Ole Miss Football: 2018 Game-by-game predictions
The Rebels’ offensive firepower will keep them in just about every game they place this year. That won’t be the case against the Alabama Crimson Tide. But it won’t be for lack of effort.
Ole Miss finished fifth in the conference in scoring offense in 2017, averaging 32.8 points per game. They won’t be able to sustain that kind of production against Alabama, but somehow they’ve always found a way to manufacture points against the Crimson Tide.
Where they will fall noticeably short is the defensive side of the ball. The 34.6 points per game surrendered by the Rebels was 13th in the conference. It won’t matter whether its Jalen Hurts or Tua Tagovailoa taking snaps in this one (or both) the Rebels don’t have enough bodies on defense to slow down the defending national champions
Ole Miss has managed to give Nick Saban a scare once or twice in the past. That won’t be the case this year. The Tide win handily and the Rebels pick up their first loss of the season.