Ole Miss threw the ball in the end zone with under a minute left to win, but Alabama holds on and beats the Rebels, 30-24, giving LSU the SEC West and moving Ole Miss to 8-2 on the season. It’s Alabama’s seventh straight win over Ole Miss.
Neal mentioned to me early in the game that Lane Kiffin seems to coach differently in this game, and it was something that seemed to hurt the Rebels on Saturday. Ole Miss is a good football team and didn’t need all the tricks and bells and whistles. A couple could have been turnovers. They seemed to mess up rhythm at times.
Ole Miss opened up in a four-man front defensively and used it early in the day. The Rebels operated out of a lot of base defenses and seemed to only bring pressure usually with extra DL instead of a lot of exotic blitzes. Ole Miss mostly shifted back to a 3-man front as the game went on, and Alabama had a lot more traction against that look. The Tide simplified things and beat Ole Miss with numbers.
This is a duh thing, but Ole Miss needed to be further ahead at halftime. It was just domination and only a three-point lead. I know they had a chance at the end, but there were so many missed chances early to separate.
The Rebels are one of the best script teams offensively in the country, and it was working perfectly until the Micah Pettus false start put Ole Miss behind the chains. Lane Kiffin went for it on fourth down instead of taking the points — in what looked a lot like last season — but the false start is what complicated things. It was such an opportunity that went blown-up play and false start.
Bryce Young is so damn good. He is the best player in the country with improvisation and making things happen. He made multiple throws and got out of trouble repeatedly. He won the game for Alabama.
In saying that… Ole Miss was awful with tackling in the second half and looked tired. Alabama backs wiggled out of trouble often and extended plays, leading to first downs and continued possessions. As good as Ole Miss was in the first half — and the defense was damn good — it was equally poor with fundamentals in the second half. A lot of arm tackling and poor angles.
Jaxson Dart was ok but didn’t play great on Saturday. He ran effectively in the first half but the pressure got to him, and Ole Miss couldn’t do a ton down the field. On several throws, Dart was late or floated it which took away yards. I thought he needed to rush for 80 or more for Ole Miss to win. He didn’t get there, though the bad holding call took 15 away in the second half.
Quinshon Judkins has a rushing touchdown in eight straight games and is now the solo season record holder with 15 touchdowns. He also went over 100 yards again. He’s a great running back. Whatever you want to say positive is accurate. He did so much to give Ole Miss a chance there at the end.
The loss broke a 14-game winning streak at home for Ole Miss.
I hated the series right after Alabama went up 27-24. That pitch play opened it up, and Alabama had numbers in that direction. Even if Branch hadn’t blown it up, Alabama had defenders flowing in that direction to go after Judkins. Then the inside run set up a third and long before Dart couldn’t get anything on the play before the punt. The series didn’t have a chance.
Ole Miss punting was rough on Saturday. Frasier Masin averaged 34.3 yards on four punts. The Rebels desperately needed to flip the field a couple times and instead the ball didn’t come off Masin’s foot well, giving Alabama shorter fields.
I thought Gary Danielson not having his voice would make things better. It didn’t. This isn’t even an Ole Miss or today thing. He changes his voice inflection when Alabama does things well. I noticed it more in the Tennessee game, but it was there today, too. He’s become bad for the league.
Alabama picked up 10 points in the two-for-one around halftime because Ole Miss didn’t play clean football. Zach Evans fumbled setting up Alabama’s short field and score with eight seconds left in the half. Then, Cedrick Johnson couldn’t hold on for a sack, and the missed tackle led to a huge play and then a field goal. It was the pivotal part of the game that reset things for Alabama. In Evans’ defense it could have easily — and should have — been called targeting on Alabama. Evans didn’t return after that. The lack of calling the penalty added seven points for Alabama.
Ole Miss got two calls on Saturday. The Rebels didn’t pick up the first down on a play in the first quarter, and the officials gave it to them. Then, Alabama should have scored on the Evans’ fumble — though targeting should have been called. Neither of those penalty breaks led to any points. Two phantom holding calls on Ole Miss effectively ended drives, and a couple others blatantly affected the scoreboard. That doesn’t count a missed facemask on Jaxson Dart that Ole Miss still scored on the series. The officiating impacted the game and was a benefit to Alabama. Whatever the reason, it happened.
The quarterback draw on second down during that last series was an odd call.
Alabama's Byron Young was a difference maker. He really got to the Rebels.
Ole Miss got popped defensively for a bit in the second half, but you have to give credit to the Rebels for forcing field goals to give the offense opportunities to win it.
Neal mentioned to me early in the game that Lane Kiffin seems to coach differently in this game, and it was something that seemed to hurt the Rebels on Saturday. Ole Miss is a good football team and didn’t need all the tricks and bells and whistles. A couple could have been turnovers. They seemed to mess up rhythm at times.
Ole Miss opened up in a four-man front defensively and used it early in the day. The Rebels operated out of a lot of base defenses and seemed to only bring pressure usually with extra DL instead of a lot of exotic blitzes. Ole Miss mostly shifted back to a 3-man front as the game went on, and Alabama had a lot more traction against that look. The Tide simplified things and beat Ole Miss with numbers.
This is a duh thing, but Ole Miss needed to be further ahead at halftime. It was just domination and only a three-point lead. I know they had a chance at the end, but there were so many missed chances early to separate.
The Rebels are one of the best script teams offensively in the country, and it was working perfectly until the Micah Pettus false start put Ole Miss behind the chains. Lane Kiffin went for it on fourth down instead of taking the points — in what looked a lot like last season — but the false start is what complicated things. It was such an opportunity that went blown-up play and false start.
Bryce Young is so damn good. He is the best player in the country with improvisation and making things happen. He made multiple throws and got out of trouble repeatedly. He won the game for Alabama.
In saying that… Ole Miss was awful with tackling in the second half and looked tired. Alabama backs wiggled out of trouble often and extended plays, leading to first downs and continued possessions. As good as Ole Miss was in the first half — and the defense was damn good — it was equally poor with fundamentals in the second half. A lot of arm tackling and poor angles.
Jaxson Dart was ok but didn’t play great on Saturday. He ran effectively in the first half but the pressure got to him, and Ole Miss couldn’t do a ton down the field. On several throws, Dart was late or floated it which took away yards. I thought he needed to rush for 80 or more for Ole Miss to win. He didn’t get there, though the bad holding call took 15 away in the second half.
Quinshon Judkins has a rushing touchdown in eight straight games and is now the solo season record holder with 15 touchdowns. He also went over 100 yards again. He’s a great running back. Whatever you want to say positive is accurate. He did so much to give Ole Miss a chance there at the end.
The loss broke a 14-game winning streak at home for Ole Miss.
I hated the series right after Alabama went up 27-24. That pitch play opened it up, and Alabama had numbers in that direction. Even if Branch hadn’t blown it up, Alabama had defenders flowing in that direction to go after Judkins. Then the inside run set up a third and long before Dart couldn’t get anything on the play before the punt. The series didn’t have a chance.
Ole Miss punting was rough on Saturday. Frasier Masin averaged 34.3 yards on four punts. The Rebels desperately needed to flip the field a couple times and instead the ball didn’t come off Masin’s foot well, giving Alabama shorter fields.
I thought Gary Danielson not having his voice would make things better. It didn’t. This isn’t even an Ole Miss or today thing. He changes his voice inflection when Alabama does things well. I noticed it more in the Tennessee game, but it was there today, too. He’s become bad for the league.
Alabama picked up 10 points in the two-for-one around halftime because Ole Miss didn’t play clean football. Zach Evans fumbled setting up Alabama’s short field and score with eight seconds left in the half. Then, Cedrick Johnson couldn’t hold on for a sack, and the missed tackle led to a huge play and then a field goal. It was the pivotal part of the game that reset things for Alabama. In Evans’ defense it could have easily — and should have — been called targeting on Alabama. Evans didn’t return after that. The lack of calling the penalty added seven points for Alabama.
Ole Miss got two calls on Saturday. The Rebels didn’t pick up the first down on a play in the first quarter, and the officials gave it to them. Then, Alabama should have scored on the Evans’ fumble — though targeting should have been called. Neither of those penalty breaks led to any points. Two phantom holding calls on Ole Miss effectively ended drives, and a couple others blatantly affected the scoreboard. That doesn’t count a missed facemask on Jaxson Dart that Ole Miss still scored on the series. The officiating impacted the game and was a benefit to Alabama. Whatever the reason, it happened.
The quarterback draw on second down during that last series was an odd call.
Alabama's Byron Young was a difference maker. He really got to the Rebels.
Ole Miss got popped defensively for a bit in the second half, but you have to give credit to the Rebels for forcing field goals to give the offense opportunities to win it.
