Alabama held on for a tight win in '08 

The Game:  Alabama Crimson Tide at Ole Miss Rebels

The Location:  Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, Mississippi

The Date:  Saturday, October 10th, 2009....Time TBA (Most likely 3:30 on CBS)

Jevan Snead looks to run Ole Miss to the top of the rankings....

 Why to watch:  To see two teams that most people have in the Top 10 of their preseason Top 25 list.  This is a huge early game for both Ole Miss and Alabama, who should both be 2-0 in SEC play by this point (though Ole Miss does have a tough opening stretch in conference play @ South Carolina and Vandy).  Alabama and Ole Miss are the favorites to take the SEC West title, and this game should have a profound effect on who ultimately plays for the SEC Championship, and possibly a spot in the National Title Game (sorry LSU, I still think you're another year or two away). 

The History:  Alabama leads the all-time series against Ole Miss with a dominating 42-9-2 record.  Alabama has lost just 1 time in Tuscaloosa against the Rebels in 32 games.  The good news for Ole Miss though is that Bama must travel to Oxford this season, as the Rebels look to exact from revenge from last season's loss.  Last year, #2 Alabama jumped out to a huge halftime lead, before letting Ole Miss climb back into the game. Ole Miss would eventually cut the lead to 24-20 with possession, but Alabama came up with some defensive stops late to hold onto their perferct record.

The Breakdown:  Crown Ole Miss as your de facto 2008 National Champs, as they were the only team to beat the real champs.  Ole Miss went into Gainesville and beat Florida 31-30, a loss that led to Tebow's "no team will work harder" speech, and a win for Ole Miss that proved they were on the right track.  1st year head coach Houston Nutt led Ole Miss to a 9-4 record in 2008 that culminated with a dominating win over a 1-loss Texas Tech team in the Cotton Bowl.  That victory, as well as the return of QB Jevan Snead, has Ole Miss thinking bigger than just a New Year's Day bowl this year.  Snead took all but 13 snaps for the Rebs last year and accounted for 2,762 yards through the air with 29 total touchdowns.  Ole Miss brings back most of their playmakers, giving Snead some insurance at the wideout position.  Snead averaged over 15 yards per completion last season, and could be even better this year with Shay Hodge and Dexter McCluster back (they combined for 9 TD's last season).  But for Houston Nutt, the emphasis will be on the running game, and variations of it.  He'll use McCluster out of the "Wild Rebel" formation or just pound the ball with Brandon Bolden who ran for over 500 yards last season as a freshman. The real strength of this team will be it's defense though.  Before Nutt was hired at Ole Miss, Head Coach Ed Olgeron had stockpiled some great athletes on the defensive side of the ball, and now Nutt will reap the benefits.  A run defense that ranked in the Top 5 nationally last year, could be even better despite the loss of 1st round draft pick Jerry Peria.  Look for defensive linemen Greg Hardy, Kentrell Lockett, and Jerrell Powe to apply pressure and clog the running lanes next season for the Rebels.

Let's just say that Arkansas fans aren't too fond of Houston Nutt...

Alabama started last season hot, cooled down in the middle, and went frigid at the end.  After a blistering start of the season with a demolishing of Clemson on national television, Alabama played solid (yet unspectacular) football for most of the regular season before losing the last 2 games of the season to Florida in the SEC Championship (a respectable loss) and to Utah in the Sugar Bowl (not so respectable when you're a SEC team vs. a MWC team in your own backyard).  The troubling thing was the way that Alabama was absolutely pushed around by a smaller Utah team in the Sugar Bowl, without OL Andre Smith who had been suspended.  Well, Smith is off to the NFL now, and Alabama will need to sure up it's offensive line.  Alabama will count on Junior College transfer James Carpenter to replace Smith at left tackle.  Carpenter's responsibility will be to protect the blindside of new quarterback Greg McElroy (8-11, 123 yards last season) who replaces John Parker Wilson under center.  JPW's numbers weren't amazing last season, but his pocket presence and ability to direct the offense will make him a tough guy to follow in Tuscaloosa.  McElroy won't need to dazzle, but will be entrusted to not give away games with untimely turnovers.  Leading rusher Glenn Coffey is gone as well, but Alabama has some talented options in the backfield with Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson to carry the running game in '09.  Oh yeah, and Alabama has a talented guy out at WR named Julio Jones who can do things like this:

Julio Jones is a freak....

Nick Saban's defense will be even better in 2009 than it was in 2008, and that's straight-up scary.  Alabama's front 7 is perhaps the best in college football, and is anchored by DT Terrence Cody and linebackers Rolando McClain and Dont'a Hightower.  Last year the Crimson Tide were ranked 2nd in run defense, and this year, don't be shocked to see them on top of that category.  Alabama returns senior kicker Leigh Tiffin who connected on 69% of his field goal attempts last season. 

Interesting/Fun Facts:  The speed limit on the Ole Miss campus is 18 MPH to honor Mississippi's great QB Archie Manning.

Prediction:  If Ole Miss and Alabama crack 100 yards rushing combined I'd be surprised.  Though this game might lack the big plays of other games, the hitting and tackling in this game should be ferocious.  Alabama will be tested from the onset with their week 1 tussle against Virginia Tech, and the experience of playing another Top 15 team before Ole Miss will greatly help the Tide.  I like Alabama in a low-scoring game that comes down to the 4th quarter before Mark Ingram takes over for the Tide.  I say Ingram gets 2 TD's and leads Alabama to a 20-10 victory in Oxford, paving the way towards yet another SEC West Title.

Alabama 20  Ole Miss 10

Check back tomorrow for game #12....

Previous Games:

14. 11/28- Utah @ BYU

15. 11/28- UCLA @ USC

16. 9/26 - Iowa @ Penn State

17. 12/5 - West Virginia @ Rutgers

18. 9/18- Boise State @ Fresno State

19. 11/21- Penn State @ Michigan State

20. 9/7 - Cincinnati @ Rutgers

21. 9/3 - Oregon @ Boise State

22. 9/19 - Cincy @ Oregon State

23. 11/21 - OSU @ Michigan

24. 10/17 - USC @ ND

25. 12/12 - Army vs Navy