The brutal part of the schedule is almost over for Ole Miss. The Rebels (3-3, 1-3 Southeastern Conference) have lost three straight, and they get a date at home with No. 6 LSU on Saturday.
“A difficult stretch we’ve had,” Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze said Monday in his weekly press conference. “We’ve gotten beaten by the No. 1 team, No. 6 team, No. 24 team, and we have another top-10 team coming in this week. It’s been arguably the toughest stretch of games that I can recall seeing since 2006.
“It’s been a great challenge. It’s been one where we’ve learned quite a bit about ourselves. I continue to be extremely proud of the way our kids compete and prepare. It was great being back home in front of our home crowd. It definitely is a boost for our kids and raises our level. We’re going to need that for the remainder of the year.”
The Rebels will get to face another explosive offense this weekend in LSU, but it won’t be the same type of offense that Texas A&M presented this past weekend.
The Tigers are traditional-style offense that can make plays in both the air and on the ground. LSU is led by running back Jeremy Hill on the ground and has a stable of backs they can put in behind him, but what is making the LSU offense even more effective this season is the play of quarterback Zach Mettenberger.
Mettenberger has thrown for 1,890 yards and 15 touchdowns this season with just two interceptions. He had just 12 touchdown passes all of last year.
“He was good, and he was certainly good in our game last year, but he certainly has improved,” Freeze said of Mettenberger. “The offensive mentality has changed a bit. They’re certainly playing their strengths of winning one-on-one matchups to the outside. You have to load the box to stop the run.
“Mettenberger isn’t missing many open receivers when he has them. He’s making very, very good throws and managing the game extremely well. He’s one of the better guys we’ve faced this year.”
Focusing on the big goal
After Ole Miss’ loss this past Saturday, Freeze was seen by video cameras to be in an exchange with a fan as Freeze was walking off the field. Monday he talked about the frustration levels of himself, his team and the fan base and where they should look going forward.
“I will defend our program. I will defend our kids. I will defend my family. If I offended anyone, I’m certainly sorry,” Freeze said. “I don’t think I was disrespectful to anyone. I just got my point across.
“The greatest thing about Ole Miss is family. That is our selling point. It is working. Every time a recruit comes on this campus with their family, we have a chance to get them because the strongest thing we have is family. I have disagreements with my family. There is a way to go about those things. The greatest thing about family is you can have a disagreement and move past it. There’s no question in my mind that everyone in the Ole Miss family wants us to get to a certain spot. We are on the way.”
Another night game
The SEC announced the television times for the games of Oct. 26, and Ole Miss’ homecoming game with Idaho is set for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff on CSS.
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