It happened, again. Alabama beat Ole Miss, again.
The Tide came to Oxford and made an example out of Ole Miss. After a brief moment of glory following Jordan Ta’amu’s touchdown pass to D.K. Metcalf on the first play of the game, the Crimson Tide demonstrated just how dangerous it is.
The Rebel defense didn’t surprise anyone this week. Allowing 62 points is unacceptable against any team, especially Alabama, but nobody is surprised. The gunslinging Tua Tagovailoa makes Alabama practically unstoppable on offense, and with Jalen Hurts as his backup quarterback, Alabama head coach Nick Saban has nothing to worry about, under center.
What was surprising, though, was the major lack of production from the Rebel offense. We know how good the Alabama defense is — how much talent it has on that side of the ball. However, Ole Miss’ offense absolutely cannot be held to seven points if the Rebels want to have any chance at a win.
The Ole Miss offense simply has too much firepower to only put seven on the board. Coming into the game, Ole Miss ranked third nationally in scoring offense, Scottie Phillips ranked fourth nationally in rushing yards and the passing offense ranked second in the country. On Saturday though, none of the above factors were effective in the least.
Ta’amu completed seven passes on the day, for 133 yards. If you take away his early 75-yard touchdown, that brings his numbers down to 6-21 for 58 yards and two picks. It was easily his worst game as the starter.
Phillips was largely ineffective on the ground, which didn’t help the passing game’s woes. He ran for 44 of Ole Miss’ 115 rushing yards, but it just wasn’t enough to make a difference in the game.
I don’t expect Ole Miss to play like this again all season. I don’t think anyone on the Rebels’ schedule has the capability to hold them to seven on the scoreboard, the way Alabama did. It just won’t happen. This team is too talented for it to happen again, and if it does, there will be consequences.
What consequences, I don’t know, but change will be necessary. Losing to Alabama by a combined 128-10 over the past two years just can’t happen. It’s embarrassing to the university.
Obviously, the defense is the glaring weakness of this team, but we knew that coming in. The offense, on the other hand, has no excuse for its performance on Saturday. Alabama has one of the best defenses in the country again — as they have consistently had under Saban — but Ole Miss is supposed to have one of the best offenses in the nation. The Rebel offense is supposed to be ready for challenges like Alabama so that it can prove its greatness to the rest of the country.
Maybe this offense isn’t who we thought they were, after all.
Next week Ole Miss hosts Kent State in the Vaught in a game that Ole Miss should win easily. Then, the Rebels have their second big test of the year: LSU. After failing its first test so pathetically, I expect Ole Miss to have a much better showing in Baton Rouge.
