Alabama/Ole Miss Recap

As everyone knows the Crimson Tide rolled into Oxford Mississippi Saturday on a two game skid against the Ole Miss Rebels (Or Black Bears...whatever). So coming into this game I did not do my normal obnoxious Bammer trash talk. Vegas had the line at Bama +11. No way. I have been saying all week this game would come down to whoever had the ball last. And boy was I a drive from being right. This was a classic football game. Ole Miss is very good football team. And on both sides of the ball. The Florida State game threw people off. And after Florida State was hammered by Louisville this week it really didn't help the Rebels case. But every team is different. Every team has athletes with different skill sets. Some teams simply match up better with certain teams. Ole Miss matches up very well with Alabama. This is why they've given us fits the last few years. Their recruiting has been outstanding since Hugh Freeze took over the program. I'm going to go through the game almost like a play by play below. If you'd like to skip the long stuff scroll down and get my thoughts and short notes on our Crimson Tide. Let's get to the game.

1st Qtr

The Rebels came right out of the gate and put 7 on the board. This sent a message and frankly one I was not expecting. I've spoken very highly of our defense recently and that drive really shocked me. They moved the ball with ease and they would have continuous success most of the game doing so. Alabama would respond with a field goal on the following drive. Jalen Hurts over threw receiver Hale Hentges in the end zone forcing the Tide to settle for a field goal. Rebels would struggle in their second possession and would have to punt. Penalties would really set Alabama back in their second drive. Hurts would fumble but the ruling would be overturned. Hurts has to do a better job securing the ball. That seems to be a glaring weakness early on in his college career. This is also the part of the game where we'd lose wide receiver Ardarius Stewart for the game. One play later kicker Adam Griffith would miss a field goal. At this point in the game I still felt pretty good about the game. but losing Stewart was huge at this point. The Rebels would have the ball after a miss field goal to start the second quarter.

2nd Qtr

Ole Miss would not have it long on this possession and punt the ball right back to the Tide. Alabama would start the drive deep in their own territory and not have any success going 3 and out. Same would happen again with the Rebels second drive. Early in the 2nd quarter it looks to be a defensive controlled game. Running back Joshua Jacobs looked really good in this game. I hope to see him get more involved as the season progresses. Alabama has so much young talent at that position. So Alabama would punt again and this punt would net 8 yards. The Tide seemed to shoot their selves in the foot every time they had a chance. After the terrible punt Ole Miss turned on the heat moving down field with a few huge plays but would setting for 3 points taking a 10-3 with 7:43 left in the second half. Things would soon get intense. Alabama would start the

drive on a positive note with a few complete passes. Hurts lost the ball but would recover the fumble. The Tide would punt the ball once again. Ole Miss would score with ease on their next possession. The score would be 17-3 Ole Miss with 4:40 on the clock. Alabama would have the ball with pretty good field position after a good return. Then it would happen. Hurts would take a helmet to helmet hit, fumble the ball, which the Rebels would run back for a touchdown. The officials dropped the ball on this one. Anyone with a brain that works knew when it happened that was a huge miscall by these officials. Nonetheless. It's 24-3 Ole Miss with 2:47 left in the 2nd. Alabama would start with good field position again with the Rebels kicking the ball out of bounds on the kick off. Hurts had a huge run to get the Tide in the red zone. Direct snap to wide receiver Calvin Ridley and he would take it in for the touchdown. It's 24-10 Ole Miss with 2:10 left in the 2nd. Ole Miss would look to run some clock early in the next drive but after a timeout by Alabama would be forced to punt. A punt that would turn into an Eddie Jackson touchdown! It's suddenly 24-17 ole Miss with 1:05 in the 2nd. It's a game. I could feel my heart pounding through my chest. And I was never happier to see halftime. I needed a breather.

3rd Qtr

Alabama would receive the ball first after the break. Hurts would have a few fantastic runs on this drive but the Tide would be forced to punt. J.K

Scott would punt the ball out of bounds at the 6 yard line giving the Rebels awful field position on their first drive of the 2nd half. On 2nd down quarterback Chad Kelly would fumble getting hit by Ryan Anderson. Da'ron Payne would scoop it up and fall into the end zone. Game is tied 24-24 with 11:47 left on the clock in the 3rd quarter. You could see a difference in Alabama's defense early in the 2nd quarter. The Rebels would punt on their next possession going 3 and out. Hurts would take over and have a great drive here. This kid is special. They would fall short on 3rd down once reaching the red zone and have to settle for another field goal. Alabama would take their first lead of the game 27-24 with 6:03 left in the 3rd. Cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick would take a knee to the head on the Rebels next drive. He would be out the rest of the game. The very next play Chad Kelly would complete a pass to the one yard line. Alabama would have a HUGE stop here forcing the Rebels to kick a field goal. Game is tied at 27. 1:47 in the 3rd. Damian Harris would break a huge run on the Tide's next possession taking the ball to the 1 yard line. I love Harris but the kid can not catch a break. He seems to always get caught from behind. But he's a horse and knows how to find the hole. Bo Scarbrough would punch it in for 6. Score now 34-27 Alabama. The Rebels would take the ball into the final quarter.

4th Qtr

Linebacker Reuben Foster would limp off of the field entering the 4th quarter but would only be out a few plays. Chad Kelly would move the

Rebels down field quickly in their fast paced offense to open the 4th. They would again settle for a field goal here making the score 34-30

Alabama, with 13:12 left in the 4th. I find myself getting more frustrated with these officials as the game goes on. Bad calls and no calls on both sides. Calvin Ridley had a huge catch here to move the Tide across midfield. Alabama would fall short though at that point and punt the ball. The Rebels would start deep in their own territory at the 11 yard line. Another 3 and out. Ole Miss forced to punt. Alabama starts around midfield. Another great run by Hurts takes them well into the red zone. Hurts runs again to the 2 yard line. Damian Harris would punch it in and give Alabama a 41-30 lead with 7:33 to play. Alabama would start bringing in 2nd string guys on defense. I wasn't sure the reasoning but I assume it was in the case we needed the starters to catch their breath. As I'm thinking this Jonathan Allen intercepts a Chad Kelly pass and runs it back for a touchdown. Alabama leads 48-30 with 5:28 left in the game. Eddie Jackson would limp to the locker room while Ole Miss is driving down field. Chad Kelly moved the ball well against our second string D-Line and would throw a touchdown pass to make the score 48-37 with 2:59 left to play. I can suddenly feel my heart pounding again. On-side kick by the Rebels worked in their favor. One first down Kelly would fire a huge touchdown pass then of course Ole Miss attempts a 2 point conversion and would be denied. Score now 48-42 just over 2 minutes to play. Alabama would need to keep the ball on the ground and get a few first down. Which is exactly what they did. Great game! As Eli Gold said at the end of the game... That's one more...for the good guys.

Short notes about the game;

• Slow start for entire team.

• Hurts is a superstar in the making. Some of the plays in this game you just knew he was in control and would get it done.

• I loved our never give up attitude. Being down 24-3 and then coming back and scoring two touchdowns in a matter of seconds to make it a one score game before halftime was absolutely amazing.

• Our defense is still great. We faced a great offense. Probably the best offense we're going to see this year.

• We had a lot of injuries in this game. With Kent St. coming to T-Town next week I'm hoping most of our starters can get some much needed rest. This game was a mental and physical beating.

• I feel like we need need more from our running backs. Hurts is our leading rusher. I'm waiting on one of these backs to separate themselves from the rest. Harris is a hole finder but lacks that break away speed. Scarbrough seems to get lost and can't hit the hole and go. Not enough snaps to give an opinion about Simmons or Jacobs though I do think Jacobs has potential.

• Roll Tide and God Bless!!!!!