid defensively for the better part of three-and-a-half quarters. We asked them to take too many snaps there in the second half. We didn’t play quite with the same passion at the end of the game.
“To go in there and set the tone early, play a sound game and win the turnover battle and protect the football was vital for us,” Freeze said. “We played well enough offensively to manage the game and let our defense win it.”
Despite coming off back-to-back wins over the third and 14th-ranked teams in the nation, Freeze still sees the 3-3 Tennessee Volunteers as a challenge.
“To play back at home against Tennessee is exciting for us. We love playing in front of our home crowd. That team is eerily similar to our journey. They are a very, very talented team,” Freeze said. “They are hungry. It’s one of those scary games that you know they have good enough athletes to beat you.”
Freeze continued.
“The job that Coach (Butch) Jones and his staff have done is really admirable. They are quite talented. They’ve played some really quality teams very, very close,” Freeze said. “I know it’s going to be a tough challenge on Saturday. I’m glad we’re at home and get to play in front of our fans.”
The Tennessee game also presents an interesting matchup for senior quarterback Bo Wallace, who grew up in Pulaski, Tennessee.
“It’s no secret that I grew up loving the Vols. I had on my orange every Saturday. It’s going to be fun getting to play them,” Wallace said. “Where we’re at right now, it’s just the next team that we play. We have to go out and perform to end the season the way that we want to.”
Freeze also addressed a picture that’s been going around the Internet that features sophomore defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche using a bong and talked about the team’s drug testing policies.
“I’m very aware of the picture. I’m also aware of when it was taken and where it was taken. We test our entire team on our drug testing policing at the beginning of the season. Then we have our other follow-up tests throughout the course of the year,” Freeze said. “I’m super confident that we handle each one the same. We enforce our policy very consistently. There’s not one time that I do not always bring in our athletic director and talk about and make sure we’re being very consistent in that.
“Our kids make social decisions all the time, just like my kids do, and I’ve made mistakes. We are going to help them navigate life, but we’re going to hold them accountable for actions that are not what we want representing our university or program or themselves,” Freeze said. “I’m very confident that we deal with all of them in the same manner. We will continue to do that.”
