Ole Miss at Alabama


Written by

No. 8 Alabama hosts Ole Miss at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, October 16, at 9:00 PM ET. This SEC rivalry runs deep, and the Tide has been the victor most of those matchups, with an overall record of 43-9-2, including a 22-3 victory last October.

The most recent college football odds show the Crimson Tide -21 over the Rebels with a total of 55 points.

Alabama is coming off its first loss of the year, courtesy of Steve Spurrier and South Carolina last week, 35-21. While a loss was bound to come, it was still a shock for the then-No.1 ranked team.

It took a standout performance from QB Stephen Garcia, who threw three touchdowns, two of which were to WR Alshon Jeffery who had seven receptions for 127 yards.  Running back Marcus Lattimore scored three times on 23 carries for 93 yards, carrying the 19th ranked Gamecocks to the win, their first ever against a number one ranked team.

Bama QB Greg McElroy was good, but not good enough, with 315 yards and two touchdowns.

The team’s main asset so far has been its defense, which blew up last week. In the first two games of the season, they allowed just three points in each win, and have only allowed opponents to score an average of 13.3 to rank 5th overall.

The offense has been absolutely explosive including a 62-point feast against Duke, and a 48-point season opener against San Jose State. They can pass when they need to; ranking 39th with over 247 a game, but the main arsenal in the offense is the running game.

The Tide is averaging 197.5 yards a game, led by the duo of Trent Richardson and Mark Ingram. Richardson has rushed for 442 yards and four touchdowns, while Ingram has 396 yards and six scores of his own.

Meanwhile, Ole Miss seems to have found its offensive thunder, winning its second straight against Kentucky last week 42-35.

Most of that success was by capitalizing on mistakes, with all three touchdowns in the first half coming via turnovers, as Charles Sawyer captured the first interception of the season for the Rebels.

Ole Miss has established a track record this year of having trouble holding onto  a lead, and while there was some worries in the second half when Kentucky mounted a comeback to pull within seven, the Rebels scored a fourth quarter touchdown to seal the win.

It’s no doubt the Rebs can score, but they do have issues holding onto a lead. They lost their opener by a point in overtime, and almost let last week’s game get away.

Despite ranking 15th in points–37.2 PPG, they rank 103rd overall with 32.6 points against. They will need to find a way to hold the fort a little better, because this is an iffy team when it’s close.

Oregon problem child, QB Jeremiah Masoli has not been a huge presence from the air, with only 823 yards on the season, leaving the team to rank 83rd overall with 191.4. What passes he does make are usually to WR Markeith Summers, who has 11 receptions for 242 yards. But as always, Masoli can carve up the opposition’s defense on the ground, and has rushed for 262 yards and three touchdowns. He is well supported by RB Brandon Bolden who has been the Rebs’ main offensive weapon with 518 yards on 76 carries for a nice 6.8 average.

Matt’s Free Prediction: Alabama– This will be a fun game to watch, as both teams have many similarities; both win when the defense does its job, both pray when it doesn’t. That said and done, Alabama is the better team overall and should score enough to win its sixth game, in this high scoring matchup.

Subscribe to the BetFirms RSS Feed
Comments

Got something to say?