I wrote a column on Oct. 16, 2015 about how being in the Ole Miss fandom was like dating a crazy person. It only took one day to prove that notion, as the crazy person showed up with a metaphorical butcher knife in Memphis the next day.
But there are a few realities that we need to accept. Memphis is a very good football team. They will likely go undefeated. They will probably play in an Access Bowl. Paxton Lynch will be an NFL quarterback one day. Memphis was better than Ole Miss that day.
That doesn’t negate the fact that Ole Miss was better than Memphis.
They still are.
Vegas, the people who actually have a financial claim in this type of thing, agrees with me. Ole Miss played badly that day. It tends to happen with 18-22 year olds.
However, when Ole Miss walked off the field at the Liberty Bowl, the national championship hopes that were talked about earlier in the year were hanging by a thread.
(Jaylen Walton runs the ball down the field in the Texas A&M game last Saturday | Cameron Brooks)
The question quickly became, “How will this team respond?”
On Saturday night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, they answered that question in glorious fashion.
Ole Miss dominated Texas A&M from the time that Nathan Noble kicked the ball off until Chad Kelly took a knee to run the clock out. The final score read 23-3, but the Aggies may as well not even have showed up to Oxford.
For the first time all season, Ole Miss’ defense dominated a quality opponent.
Sorry, UT Martin and Fresno State.
Coming into the game, Texas A&M quarterback Kyle Allen was regarded as one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC. On Saturday, the Rebels made Allen look miserable. Allen was 0-12 passing in the third quarter. Allen’s last 20 passes didn’t result in positive yardage. Sure, Allen was horrific, but do not discredit the amount of pressure he faced in the backfield from a defensive line that didn’t have the services of Robert Nkemdiche. Texas A&M finished with 192 total yards of offense.
On offense, Ole Miss ran the ball consistently against a quality opponent for the first time all season. The Rebels rushed for 230 yards, 190 more than they rushed for against Memphis.
It’s amazing what happens when an All-American left tackle— Laremy Tunsil— returns. It’s amazing what moving a solid left tackle to right tackle — Fahn Cooper—. does to improve a running game.
The reality was that Saturday night’s game was going to prove as a turning point in the Rebels’ season, no matter what.
Sure, if Ole Miss had lost, there would have been plenty of things to fight for. The ability to avenge last year’s LSU and Auburn losses would still have been on the table. A loss Saturday would have pretty much ended any chance the Rebels had in winning the SEC, something that was a clear-cut goal for this Rebel team with superstars likely headed to the NFL after this season.
The Rebels won and kept their SEC Championship hopes alive. Everything that this Rebel team set out to accomplish is still in front of them. Ole Miss has a four-game season remaining. They most likely must be perfect if they are to win the SEC West.
After the girl with the butcher knife showed up in Memphis, that’s really all they can ask for.
