With the 2014 Ole Miss football season coming close to the tail end of the regular season, the team is preparing to take on the 5-5 Arkansas Razorbacks in what will be their last game before their regular season finale against Mississippi State.
Head coach Hugh Freeze spoke to the media about how the team was getting ready for the tough matchup.
“The kids are preparing like they have all year. I think we will be ready to give it a good effort come Saturday against a good football team,” Freeze said. “(That’s a) fun atmosphere to play in, and I think our kids understand that we have to go earn it, and I’m pleased with how they prepared this week.”
Not even Freeze expected his team would have the improbable eight win season they have had thus far.
“My plan that I had, that I actually presented in my interview (for the head coaching position), was we’d be going to (our first) bowl game this year, and that was kind of the goal: to be very competitive and find a way to get enough wins to go to a bowl game,” Freeze said. “That was the original plan, but we’re excited that it didn’t work out.”
But in order for the team to continue its impressive run, Ole Miss has to travel to Fayetteville and take on the Razorbacks, who boast an impressive run defense, which is ranked 22nd in the nation and only gives up 126 yards per game.
“It’s tough to run on these guys, but we certainly have to try to attempt to establish a run game in every game,” Freeze said. “This will be no exception. We’ll certainly give it a go.”
Arkansas’s defensive line has a lot to do with how stingy their run defense is.
Offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator Matt Luke discussed what the Rebels would be facing on Saturday.
“They are very talented. When we got done playing them last year after watching the tape, I thought (sophomore defensive tackle Darius) Philon and (senior defensive end Trey) Flowers were probably as good of a duo as anybody in the conference last year,” Luke said. “Obviously, another year older and a year better, and they present a lot of challenges. They play really hard, and they are very talented and fast twitch. We just have a lot of respect for those guys and the way they play, so we are going to have to play really well to give ourselves a chance, especially one the road.”
The offensive line is receiving a huge boost, however, as star sophomore left tackle Laremy Tunsil should be making his return after injuring his bicep against LSU and missing the Auburn and Presbyterian games.
“I’m sure he’s anxious to get back out there. He’s practiced well and he’s tested (his bicep) out,” Luke said. “He’s done everything, so I’ll look for him to be, if not 100 percent, pretty close to it.”
Also returning to the field will be freshman starting kicker Gary Wunderlich.
“He looks good this week,” Freeze said. “I think it was good for us to hold him out for those two weeks. I think he’s ready to go.”
