SB Nation - Johnny Brown

Rebel of the Week Results - Alabama

Juco All-American — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:52:49 -0000

More photos » by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

Cassius Vaughn may be the most improved player on our team. Julio didn't make that catch, by the way.

There's no poll this week. Singling out one player was nearly impossible, and the award certainly shouldn't go to an offensive player.

This week will be the "cop out" week. This week, the entire defense gets the award. The D isn't perfect, but it's far from bad or even mediocre. It is certainly in the top half of the conference, and even that may be an understatement.

First though, the bad: run defense will continue to be the bane of our existence this season. We gave up 4.9 yards per carry. Granted, Alabama is phenomenal at running the football and were given the opportunity to run an incredible number of plays due to our offense's short, turnover-capped drives; but giving up that much on average against any football team will lead to a bad day nine times out of ten.

However, in coverage, the Rebels were awesome.

Against our Rebel secondary, Greg McElroy was 15/34 for only 147 yards. That's 4.3 yards per attempt which, if you are unaware, is a hideous statistic number.

To put this in persepctive, last season, even with our incredible pass rush, the Rebels finished the season ranked as the 11th SEC team in pass defense. If we continue to crush the skulls of quarterbacks and wide receivers for the remainder of this season, we will finish much higher than that.

Also, it would be silly not to mention that Alabama only scored one touchdown. They had to settle for five field goals in the red zone. A few of those red zone appearances came at the tail end of (yet another) Rebel turnover. But that phased the defense none. They were on a mission Saturday afternoon and I would posit that they accomplished it. Imagine if the Tide had scored touchdowns on just three of those five drives. We would be staring at an even more embarassing score of 34-3. Our red zone defense is superb, and that's very exciting.

I guess if there were one player I would single out on the defense as having stepped it up more than others, it would be Johnny Brown. Brown had ten tackles, and the majority of those came in run support. While it's not a good sign that your leading tackler is your safety, Brown still had the tough task of bringing down Mark Ingram in open space. Hats off to him.

Congrats, Rebel Defense, you're the Cup's Rebels of the Week.

POST GAME - Alabama

The Ghost of Jay Cutler — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:18:37 -0000

More photos » by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

You wanna bright spot? How about a Rebel secondary which kept Julio Jones from scoring.

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Alright, I'm no Whiskey Wednesday, and he's already gotten his post game up but I'm still going for this as per WW's post which steered clear of football and focused on Ole Miss fandom in general.

It was fantastic, don't get me wrong. It just doesn't talk about the game.

I realize this is late--as well as things like the Rebel Roundup, RotW, and UAB HATE WEEK--but I hope you all are cool enough to understand that between our inclination towards partying far too hard and my travel schedule that we were still really going to have a tough time bloggin'.

Oh, and I killed Juco's computer yesterday. That also has something to do with the dearth of action around here. Juco, I'm not sorry. Your computer sucks anyway.

Alright, so, enough with the apologies and excuses. It's time for football.

I feel that, in order to give me the strength I'll need to finish this, I will approach this by making a series of observations in descending order from "bright spot" to "damn you Snead."

The brightest spot of them all was our defense as a whole. Not only did the defensive line play well, as per the status quo over the past two seasons, but the linebackers worked their asses off and the secondary played inspired ball. Hardy wasn't the force he was against the Tide two seasons ago in Oxford, but his presence was certainly felt. Powe made some great plays, Tillman was his typically consistent self, and Lockett made some serious bids on the ball.

I was not unpleased with Allen Walker and Jonathan Cornell which is somehow more than I can say thus far this year. There was only one big run given up (the game's lone touchdown) which was the result of our 'backers being in the right places at the right times. Seriously, these guys played tough. Patrick Trahan and DT Shackleford have still not forgotten how to tackle which is a plus-ish.

The secondary though. Wow. Marshay Green, who is approximately 4'3", made Julio Jones look average. Cassius Vaughn went up against him as well and did the same. The fades to the endzones were the right playcalls by Saban and company. With a guy like Jones and his 90 foot arms with eight-fingered hands, why not run that play in the red zone? Still after three (right?) attempts at that play, Julio came up with nothing. Nada. Zilch. Johnny Brown was our team leader in tackles and Kendrick Lewis was constantly in a ton of plays. For a unit which was supposed to be one of the weakest in the SEC, they have really turned we at the Cup into believers. They play every single play with their motor revved up as high as it can go.

Unfortunately, sometimes amplified play like that can lead to bad news. Sorry Rebel fans, Marshay cracked a rib and lacerated a kidney and is out indefinitely. He could be back in a week or a month, it's just one of those things.

Keep this in mind: up until Saturday, Alabama was averaging 40.5 points a game. Think about that and tell me you aren't very, very proud of our D. The Landsharks held the--per the Cup's opinion--best team in the nation to 18 points below their average. Alabama ran 78 plays. Seventy. Eight. With their extremely physical style of football, it really is a testament to our defensive strength to have made it out alive, let alone hold the Tide to one successful trip into the endzone. It really is a damned shame that their hard work was all for naught come 0:00.

And, this comes as a shocker to nobody, it's Snead's fault! BOO JEVAN SNEAD! Okay, maybe not, but still Snead; no excuses, play like a champion. You made the former and didn't do the latter. I know there are rumors surrounding your lady-situation 'n' shit but dude, man up. No explanation necessary. The offensive line played well (To the gentleman standing two rows behind me--you know who you are, you have fat cheeks, bucked teeth, and talk like a sailor with epilepsy--not every single play that doesn't work out is the fault of Bradley Sowell. And his name is pronounced "SOW-ell," not "SOAL".) when considering the caliber of defense they were facing. The running backs didn't have much room to work with regardless though, so really we needed big gains in the passing game.

We didn't get them.

True, some of the poor plays were the result of badassery on the part of the Crimson Tide, and others were the result of bizarre play calling. But, if my memory serves me well (iffy, I know), we had several good plays called which were for nothing due to piss-poor execution, most of which from Jevan Snead. I can vividly recall three therrible passes into the flat which, for those of you who aren't terribly football savvy, is a generally easy throw to make. I also recall a play where Dexter McCluster was wide the hell open on a crossing route with a good fifteen yards of green space in front of him, only to have Jevan throw it high and behind.

Speaking of high and behind? That first pick Jevan threw was such, allowing it to cruise right into the hands of Justin Woodall.

He, as he tends to do, turned it on in the 4th quarter, making some great throws and even reeling off some impressive runs (Snead did, in fact, lead the team in rushing... eesh) but it was way too little and way too late.

As an aside: why don't we run Jevan more? The guy can run quite well. We really need to utilize that more, especially if we plan on having pocket trouble for the rest of the season.

Anyway, if it seems I'm being rough on Snead, it's because I am. Our defense put our team in a position to, at the absolute least, be very competitive against the best team in the entire nation. Our offense couldn't capitalize, and a very disproportionate amount of the inability to capitalize resulted from something Jevan Snead did or did not do.

But, I'm with Whiskey on this. I'm over my anger and frustration. I still had a kickass time Friday night, despite losing my favorite Ole Miss cap in the back of some girl's car on the way home from the Rib Cage (if you find it, holla at cha blogga). I'll be back in Oxford town in time for the LSU game. I hope to see all of you there.

Week Six Preview: #3 Alabama at #16 Ole Miss

outsidethesidelines — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:00:20 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

"Quit throwing so many picks!"

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The Alabama v. Ole Miss series isn't one filled with hatred quite like the Auburn or Tennessee series, nor is it generally a series that has a high degree of relevance on the national level. Nevertheless, over the course of the past four years, no series anywhere in the country has produced as many gut-wrenching, nail-biting contests as what we've seen when the Tide took on Johnny Reb.

The past four games in this series have been decided by a grand total of thirteen points, and that statistic alone does not even begin to adequately describe how close things have been. The 2005 game ended on a time-expiring kick, while the 2006 game ended in overtime. The 2007 game was decided on a controversial penalty with seven seconds remaining, and last year's game also went into the final minute. And most shockingly of all, somehow, someway, all of those contests have fallen in our favor. How we've had the good fortune from the Football Gods to pull all of those games out, I'll never know.

After Ole Miss rallied late last year, this game has been marked for months as one of the games of the year. Of course, though, Johnny Reb effectively wet the bed in its only real test thus far in the 2009 season, and that has knocked a lot of the luster off this game. Ole Miss was clearly overrated as a top five team, and had no real business being ranked that high. That said, however, the Rebels are still a quality team and a very dangerous opponent. This game is likely to be yet another close one that goes down to the wire, so let's take a closer look at the match-ups:

Alabama Offense v. Ole Miss Defense

Even with a slow start in the passing game and some questionable early play-calling against a good Kentucky defense, Alabama nevertheless managed to rack up 38 points and 352 total yards in Lexington. The Alabama offensive juggernaut has seemed to slow with each and every game the past three weekends -- largely because the quality of the defense faced has increased each week -- and things won't get any easier this week when we go to Oxford.

The strength of the Ole Miss defense is clearly at the point of attack. The defensive end rotation of Greg Hardy, Kentrell Lockett, and Marcus Tillman is easily the best we'll see all year long, and while Hardy has not been able to get completely healthy -- and thus he's really no longer an every down player -- he's still a dangerous weapon when he is in the game. The ends are also solid on running downs, and mixed with the size of the interior players, it forms a very difficult run defense up front when these guys show up to play. Interior tackles Ted Laurent and Lawson Scott are both over 300 pounds, and the monster 340 pound Jerrell Powe is quickly starting to show why he was a five-star prospect coming out of high school. You can make all the reading jokes you want, but literacy isn't really a core competency for playing nose tackle, and Powe can at times dominate interior offensive linemen like he's a man among boys.

At linebacker Ole Miss has had more than their fair share of struggles since Patrick Willis went to the NFL, but they've got a solid group there now. The unit is led by Patrick Trahan, the senior linebacker that Houston Nutt signed out of the JUCO ranks in his first class in Oxford. Trahan started his collegiate career as a safety -- he was a former track athlete in high school -- but he kept getting bigger and bigger so he was moved to linebacker. The end result now is a 6'3, 225+ pound 'backer with great athleticism, and he's tough on opposing offenses. He's big enough to play the run, but also versatile enough to play the pass and rush the passer. He's a legitimate three-phase linebacker. Jonathon Cornell and Allen Walker start alongside Trahan, and while they aren't quite the caliber of Trahan, both are upperclassmen who are more than adequate.

The real surprise of the Ole Miss defense to date, however, has been the defensive backfield. Ole Miss was almost universally expected to struggle in the secondary this year, but surprisingly enough they have allowed very little success through the air. That said, however, we really don't know anything about this group because they have yet to face a decent passing attack, so it could be all a paper tiger for all we know, and if nothing else the Alabama passing game will be easily the best this unit has faced all year. What we can safely say is that so far this year Cassius Vaughn and Marshay Green have been solid at cornerback, Johnny Brown and Kendrick Lewis have been more active than usual at safety, and the back-ups have generally been pretty adequate. But, again, we really have no clue as to whether or not this Ole Miss defensive backfield is a contender or a pretender.

Looking at how we match up against Ole Miss, you really have to worry about our running game. We ran the ball well against Kentucky on the meaningful attempts -- i.e. factoring out the garbage time, clock-killing carries late -- but Arkansas still shut us down, and frankly this is easily the best defensive line we've seen all year. Ole Miss shut down our running game last year better than any other team on the schedule -- we had 31 carries for only 107 yards, averaging a meager 3.1 yards per carry -- and it's going to be very difficult to run on these guys again this year. These guys can flat out whip you in the trenches, and we're going to have to show up ready to play at a very high level if we look to move the football on the ground in Oxford.

Hopefully we will be able to take advantage of Ole Miss in a couple of areas. Their defensive line features a solid, deep rotation, but the linebacker corps is very thin. The starting three are good players, and back-up Lamar Brumfield is a solid, versatile player who can play all three positions. After that, though, all you really have is true freshman D.T. Shackelford -- an Alabama native who the Tide passed over last, so extra motivation there -- and while he has been a bit of a freshman sensation, he is also slowed by a high ankle sprain, and he likely won't play a lot against the Tide. So, it's a thin unit already, and both Trahan and Walker also play extensively on special teams, so hopefully we can wear them down and take advantage of their lack of depth. Likewise, the Ole Miss secondary is also a very small unit -- all starters are 5'11 and under, and three starters are 190 and under -- so hopefully we can really take advantage of the size match-ups with the likes of Julio Jones, Mike McCoy, Earl Alexander, and Michael Bowman.

Now, along those lines, I do like how our passing attack matches up against the Ole Miss secondary, but of course success there is predicated upon us being able to protect Greg McElroy against a very good pass rush. If we can give McElroy time, we should be able to move the football through the air. On the other hand, though, if Ole Miss can legitimately rush the passer, this is not going to be pretty. Either way, this isn't going to be an easy assignment for the Tide's offensive line. Ole Miss is tough off the edge, and Nutt will likely be aggressive in blitz packages, so the offensive line has its work cut out for them.

All in all, this one is a tough match-up for the Tide. Hopefully we can have some success running the football and block Ole Miss off the edge, but that's a lot easier said than done. Ole Miss will be tough to run on, and if they can get to McElroy, we're likely to find ourselves in Oxford with an offense that cannot run or throw effectively. It's going to be one heck of a fight, and we're going to have to play very well to move the football against this defense.

Alabama Defense v. Ole Miss Offense

The good news for Alabama is that this match-up favors the Tide a bit more. The Ole Miss offense is no slouch, to be sure, but it is a unit that has struggled early. Jevan Snead hasn't played anywhere near well enough to justify the preseason hype, the loss of Mike Wallace has hurt more than its gotten credit for, and there has been nothing close to a comparable replacement for Michael Oher.

Really, the struggles of this offense have started up front with the offensive line. The run blocking has been good at times, but has also been terrible at times, too. Smashes at the point of attack that spring good gains have been mixed with whiffs that result in tackles for loss. Pass protection, though, has really been the Achilles Heel of this group. Left tackle Bradley Sowell was beaten to a pulp against South Carolina, and right tackle John Jerry hasn't looked very good either. The interior linemen haven't played much better, either. Houston Nutt and company have rotated in a lot of linemen looking for the right mix, but they haven't found anything yet, and making matters worse this bunch simply looks out of shape. When John Jerry was literally begging to come out of the South Carolina game, all that came to mind for me was Mike Dubose, 2000, and the infamous "Pankcake Posse."

With the struggles up front, the rest of the offense just hasn't been able to compensate. Jevan Snead has been decent at times, but he has generally struggled to complete a high percentage of his passes and he has turned the football over a lot -- only a completion percentage of 51% and five interceptions. With Mike Wallace gone, the Rebels really do not have the big vertical threat in the passing game, and while the likes of Shay Hodge, Markeith Summers, Lionel Breaux, and Patrick Patterson form a solid wide receiver corps, they haven't been able to make up for the loss of Wallace. Likewise, Dexter McCluster is a threat, but he has really been more of a cog than a game-changer thus far in conference play.

The true strength of the Ole Miss offense to date has really been in the backfield with the tailbacks. Brandon Bolden has played as well as any back in the SEC to date, and at 5'11 and 220 pounds he is an absolute load. Back-ups Cordera Eason and Enrique Davis were both highly-touted recruits coming out of high school, and with their raw talent they form one of the most potent backfields in the country. Combined with Dexter McCluster's ability out of the Wildcat, this is a very dangerous group if their offensive line can give them any help up front.

Defensively for the Tide, I'll be brief on the overview because most RBR readers are more than well aware of who we are as a defensive unit, but I will address that the biggest issue we face here is exactly what we will do to replace Dont'a Hightower. Based on the practice reports, it's clear that Cory Reamer will be back at strongside linebacker this week, and we're going to have to be bigger inside to take on an Ole Miss team that will clearly look to be physical at the point of attack and establish the run. Chris Jordan is going to get a lot of playing time this week, and look for both Nico Johnson and Tana Patrick on the field -- even though playing will cost Patrick him a redshirt year.

As a whole, we are going to have a good bit different look defensively this week. Again, Ole Miss is the physical, run-based attack that we've come to expect out of Houston Nutt, and we are simply going to have to play smashmouth football against these guys. Simply put, if our defensive line doesn't show up with more energy and intensity than they did last week in Lexington, it's going to be a long afternoon. This isn't a spread passing attack where we'll constantly be in the nickel; you're going to see a lot of base 3-4 this week with safeties coming into the box to stop the run. The Rebs are far from pass happy.

And with that in mind, Injuries may make an impact on Ole Miss' power running attack. Fullback Andy Hartmann, a senior, is one hell of a lead-blocking load at 5'11 and almost 250 pounds, and he may be the best lead blocker in the conference. However, Hartmann sprained a knee a couple of weeks ago and has missed time. He missed practice on Tuesday, and while he is going to play on Saturday, we don't know how effective he can be and we do not know how much he will be able to play. Likewise, tight end Gerald Harris missed the South Carolina game with a hamstring injury, and while he did return against Vanderbilt, he's probably not 100%. Their back-ups, Dan Hoffman and Ferbia Allen, are a good 20-30 pounds lighter than the first-teamers, so if Hartmann and Harris are at less than 100%, that is going to make it more difficult for Ole Miss to run the football.

Furthermore, we need to use our depth in the defensive front seven to our advantage. Even with injuries to Hightower and Damien Square, plus the suspension of Jerrell Harris, we are still very deep in the front seven, and if the South Carolina game is any accurate indicator, the Ole Miss offensive line isn't in very good physical shape. We need to rotate players all afternoon and wear these guys down. Few things can better insure a 'Bama victory than to have John Jerry once again begging to come out of the game in the second half.

All in all, we're just going to have to line up against Ole Miss and be able to stop the run. That has to be priority #1 going into this game, period. Jevan Snead is overrated, but he can still be a threat, and with Nutt at the helm you have to be adequately prepared for every trick in the book. Nevertheless, those concerns are secondary to stopping the run. Given Snead's turnover issues to date -- which is to say nothing of Ole Miss' struggles in pass protection and the struggles of the receiving corps -- Nutt and company will likely play a bit conservatively here and try to establish the running game. If Ole Miss does that, they can move the football effectively and that will allow them to selectively use Snead and the trickeration to their advantage. On the other hand, though, if we can stop the run, particularly on early downs, we get Ole Miss in a lot of obvious passing situations, which limits the use of the Wildcat and other trick formations, and which also gives our defensive line numerous opportunities to take advantage of their struggles in pass protection and tee off on a quarterback who will be forced to take a lot of seven-step drops while waiting for routes to develop downfield.

Putting It All Together

On the whole, this one looks to be much like the last four contests in this series... a very hard, physical game that goes right down to the wire. Yes Alabama has looked very good to date, and yes Ole Miss wet the bed in their only true test to date. And, yes, Ole Miss was overrated coming into the year, no arguments here. Nevertheless, this is still a pretty good Ole Miss team, and they are a dangerous opponent that is more than capable of pulling off the upset.

Furthermore, the West is still absolutely wide open right now -- three teams are still undefeated, and Ole Miss still controls their own destiny -- and that fact mixed with Nutt's love of playing the underdog role, not to mention the recent acrimony that is surely present in the Ole Miss roster thanks to how this game has turned out the past four years, you can bet your life that Ole Miss will show up to play football on Saturday like men possessed. For all of the talk of Ole Miss wetting the bed, if Johnny Reb can pull off the upset on Saturday, they will quickly vault back into the top 10 and they will once again establish themselves as the front-runners in the SEC West if Florida can beat LSU, as expected. And, of course, rest assured they are well aware of those facts. Make no mistake about it, there is a lot on the line here for Ole Miss, and they will play accordingly. Do not expect Colonel Reb to lay an egg Saturday afternoon.

I do think we are the better team here. We have a tad more top-end talent, and a good bit better quality depth throughout the roster. Nevertheless, again, this is a dangerous Ole Miss team that actually matches up with us pretty well thanks to the strength of their defensive front seven and their ability to rush the passer with a base four-man rush. If you think victory is a near certainty in this game, you really need to drink something other than the crimson Kool-Aid. This should be a close game, and if we play like we did last week in Lexington, we're probably in a lot of trouble. We are a better team here who is justifiably a slight favorite, but nevertheless we are going to have to play really well to go into Oxford and get this victory, and at the very least victory is unlikely to come without one hell of a fight.

Hope for the best.

Previewing Ole Miss at South Carolina: Q & A with Ghost of Chucky

Gamecock Man — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:42:29 -0000

Here's some more interviewage for ya, this time courtesy of Ghost of Chucky. My answers to his questions should be up later today.

1. There's a lot of talk about the Rebels being over-ranked at fourth in the country. Do you think they're overrated, or do you think they're capable of finishing the year in the top five? If you think they're overrated, what do you think more reasonable expectations might be?

As of today, yes. The Rebels are certainly "overrated." However, this is definitely a Top 15 team. It's a shame that Ole Miss' two opponents have been Memphis and SE Louisiana and, from what we've been told, the play calling was very vanilla for each of those two games.

Offensively, Jevan Snead has struggled to get his rhythm down. Furthermore, the passing game has relied heavily on out routes as opposed to looking down field in the first two games of the season. I would expect that to change starting Thursday.

There's no reason why the Rebels can't compete with Alabama for the West Division title. But if they want to, they're going to have to learn under fire in Columbia and Nashville over the next two weeks.

2. Ole Miss's defense has played well so far. Is that because it's better than advertised or because the competition has been soft? How will they handle an improved Carolina offense?

It's a combination of both. The defense, in my mind, is as good as advertised. It all starts with the defensive line. Believe it or not, Jerrell Powe is currently the anchor on that line. Guys like Kentrell Lockett and Marcus Tillman also big factors up front. Plus, it helps that Greg Hardy is going to be back in the line-up on Thursday after taking a week off due to injury.

The linebackers and defensive backs have been solid, so far, but they haven't been tested by a big-time quarterback, yet. Johnny Brown, Kendrick Lewis, and Fon Ingram lead the team in tackles through two games.

If the defensive front is able to put pressure on Stephen Garcia then the game, and pace, will play into Ole Miss' hands all night.

3. Name and describe one player that most Gamecocks fans haven't heard about yet that will have an impact on this game.

You may have heard of him, but WR Pat Patterson is going to be the next stud receiver in the SEC. The kid's a freshman and didn't get a chance to do a whole lot until last week where he racked up 4 catches for 59 yards and a touchdown. In the game against SE Louisiana it became clear that Snead's main targets in the passing game were Shay Hodge and Patterson. If Patterson can continue to contribute along with a guy like Dexter McCluster, it just makes the Rebel offense that much more dangerous.

4. Prediction. Who will win and what will the score be?

I'm going to go with Ole Miss in a close match-up. Given how inconsistent the offense has been for Ole Miss, I'm not very confident with my pick. It doesn't help that South Carolina has a defense that features a guy like Eric Norwood whom the young Ole Miss offensive line will have to target on every single play from scrimmage.

Post Game: SELA

Whiskey Wednesday — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:41:56 -0000

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KTHNXBAI!!!!!!12

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I'll go ahead and tell you upfront: this one's going to be pretty tame. And why not? I get another dose of Rebel football in four days, one that I'm pretty excited and nervous about. So why get myself going too early writing a post-game report about SELA? There were plenty of things to be excited about, nervous about, and just plain confused about. Hit the jump, unless you're a Markeith Summers fan...

First up, quarterbacks (I'll get to you in a minute, Markeith...). I thought Snead was more than adequate in this game, much, much improved over his Memphis effort. He was still a little bit stubborn about going through his progressions, picking up blitzes pre-snap, etc., but his arm and his eyes were much more effective this week. Catch some easy balls that ended up on the ground, and Snead's stats look much better, and most of the haters don't speak up. Even the throw to McCluster that was picked and negated with the interference call... that was fine. Easiest call of the game. The defender knocked Dex out of the way, with the ball still in the air, no question. It was a perfectly aimed ball, even if a little ill-advised.

There isn't a clear-cut superstar halfback in the conference right now, but Brandon Bolden might be the best all-around back in the SEC. Feed him the ball. Nomnomnomnomnom.

Cordera Eason and Enrique Davis both had scampers for scores that made the defense look silly, but both probably would have been eaten up for a loss by a decent team. Again: Bolden. Nomnomnom. 20 carries/game. Do it. Also, Tim Simon still wants to play.

Is losing Hartman for a while a big deal? I can't decide. He can certainly blow up a linebacker or three, but it seems like he misses his assignment sometimes, or doesn't square up properly. You shouldn't see defenders sliding off of the fullback's block so easily to get to the ball carrier. We seem like we have a deep stable of walk-ons from Tennessee private schools with rich parents and attitude problems. Let's give them a shot, and I think we'll be fine.

Receivers... Oh heavens, where to start? You were all pretty terrible, those of you not named Shay Hodge, Jesse Grandy, and Pat Patterson. I suppose that Jesse Grandy needs to prove at some point that he's a threat to catch a pass downfield, because people will start to realize pretty quickly why he's...

WE INTERRUPT THIS BROADCAST TO BRING YOU AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: SHAY HODGE, WIDE RECEIVER FOR THE OLE MISS REBELS, IS A TOTAL BADASS. THANK YOU. WE NOW RETURN TO YOUR REGULAR SCHEDULED PROGRAM.

...and that's how I discovered that Mark May was a transvestite. Where were we? Oh, receivers. Markeith Summers, Lionel Breaux, and Dexter McCluster all had pretty bad drops. Will that happen every week? Of course not. Did Pat Patterson just make Breaux and Summers look a lot less useful? You bet he did. He'll be making layout grabs and offering piggyback rides to defensive backs for a long time.

It was good to see Ferbia Allen earn some of Snead's trust, grabbing a couple of passes when Snead had Shay Hodge downfield with only 3 guys on him. I noticed that Allen and EJ Epperson both lined up more as H-backs at times, which was a look I hadn't noticed with Gerald Harris before. I don't know if that might be indicative of how he wants to use those two down the road, or not.

The offensive line: I wasn't paying attention to you. Every time I try to look at you, I miss a touchdown pass or something. Sorry, no offense, it's just that I like touchdown passes and I don't like fat people. You allowed one sack, and I feel like that was probably Snead's fault, because he looks at linebackers showing blitz, and thinks "yeah, I totally got that guy." Eat your Wheaties this week, because Eric Norwood is pretty good at football.

The defensive line is playing well, but not as well as last year. This has nothing to do with Peria Jerry, really; Powe has been our best lineman this year. This has more to do with the defensive ends over-pursuing and only using outside moves. Stay at home sometimes, guys. Don't try for a sack on every play, because sometimes, the quarterback will hand it to the short, fast, muscle-y guy standing next to him, and he'll run right past where you were two seconds ago. You can ask Coach Nix to tell you what a 'draw' is, though I'm not sure he knows himself.

You know what works against draws? Linebackers! Except not for ours. On any given draw play, our linebackers have erected a table somewhere in the back corner of the field, and are discussing the societal ramifications of the changing demographic landscape of Europe, enjoying a delightful cup of chamomile. With a dash of soy milk. Cream does a number on Allen Walker's sensitive stomach, after all. Seriously though. The draw play. It's killing me. The quarterback slips the ball to the running back, I look up field and I clench: uhohuhohuhoh OHNO SOMETHING'S WRONG!!! Because nobody's there. Fix. That. Shit. The jury may still be out on Stephen Garcia, but by God, he can pretend like he's passing, and then hand it off.

Secondary was fine. Johnny Brown looks like a superhero again, because he's having to tackle running backs all the time because NOBODY ELSE WOULD!

Marshay. Marshay, Marshay, Marshay. You set the record for "amount I've screamed at a player while up a million to 3."

3 botched punts? Really?

Speaking of punts... must we go there? Andrew Ritter and Tyler Campbell want your job, dude.

While that's all I have from the actual game, here are some Grove notes:

Grove etiquette (that means "manners"): Don't walk through someone else's tent, say "Excuse Me!" with an implied exclamation point, as if they are in your way. GTFO.

To the two fellows, also walking through our tent, who tried to start a fight upon being asked to cut the colorful language while in mixed company: I know that orange polo shirts were probably on an awesome sale at Old Navy, and that giant brass fishing hooks look bitchin' when perched on the bill of a camo visor, but please, go crawl back into the dark recesses of Lafayette County from whence you came. And cut the jew-fro; you look ridiculous. Not like a "grown-ass man" as you so eloquently described yourself. I don't fight inbreds in the mud while wearing my nice shoes, thanks.

To the 4 year-old girl who darted through our conversational circle, galoshes caked in mud, distressed look on your face: I hope you found your parents.

Let me know what you thought of the game, the Grove, the 58k we had in VHS for a DII school (crazy, huh?), etc. Have a nice weekend, and Hotty Toddy.

Rebel of the Week Poll Result - Week 1

Juco All-American — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:30:14 -0000

As of the moment of this sentence being written, Johnny Brown has 158 votes, while Dexter McCluster has 145. This poll was very interesting. Dexter jumped out to a huge lead, but Johnny fought back hard and finally overcame what seemed to be an insurmountable lead by McCluster.I think we all know the reason for the uncanny number of votes for Brown today and yesterday.

Yesterday, it was revealed that Johnny Brown, with 15 tackles in the game, was fighting the flu during the entire game. Brown threw up on the sideline and had to be given an IV at halftime. Still, "Touchdown" Johnny Brown would not be denied the opportunity to shine during his first start at strong safety. Brown had a huge interception early in the game that, while not actually leading to a turnover (due to a Brown "fumble"), pinned Memphis farther back down the field, giving the defense good field position.

Brown was all over the field on Sunday, and several times his tackles saved a would-be huge play from occuring.

So this one's to you Johnny. You earned it.

Rebel Roundup - 9/8/09

The Ghost of Jay Cutler — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:52:27 -0000

by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

Jevan Snead is likely to be sick. Bradley Sowell cannot block the H1N1 virus to save his life, it seems.

View full size photo »

We took the day off yesterday
Get over it. There will be a post-splosion today so come early and come often. We've got lots to do.

Dozen Ole Miss Rebels hit by Flu-like Symptoms | ESPN.com
Well damn, that explains a lot. Clayton Moore, Jevan Snead's roommate, is one of the many Rebels with (what I am assuming is) Swine Flu, likely already exposing the star quarterback. What is also especially badass is Johnny Brown playing through his illness; even throwing up on the sidelines (take that, Liberty Bowl) and taking intravenous fluids at the half. Get it, Johnny.

Are You Buying the Ole Miss Rebels | FanPost
I'll bite. I normally wouldn't link to a plug in the FanPosts but I'll see what this guy has to say. I'd suggest you do to.

NY Post Inadvertently sums-up the fall of Miami-Florida State | Dr. Saturday
So it isn't exclusively an Ole Miss/Mississippi State problem! That makes me feel much, much better about all of this. If the national media can screw up Miami vs. Florida state as Miami (OH) vs. Florida (Gators) then they're capable of any asinine media gaff. I've said it a thousand times: New Yorkers should not be allowed to opine on college football, ever. You let us make up your mind for you, and if I ever need an idea as to what's going on in the AL East race I'll shout y'all a holla. Cool?

Post-Game: Memphis State

Whiskey Wednesday — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:11:07 -0000

by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

"Hi, I'm Jevan Snead, and hopefully, I'm really hung over right now."

View full size photo »

Good riddance, Memphis. We beat you by 31, and we weren't happy about it, except for the fact that we won't be playing you again for several years. And haters from Arkansas, Memphis, MSU, and wherever else: we didn't play like a top 10 team today. We know that. But when the polls come out this week, guess what? We'll be in the top 10. You won't. I'm convinced that we have a team that can play at a top 10, even top 5 level, but that obviously didn't happen this week. So what went wrong? What went right? Click that jump button, playa...

First off: if we ever decide to renew this wretched little series, we could move the game to December 1, and it would still be 95 degrees with bright sun and 300% humidity in the Liberty Bowl. Ugh.

Second: Selling beer is a bad idea at Ole Miss games. Don't crucify me, because it's freaking true. Did I have a couple before the game? Absolutely. Did I have a couple back in Oxford later tonight? Absolutely. But for the 21 year-old kids in the section around us, buying beer at a football game was such a damn novelty that the spectacle that is Ole Miss football was completely ignored, and the sport of the day devolved into a marathon relay of beer runs. The fishing shirt-clad fellow next to us had his girlfriend run her pretty self down into the tunnel to fetch beer roughly 42 times during the game. I was both annoyed, and a little bit jealous. A beer-fetcher like that is one to hold on to, friends.

But seriously, there's no need for beer. Let me know if you're having trouble getting alcohol into the stadium, and I'll let you in on a little trade secret: carry half of your booze in your girl's purse, and the other half in your bloodstream. There, that wasn't so hard now, was it?

A sociological side-note, the Memphis fan demographic is experiencing a dramatic shift. Fewer and fewer faded jerseys, jean shorts, mullets and the like. More and more gelled/dyed hair, man-capris, visors, with a few sets of faux-rich frat getups mixed in. It's as if they finally realized that they were trashy, but couldn't decide whether to imitate USM or Ole Miss as a remedy. Either way, you all still look ridiculous.

As for the football game: well then, where do we start?

Jevan Snead will be fine, I've decided. Last year, he needed some time to shake off the rust, had a shaky start against Memphis, a burst of brilliance against Wake, then slowly climbed out of mediocrity until hitting his stride late in the season. Obviously he needs to keep things simple, to worry about just getting the ball in the hands of his playmakers, and work hard to get himself mentally right. Call Nutt a QB killer if you want, but he's a coach first, not a QB psychologist. Snead has the potential; he's already displayed it against major opponents last year. He's just got to get his head stable. He'll be alright, but still, it's safe to say that we're all glad that Bama isn't next week.

Running backs were fine. Bolden looked like he wasn't even trying. Enrique lit a fire under himself. Andy Hartmann made some fantastic blocks. Moving on...

The receivers were pretty underutilized today. Most of the problem was the vanilla playcalling, coupled with Jevan finding his security blankets in Hodge and McCluster when he wasn't hitting the throws like he wanted. Glad to see that Jesse Grandy will have a chance as the main motion guy in the Wild Rebel. I think that's his strong suit, and his best chance to make plays without taking many hard hits. Shay Hodge is still amazing. If I were an offensive coordinator scheming against Memphis, I'd have thrown it up to Hodge a lot more than we did.

The line... I can't decide what to think. Snead was sacked only once by a Memphis D that wanted to hit him pretty badly, and that one sack was a result of him holding onto the ball for way too long. Bradley Sowell might be plenty serviceable after a few more games. I don't think it's time to do anything drastic until he starts totally blowing blocks. Speaking of missing blocks, John Jerry was sub-par today. Having never played offensive line, I can't imagine the cohesion necessary to have a solid pass-blocking line. This line will have to gel quickly, but I think we'll be alright, especially when we put Rishaw Johnson back in his starting slot. Having Brandon Green, AJ Hawkins, Bobby Massie, and others as subs makes me feel pretty good. We need to stay injury free, but those guys will all be decent reserves this year.

The defensive line... We saw their potential, but it was a little frustrating when it seemed like they were overeager to fly into the backfield for a sack, only to see the running back slicing through the rest of the defense behind them. A little discipline from the D line goes a long way against a spread team. Jerrell Powe looks possessed; he's going to be awesome. Lockett showed that the attention he got last year in Hardy's absence was totally merited. He did overpursue a few times, but he made it obvious that he'll be tough to block 1-on-1 all year. Marcus Tillman was more dynamic than I've ever seen him. He had 7 tackles and showed speed in backside pursuit of the Memphis running backs a couple of times. Lamark Armour played, and wasn't bad at all. Good to know that we have four tackles we can use, and a fifth when Justin Smith returns.

I wanted to see more big plays out of the linebackers, but I guess this wasn't the offense to do it against. DT Shackleford is headed towards a great career. He's instinctive and he can run and hit really well. He will continue to steal time from Cornell, especially if the arm tackles continue from the starters. Allen Walker had a few good plays in run support. Since he was recruited as a safety, I keep wanting him to make plays in the passing game like Ashlee Palmer did, but I haven't seen it yet. Patrick Trahan didn't look like an elite linebacker today. Too early to tell for sure, but for now, we have three solid SEC starters, at least two good SEC backups, but no stars at linebacker.

The defensive backs played with swagger. This was a great performance, and the play of Jeremy McGee and Marcus Temple was really surprising. Johnny Brown led the team in tackles with 15, though that's probably a bad thing. It's encouraging that the secondary was good without any huge plays from Kendrick Lewis. Cassius Vaughn had a stellar play against Singleton where he got a good read on the ball, made a nice jump, and kept his hands in Singleton's grill until the pass fell to the ground. A solid, solid play against a huge guy like him. Fon Ingram listened to Coach Kennedy (who was probably yelling at someone, somewhere), and Justified His Existence. A great (if lucky) read, and a fluid catch and return.

OK, Spirit readers, you got us. Andrew Ritter is really good. He kicked the crap out of it when he was supposed to, kicked it high for the coverage team when he was supposed to. He's good. There, we said it.

The officiating, which I usually gripe about, was consistent and fair. There was that one laughable pass interference call on a play where the ball had already hit the ground, and the Memphis receiver initiated the contact. That was pretty terrible. Other than that, the refs did a good job of not letting the game devolve into whatever limp-wristed, no-contact slap-fight that Georgia was forced to comply with at T. Boone Pickens stadium. Yes, Big XII, if we aren't allowed to hit you hard, you'll probably win. Congrats.

One last thing before I turn in for the night: Memphis fans, you are pathetic. After the Tigers scored to make it 24-14, a good section of your crowd near the north endzone started an "overrated" cheer... While down by ten, late in the game, knowing full well that you were going to lose. That's weak shit, Memphis fans. You're bitter, obnoxious, irrelevant, and small. By claiming that a team is overrated when they're beating you by ten in your own shitty stadium, when this is the most important game of the year to you, what are you saying about yourselves? Anyways, thanks for the win; I guess we'll play another soft game, then go on to some nationally relevant college football. Have fun doing whatever it is you do between now and basketball season.

That's all for tonight. Let me know what you think (unless you're an Arkansas fan), and don't miss the Roundtable tomorrow.

Goodnight, and Hotty Toddy.

Practice Report: 8/12

Whiskey Wednesday — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:08:41 -0000

So the team came out in full shells today. I swear, I about foamed at the mouth when I heard the first good crack of the shoulder pads. And as you might expect in the first day of pads, the defense was on fire, talking trash, and generally taking out their frustrations on the white-clad offenders. I watched the offensive line intensely today, but as a 5’10, 175 pounder, my (limited) football experience occurred outside of the hashes, so I have a hard time telling exactly what’s going on in the trenches. That said, here are the notes for the day.

In scrimmage, Snead was something like 8/15 by my count, but it’s hard to keep track of who’s under center and where all the passes ended up when you’re on your tiptoes behind a bunch of much taller guys.

None of the other quarterbacks showed much today. Stanley again played more than Tapp, and Cotton had a mishandled snap that the defense ate up, as well as a few mediocre passes. Despite the poor results, his passes are looking a little sharper. I’d blame most of the quarterbacks’ struggles on a lively defense and very basic offensive playcalling. It wasn’t as if they were trying too hard to fool anyone.

I’ll continue to pimp Rodney Scott until I see reason not to. He’s shifty, and his vision and balance show promise. I want to see this kid play. Tim Simon also continues to impress me. It’d be a shame to pull an Antonio Turner on him and move a perfectly good back to the defense, especially when he’s busting ass out there like that.

The receivers are a unit that needs to step it up. Snead found Breaux settling in some zone pockets today, but other than that, open men were hard to find. Ja-Mes Logan had some chances to make amazing catches today, but didn’t bring down any of the tough grabs. Same could be said for Patterson, though he’s going up against the starters more often, so the competition is tougher. Overall, nothing the receivers did really wowed me except for a couple of layout grabs, one on a slant by Dex, another on a comeback route by Andrew Harris. Both were well covered, but both guys came down with it. Melvin Harris continues to impress me with his speed getting off the line, but I’m still waiting to see Snead throw a jump ball his direction. He did muscle by a corner playing inside man on him to make a nice catch over the middle.

Contartesi continues to catch a lot of balls. Maybe he’ll play. Sorry if that doesn’t excite me. I like height and size, not spunk and daughter date-ability.

Z Mason showed some tenacity blocking today, but the only pass I saw come his way was a low hummer from Cotton that the coaches thought Z could’ve caught.

Sowell had a much better day than he did yesterday. He seems like he’s pretty good at turning his man away from the play, but not so great at just blowing their shit up. He made me feel a little better, but I still want to see more strength from him.

Massie spent most of his time on the 2nd team today, but performed pretty well. I want to see him move a little faster to engage his blocker, and move to the second level.

Brandon Green took first team snaps at right guard today instead of Rishaw Johnson. Didn’t notice if Rishaw was playing on the 2nd team or not, or if he was just out for some reason.

The offense set up several halfback screens today, and most of the time, the line did a good job of getting downfield to block.

Gerald Pow got him a innerception!!!!!!@omgomgomg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Seriously though, Powe did make a sticky-fingered pick on a ball that was still moving pretty fast, and turned it upfield with an alacrity that had people’s jaws dropping, followed by uncontrollable laughter. Sorry Jerrell, you look hilarious when you sprint. The defense on the sidelines went nuts (NUTTS!!!!LOLOLOL) and rushed the field. I narrowly avoided trample-ation by the jubilant defenders.

I was impressed by Hardy at times today, but other times, it still looked obvious that he was taking it slow. Fine by me. Just get ready to destroy Stephen Garcia.

The linebackers are looking fast, and I’ve been excited about this group since the end of last year. People who think this will be a weakness are wrong. These guys can play. The freshmen will end up providing good depth by midseason. Kight looks really thick. He had a pass deflection that ended up being caught anyways, but he did a good job finding the ball in the air. Bad luck.

K. Lewis had a pick today, on a pressure by Kentrell Lockett. J. McGee added another on a pass that was left short by Stanley. Marcus Temple manned up well against Andrew Harris in a redzone situation. Harris could’ve caught it, but Temple got his hands in Harris’ face and wrenched it away.

Barksdale got in for a couple of plays today, but he was the only one not wearing pads, so he didn’t hit anyone. I’ll try to watch Johnny Brown some more as the scrimmages get more realistic; I’m interested to see how he picks up the defensive schemes.

Sound bytes from today:

"DON’T HURT HIM, BOBBY!!" -- another linemen, after Massie roughed up Emmanuel McCray

"This staff didn’t used to like little guys… Now they’re signing ‘em like… popcorn" –a friend of Yancy Porter’s, and fellow abuser of English slangs and idioms.

"Terry Price leads the SEC in cusswords per second, not even close" –Sideline observer

"Dexter McCluster is my friend!!! I know him!!!" –Greg Hardy, after a trick play converted by Dex

"Coach's gonna make us do up n' downs after practice. It's our reward/punishment. He don't like it when the D dominates. Kinda bittersweet... Like Sour Patch kids" -- defender who will remain unnamed, in the interest of not getting him in trouble. It was too funny to leave out.

That’s all I’ve got for now, tune in tomorrow, and don’t miss this weekend, when JUCO will actually show his face in Oxford and accompany me at practice.

Previewing Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss: Secondary

Seth C — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 18:00:05 -0000

SECONDARY

Player	Ht/Wt	Class	Position	Tackles	Passes Defended	Interceptions
Jamar Wall	5'10"/195	Jr.	CB	59	10	2
L.A. Reed	6'2"/212	Sr.	CB	19	3	0
Brent Nickerson	6'0"/195	Jr.	CB	26	1	0
Darcel McBath	6'1"/196	Sr.	S	70	7	6
Daniel Charbonnet	5'11"/203	Sr.	S	55	6	5
Anthony Hines	6'1"/222	Sr.	S	30	4	0
Jordy Rowland	6'1"/196	Sr.	S	27	3	0
Franklin Mitchem	6'2"/201	So.	S	15	0	0
Marshay Green	5'9"/170	Jr.	CB	29	6	1
Cassius Vaughn	5'10"/185	Jr.	CB	40	3	2
Dustin Mouzon	5'11"/175	Sr.	CB	22	1	1
Marcus Temple	5'9"/181	Fr.	CB	16	1	0
Jamarca Sanford	5'10"/200	Sr.	S	80	0	0
Kendrick Lewis	5'11"/192	Jr.	S	78	6	4
Johnny Brown	5'11"/207	So.	S	27	0	0

Texas Tech

Darcel McBath plays offense?
Nah, he just likes interceptions.

If there's one thing that this group improved upon from last year, it's the turnovers. Granted, a number of the interceptions were early in the year, the fact that this group, as a whole has been better at creating turnovers, so much so as this year's group is on the plus side of turnover margin, something that hasn't happened in the previous 2 seasons.

In fact, for the year, the Red Raiders had more interceptions, 17, that touchdowns given up, 16. That's a pretty amazing statistic and a testament to the progress this team has made defensively. And one other thing, this team had at least 1 interception for all but 3 games this year. Turnover and play making machines.

The passing yards given up can be deceiving, Texas Tech is giving up 238.08 yards a game through the air, which is 91st in the nation, but good for 3rd in the Big 12. I think that says a little something about the Big 12 offenses, or rather offenses in the big 12 in general. They are just simply prolific.

I don't know if it's fair to say that the offense begins with one safety or another, Daniel Charbonnet or Darcel McBath and it's probably fair just to think of them as being 1.A and 1.B. in terms of importance for this team. I thought McBath did an outstanding job later in the year, displaying his athletic ability that I thought we all knew that he had, but we didn't get to see until later in the year. D. Charbonnet was/is the guy that no one thought was going to be anything special, but has turned into an all-conference player. To me, they are both absolutely integral in stopping both the run and the pass. McBath led the team with 6 interceptions for the year, 3 of those coming against Kansas while D. Charbonnet had 5 for the year, 3 of those against SMU and 1 very important one against the Longhorns.

At cornerback, L.A. Reed was supposed to be the starter from the beginning of the season, but injuries kept Reed sidelined for the beginning part of the year, which slowed his development. Brent Nickerson stepped in nicely, although he had his rough spots, most cornerbacks do, but thought he did a good job for the most part.

If you had asked me to name all of the cornerbacks that have logged significant time this year I would have surely said more than the 3 listed above, but amazingly, Ruffin McNeill relied on his deep group of safeties to help in the sub-packages.

Anthony Hines, Jordy Rowland and Franklin Mitchem each have good size, speed and experience. I think that's by design as McNeill would rather have versatile guys who can play and cover multiple positions.

Mississippi

Jamarca Sanford makes you close your eyes.

The Rebels have a little strange in their pass defense thus far. When the Rebels limit opposing teams in the passing game, they win, when they don't . . . they lose.

In Ole Miss' 8 wins, the Rebels have only allowed teams to pass at 6.1 yards/attempt, gained 12 interceptions, given up only 6 touchdowns and allowed a passer rating of 102.63. In their 4 losses it's a completely different game as Ole Miss allows 7.9 yards/attempt, only intercepted 2 passes, given up 8 touchdowns, and allowed a passer rating of 156.84. Keep in mind that of Mississippi's 4 losses, 3 came against competent passing teams in Wake Forest, South Carolina and Alabama (questionable). The other loss was Vanderbilt, which only passed for 71 yards for the game so that tended to throw off the averages a bit, although Vandy was wildly successful passing the ball when they did (a 152.20 passer rating).

Perhaps the most interesting thing as I looked up players and stats for Ole Miss was the relatively size of these guys. All of them are under 6 feet, although, quite a few of them are close, and there should inherently be some advantages for the bigger/taller Texas Tech receivers (Crabtree, Lewis, Swindall, Leong and James).

Back to the Ole Miss secondary, the Rebel secondary is mostly comprised of cornerbacks, almost the exact opposite of the methods attempted by Texas Tech. Sanford and Lewis have a majority of the tackles and interceptions and the 4 cornerbacks, Green, Vaughn, Mouzon and Temple have all logged significant time, although Green and Vaughn are the primary corners. Considering that Texas Tech will go 4-wide and I would imagine that the linebackers will see some time, Mouzon and Temple will be tested early and often.

Conclusion:

Another tough matchup to decide and as we've discussed before, this type of look at each of the units tends to favor one over another because the conferences where they play. I mentioned above each teams' passer ratings and pass defense and Ole Miss ranks 61st in pass defense (PD) and 44th in pass efficiency defense (PED). Texas Tech ranks 91st in PD and 67th in PED. Texas Tech is worse in PD than Ole Miss, but is ranked 3rd in the Big 12, while Ole Miss is better, but ranks 11th in their conference.

Team	PED (Conf. Rank)	PD (Conf. Rank)
Texas Tech	127.46 (3)	238.08 (3)
Mississippi	118.91 (8)	209.83 (11)

Again, it's tough comparing apples to oranges, but statistically, Ole Miss has been better defending the pass, and although these numbers don't necessarily play this out, there are some numbers that I've found that I hope to post later in the week regarding Texas Tech struggling to stop the pass.

I'm giving the nod to Ole Miss, but again, it's close.

Previous Matchups

Quarterbacks :: Running Backs :: Receiver :: Offensive Line :: Defensive Line :: Linebackers :: Secondary :: Special Teams :: Coaching

Matchup	Advantage
Quarterback
Running Back
Receivers
Offensive Line
Defensive Line
Linebacker
Secondary

Poll

Who do you favor in this matchup of secondaries?

Texas Tech

83 votes

Mississippi

41 votes

124 votes | Poll has closed