Ole Miss Football: Game-by-game predictions for Rebels in 2017
A matchup that has been one of the game of the years in the SEC for the past three seasons, certainly loses some of its luster this year as Ole Miss isn’t eligible to participate in the SEC Championship Game. Instead, Ole Miss will be looking to play spoiler in Alabama and beat the Crimson Tide for the third time in four seasons. The Rebels also get a bye week before this matchup, which should help when it comes to game planning and rest for players.
Ole Miss returns many of the same players that played in this game last year. The only difference will be for some of the younger players to play on the road in Bryant Denny Stadium. This game will come down to the Ole Miss offense and their ability to get points on the Alabama defense. last years matchup was a shoot out. One can expect the Rebel defense to be looking for some sort of redemption but I just don’t see them being able to completely corral the Alabama offense and Jalen Hurts.
Ole Miss knows that they can win this game. That is what is important. They have to come out with the mindset of we’ve beaten them before, in this building, and we can do it again. This will be the biggest game in Matt Luke’s time as the interim head coach. If he were to win, that would go a long way towards him keeping the job full time.
While Ole Miss will be able to battle Alabama, I just don’t see them beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa for the second time in three years. Shea Patterson will have a day on offense and prove his talent to the entire college football world in this game, but it won’t be enough. It will be a closer game than people think though.