SB Nation - John Jerry

All-Blog All-SEC: The Offensive Line

Ivory Tower — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:51:19 -0000

Our dear friends at Team Speed Kills have once again herded the blog-cats of the SEC into compiling a series of awards and recognitions not tainted by mainstream media prejudices and people who otherwise just don't have time to watch football. We're proud to participate.

One thing about the Southeastern Conference is that - to a large extent - stories have a way of repeating themselves. The names change, the stadiums expand, and the list of defeated, deflated Big Ten fan bases grows longer, but the storylines remain basically the same. This year, the All-SEC Offensive Line is all about big men from traditionally strong high school dynasties, family, and menacing-sounding names.

The best hawg-maulies of the hawg-mauliest conference in the land are after the jump.

MIKE JOHNSON 6'6", 305 (UNANIMOUS) - UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA

For the second year in a row, the most dominant offensive lineman in the conference plays for Nick Saban, this year, however, it is the man who played in place of the injured Andre Smith in the Sugar Bowl. While that New Orleans night was not the one the most Tide fans want to remember, Johnson has led a Bama line that has totally redeemed itself. The BCS National Championship Game will be Johnson's 37th straight start, and his unit - lowest in the SEC in sacks allowed, 14th in the nation in rushing yards per game, and the only unit ever to make room for Greg McElroy to be the SEC Championship Game MVP - can realistically be called the most important to Alabama's undefeated season.

MAURKICE POUNCEY 6'5", 312 - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

The first-team All American junior center has been hiking the ball to Tim Tebow for the last two years and started 11 games at Right Tackle his freshman year. He won the Rimington Trophy. And I'm sure it's through some sports information director related mix-up that he, too, was not a unanimous selection to our meaningless hypothetical team. This will, no doubt, be the source of great controversy. He and brother Mike are undecided about their future at Florida, but I predict that their momma will soon have a garage that is more elaborate than any house you've ever seen.

CIRON BLACK 6'5", 322 - LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY

Black has started 52 games at LSU, the last 25 at left tackle, successfully protecting LSU quarterbacks long enough for them to make the confusing poor choices that have plagued the men in golden britches over the last two years. While his quarterbacks have left something to be desired, Black has played like a crazy man (for the crazy man that coaches him, I suppose) - playing every offensive snap in 10 of the Tigers' 12 games.

MIKE POUNCEY 6'4", 313 - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

Twin brother of Florida's starting center Maurkice, this Pouncey is listed as being a little smaller than his brother, but I defy you to tell him that to his face. CBS rates him as the second-best offensive guard available in the draft. In the final game of the regular season against rival Florida State, Mike turned in his performance of the year, grading out at 96 percent and earning Lineman of the Week honors from the SEC.

JOHN JERRY 6'6" 335 - UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI

Before coming to Ole Miss, Jerry earned his B.A. in badass from the "University of South Panola" - unquestionably, the greatest high school football dynasty in the history of Mississippi, winning 6 of the last 7 state titles. A four-year starter with 46 starts under his belt, Jerry has been a consistent contributor to the resurrection of Ole Miss' program. Scout rates him the 7th best guard eligible in the draft. In addition to being named to every All-SEC team I've seen, Jerry was also selected a third-team All-American by The Sporting News for his efforts in leading an Ole Miss line that allowed just 14 sacks this season.

Rebel Roundup - 12/16/09

The Ghost of Jay Cutler — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:58:35 -0000

More photos » by Don Ryan - AP

University of Texas-El paso guard Julyan Stone, left, drives downcourt against Oregon State forward Omari Johnson. The Rebels square off against the Miners tonight in Southaven.

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Ole Miss vs. UTEP Preview | CBS Sports
What are you doing tonight? The semester is over, South Park isn't airing a new episode, and you're naturally going to wait until tomorrow morning to listen to the first 20 minutes of Red Cup Radio before getting tired of us; so allow me to make a suggestion: Go to Southaven to watch the Rebels take on the Miners of UTEP. This, along with our matchup against West Virginia on the 23rd, is our last big out of conference test before the rigors of SEC play so, if you're within an hour's drive of Memphian suburbia, don't be lame and be there for your Rebel basketball team. We will bring you a preview of our own later today.

Weekly Watch: Week 4 | ESPN
ESPN's weekly watch gives the Kansas State Wildcats, a team whose only loss comes to our Rebels, some mad props and says this in its places to be segment:

Southaven, Miss., Wednesday: UTEP, my personal sleeper, travels to the suburbs of Memphis to play Ole Miss in an attempt to get some national recognition. This should be one of the better games of the week between two teams that have had little national profile so far but could make some noise in March.

You see! Even ESPN says so! DO NOT BE A BAD REBEL.

Cotton Bowl Practice: The Rise of Tig | Brandt
We've talked to some folks and Brandt has only confirmed what they've told us: Tig is tearing it up in practice. And not just as a safety, where he is apparently playing well, but also as a halfback. Per the Cup's rapscallion of a rival, took his very first handoff in practice to the house. Welcome back, Tig. Stay out of trouble and you'll do well here. Also beyond that link are some interesting notes on Patrick Trahan, Raymond Cotton, and others. That, and epically ridiculous Clarion Ledger comments threads, but that's to be expected by now.

Dexter McCluster and John Jerry, 3rd Team AA | More Brandt
Briefly, Dexter McCluster was named a 3rd team All-American All-Purpose Back and John Jerry named a 3rd team Tackle. Congratulations, Dex and Baby J.

All-SEC Ballot: Draft

Gamecock Man — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:04:08 -0000

The SEC Power Poll is hosting an All-SEC poll. Here is a draft that reflects my first impressions--let me know what you think, and we may revise a bit if necessary.

Offense

QB: Ryan Mallett (Arkansas Razorbacks)

RB: Mark Ingram (Alabama Crimson Tide)

RB: Dexter McCluster (Ole Miss Rebels)

OG: Mike Johnson (Alabama Crimson Tide)

OG: Mike Pouncey (Florida Gators)

OT: Ciron Black (LSU Tigers)

OT: John Jerry (Ole Miss Rebels)

C: Maurkice Pouncey (Florida Gators)

TE: Aaron Hernandez (Florida Gators)

WR: A.J. Green (Georgia Bulldogs)

WR: Shay Hodge (Ole Miss Rebels)

Defense

DE: Cliff Matthews (South Carolina Gamecocks)

DE: Antonio Coleman (Auburn Tigers)

DT: Terrence Cody (Alabama Crimson Tide)

DT: Malcolm Sheppard (Arkansas Razorbacks)

LB: Eric Norwood (South Carolina Gamecocks)

LB: Rolando McClain (Alabama Crimson Tide)

LB: Rennie Curran (Georgia Bulldogs)

CB: Javier Arenas (Alabama Crimson Tide)

CB: Patrick Peterson (LSU Tigers)

S: Eric Berry (Tennessee Volunteers)

S: Joe Haden (Florida Gators)

Special Teams

PK: Blair Walsh (Georgia Bulldogs)

P: Drew Butler (Georgia Bulldogs)

RS: Javier Arenas (Alabama Crimson Tide)

You've got some explaining to do...

Many of these choices go without questions; nobody, for instance, will disagree with me about Mark Ingram, Rolando McClain, or Eric Berry. However, I do have a few bones to pick with conventional wisdom. Here's how I see such cases:

Ryan Mallett / Tim Tebow

As most people around here know, I'm a pretty big Tebow fan. The guy has had a great career, and although his sanctimonious, humble-but-really-not attitude can get to you sometimes, overall I don't have too many problems with him as a media phenomenon. It is what is. However, while I've been as guilty as anyone when it comes to giving Tebow confidence by inertia, I've come to believe it has to stop somewhere: Mallett was just better this year.

By the way, Ryan, if you're reading this, go to the NFL.

Dexter McCluster / Anthony Dixon

OK. I believe Anthony Dixon had a better year than McCluster at RB. However, I also believe that McCluster was one of the best and most valuable players in the SEC. I'm talking about on a par with Tebow, Ingram, you name it. So, I think we have to get him on the list somewhere. This is where I'm putting him. Unfortunately for him, McCluster was probably never used in the right way enough; this guy really was a minor Reggie-Bush-like talent.

Cliff Matthews / Carlos Dunlap

Dunlap is a jackass that showed his true colors when he signed with Florida instead of Sou...wait, when he drunkenly fell asleep at the wheel before the biggest SECCG ever. He failed his team. Despite his talent, that failure will always make him worse than Matthews in my mind.

Rennie Curran / Brandon Spikes

What can I say? I know it's surprising to see an UGA player on the defensive first team, but I think Curran is a great player. That might have something to do with his success against USC, but whatever. If this guy had a halfway decent DC, he'd be the talk of the nation. Spikes is a great player, but he's also a cog in a machine to some degree.

Well, that's a wrap on this draft. Let me know what you think.

Rebel Roundup - 12/8/09 - A bunch of Nutt to Kansas talk

The Ghost of Jay Cutler — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:05:27 -0000

More photos » by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

I honestly can't say I'd miss him all that much if he were to go.

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All-SEC Team | SEC Sports dot com
Dexter McCluster, John Jerry, and Shay Hodge are first teamers, while Jerrell Powe and Dexter McCluster are second teamers. Yes, Dexter McCluster is both first team (APB) and second team (HB) in the nation's greatest football conference. All hail Dexter McCluster.

The Coaches' Poll Is Bat Country | SB Nation
In mocking the voters in the USA Today coaches poll, SBNation's Holly Anderson says:

But the clear "winner", if that's the right term, is Mississippi State's Dan Mullen, who has Georgia Tech and LSU in his top ten, no vote for Stanford or West Virginia, Utah at No. 16, Houston at No. 17, and Ole Miss at No. 19. Pssst, Mullen: Houston Nutt's got the yeehaw-crazy schtick all sewn up in your state. And there ain't room for two of him.

I'm just surprised the people at USA Today could interpret Dan Mullen's ballot, what with it being a list of schools given only in obscure geographic terms and all (ed: that sounds like a great post idea) (ed by Juco: why did you put an editor's note into your own post?).

Get to Know a Coaching Candidate | Rock Chalk Talk
Now into the fun football rumor of the week (a rumor which caused Google to send approximately a billion people to the Cup yesterday), the folks at SBNation's Kansas Jayhawk's site, Rock Chalk Talk, take a look at Houston Nutt's career in an attempt to determine if he's right for Kansas.

Houston Nutt? Kansas?!? | Team Speed Kills
Cock 'n' Fire is rightfully dumbfounded by this rumor:

Why on earth would Houston Nutt leave a semi-successful rebuilding job at Ole Miss to coach at a basketball school in the Big XII? I mean, aside from things like an undiagnosed mental illness...Maybe they don't have open-records laws in Kansas; I'm not sure.

Brandt's Info on the Situation
David Brandt reports that Shepard Smith says the rumor is totally bogus. I'll sleep better now. (Actually, I was sleeping fine anyway.)

Post Game: Tennessee, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Nutt

Whiskey Wednesday — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:09:38 -0000

More photos » by RYAN MOORE - AP

GG, TTYL, LOL!!

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So, we totally fucked Tennessee up. I feel like I can say that this week without fear of a 100 comment bitch-fest by Arkansas fans about how... well, it's hard to understand them through the bad grammar, and the tears on the keyboard and whatnot, but they were bitching about something. Anyways, UT fans know they have a good team, they know they got whipped by a better-prepared squad, and they know that they could easily return the favor next year. They appeared to be exceptionally good sports. But for now...

Thrashing an SEC opponent feels good. Thrashing a historically strong SEC opponent on a fantastic Fall afternoon, going out on the Square, while not having to worry about the Internet fallout from the opposing fans' various personality disorders... feels fucking amazing. Before I dive into any real analysis, I'd like to send thoughts out to LaMarcus Thompson, the injured UT linebacker. Apparently, the prognosis is good, likely no more than a stinger, but this is not the first such injury for Thompson. Be careful, LaMarcus, it's only football.

Let's talk about replay for a moment; I don't think the topic has been mentioned much this year, so I feel like my opinion needs to get out there (/sarcasm). Seriously though, what the fuck!? Jevan's run on 3rd down leaves him splayed out across the Ole Miss logo on midfield, practically his whole body past the marker. 4th down. The offense lines up, snaps the ball (replay is no longer an option at this point, remember), and the play is "stopped" after Snead clearly picks up the first down. After an illegal review, the play stands, even though there is precisely zero chance that the ball was not advanced past the marker. The offense lines up again, Snead dives again, converting the first down (for the 3rd time, now), and comes up limping on his ankle. Thanks, replay! With LSU's prison rape-esque treatment by the replay officials last week, and the circus at the Notre Dame/Pitt game that may cost Charlie Weiss his job... something's gotta give. I'd love for someone more industrious than me to study the effectiveness (or more realistically, perceived effectiveness) of replay over the past three years or so.

The New Offense looks incredible, and not just the part where we hand it to Dexter thirty times. In case you didn't notice, we incorporated:

1. A really effective misdirected draw play

2. Some option read opportunities for Jevan, where he can toss to Grandy on the end around, or hand off to McCluster.

3. A screen for Shay Hodge, with Markeith Summers blocking

4. Some pass plays designed for Brandon Bolden. (I'm convinced that he's hurt, but we still need his reliability out there)

5. A new setup along the line, with Bobby Massie at right tackle and John Jerry at right guard. I'd been dogging Jerry's play at RT all season, so it's nice to see him back at the position he'll play in the NFL.

Everything seemed planned, everyone looked calm and competent. Except for a few glaring errors by Bradley Sowell (I'd even credit Snead's interception directly to Sowell getting reverse pancaked), the offense is performing like we thought they could.

The defense quietly had a good day. Injuries have carved into our depth a little bit, and we'll need guys like DT Shackleford and Lamar Brumfield to return if we're going to have a complete defensive showing against LSU. Still, 17 points agaist a Crompton-led offense used to be about normal, but in case you hadn't noticed, he's been pretty excellent lately, and put his team in a position to make the game much closer than it was.

Jerrell Powe had a fantastic game. Having a defensive tackle who can explode through the line like that changes the entire defensive dynamic. He continues to be an excellent replacement for Peria Jerry, which is more than we could've asked from him. Jerrell, please don't go pro.

Cassius Vaughn... welcome back, big guy! We're playing LSU next week, wanna come play?

Lastly, recruiting fanatics: if we sign a 5'7, shifty guy this year, hold off on the Dexter McCluster comparisons. Dex is making a case for being one of the best players in Ole Miss history. I hate to make premature claims like that, but damn. Percy Harvin is a poor man's Dexter McCluster. NFL defenses, watch out.

As much trouble as I had feeling good about this Ole Miss team since the loss to South Carolina... here we are. We're playing LSU next week, and the game means something. If we win, LSU's stock plummets and ours soars. We'll have a chance of surpassing our record from last year, and the chance to play in Orlando or Tampa, against a Big Ten team we've never played before. That's pretty exciting. Also, the Grove is going to be FUCKING EPIC. This week can't go by fast enough.

Have a great Sunday, Rebel fans, and Hotty Toddy.

POST GAME: NAU

The Ghost of Jay Cutler — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:32:14 -0000

More photos » by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

You looked pretty good, Herrick. We'll give it to you.

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Is this really even necessary. I guess so, if only for the sake of continuity. I do feel though that all of us can agree that the last several days have been difficult days to be Ole Miss Rebels. The Auburn loss preceding an early November cupcake mixed in with a dash of "OLE MISS IS RRRAAACCCIISSTTT" controversy all haven't made this very fun.

We'll mope about this post game thingy half-assedly but, rest assured, tomorrow will bring another HATE WEEK and more of what folks 'round here expect.

Alright, NAU. Where to begin?

Michael Herrick looked alright out there for the Lumberjacks. The guy isn't bowl-level talent, but he makes good decisions and showed great touch on the ball. It also doesn't help that he has the Jordan Shipley of FCS ball, Caucasian McI'mnotgonnalookitup. Michael, sorry it didn't work out for you here at Ole Miss. I'm sure you're a good guy who will end up coaching ball in Valencia or something.

NAU's offense is well run. They were outmanned, for sure, but they were efficient and smart, making the best of what was, for them, a very bad situation. I guess if you don't have the brawn you'll need the brain.

Their defense wasn't anything special, which is obviously why Jevan Snead and the coaches felt he needed to do them a few favors with some stupid decisions. Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh to criticize the coaching because, barring something incredibly bizarre, we were not going to lose on Saturday. We simply weren't. We could have run the same play fifty times and still had more than NAU's 14 points.

Still though, Jevan Snead makes poor decisions and dances around the pocket rather foolishly, even against far inferior competition. To be fair, Rebel receivers not named Shay Hodge aren't doing him any favors (HEY LIONEL BREAUX YOU NEED TO WORK ON CATCHING A DAMN BALL SIGNED EVERYBODY WHO WATCHES YOU PLAY OK THANK YOU GOODBYE) and a whole bunch of linemen were suspended, but the guy has been a nervous wreck damn near all season long.

And I don't care if Bradley Sowell and John Jerry were suspended for something or another; SEC backups, especially gigantic mutant super-recruits, should be able to handle a bunch of undersized FCS linemen who likely played their high school ball at Tempe Academy or Phoenix Prep.

Ugh. This is harder than I thought it would be. Okay, deep breaths. Moving on.

Dex wasn't used which is fine. We didn't need to win with style, we justneeded to win. I'm fine with the coaches having kept him out of the action.

The defensive line was great on several plays, and disappointing on others. Powe blowing up the interior of the Lumberjack's line before yanking Herrick down by the ankle is an example of the former, and their halfbacks carving up the field on draws will serve as the examples of the latter. They are going to have to play better ball against Tennessee if we're going to keep them from scoring too often.

The linebackers, eh. Whatever. They're the same no-flash no-fail guys they've been all year. Allen Walker looked good I guess.

The secondary has regressed a bit. Maybe NAU's offense is good at exploiting seams in zones (pretty likely, now that I think about it), but these guys don't have the swagga they had earlier this season. The season has obviously taken a toll on them.

Suffice all of this to say that I wasn't exactly thrilled with what I saw on Saturday. I know that I was deflated before the game even began, but even a win by 20-something wasn't enough to thrill me. If we play agaisnt Tennessee like we played against NAU, the Vols will win by 17 or so. We've got to get Dex the ball. Our receivers need to step up. Halfbacks need to protect the football. The coaches need to get creative. Snead needs to remove his skull from the inside of his rectum. The secondary needs to play with more aggression. Bradley Sowell needs to transfer. I need to chill out.

HATE WEEK is tomorrow. G'night.

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.

It's Meltdown Time...

outsidethesidelines — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:00:17 -0000

Many of the longtime readers at RBR will remember this piece from a year ago, and, well, it's back. And for the newbies, here is the premise of this piece: there are few greater pleasures in life than reading the delusional comments that spring forth from the meltdowns that ensue with each and every loss. So, what we do here in "meltdown time" is to browse the Internetz in search of the greatest meltdown posts we can find and then post them here in one column. Now that SEC teams have started playing some solid competition, we'll try to keep this post coming back as often as possible.

This week we have some great material from Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Kentucky. And, of course, the language can get pretty rough, so if you're offended by that sort of thing, you may want to consider skipping this piece altogether. (ed.- seriously, there's dirty words ahead. don't say you weren't warned.) Now, disclaimers out of the way, without further adieu, it's meltdown time...

John Jerry was just as bad as Sowell.

Our OL recruiting from 2005-2007 will embarrass this team.

Worst O-line I can remember us having in a long time.

The one chance we have prove we are for real and we look like the bad news bears. Hell even the touchdown we had was a fluke. Dont really know what to say. I'm speechless.

Once again we have an Ole Miss team with a chance to prove something and we vomit all over ourselves.

God dammit we look like absolute motherfucking dog shit. Fuck.

Question? when will the day come that Ole Miss can line up and beat someone consistently without having to run trick plays. We are highly ranked and WE, not SC, have to run trick plays to try and win. Double reverse pass with under a minute to go? Seriously?? we've resorted to that? seriously??

tonight was just terrible. One of the worst offensive game plans i have ever seen.

That reminded me of Cutcliff days. I wanted to cry.

I'm as big of a HDN fan as they come, but they blew it tonight. Nothing about SC was good, we were just pathetic!!!!

We suck again!!!!!

We need offensive tackle..... need recievers that can catch the ball in triple coverage.... and how about a qb that wont throw into triple coverage!!!!!!!!!!

They just need to take sowell out back and shoot him.

He's worthless.

We'll be lucky if we win 4 more games

I mean... seriously. We are fucking pathetic.

And, to close, easily the greatest line of the night...

Move Sowell to TE immediately and tell Massie to get his head out of his a** and earn his money.

It's really just a shame that all of the above just couldn't take the advice of The Ghost of Jay Cutler from Red Cup Rebellion:

Seriously, get fucking hobbies or something. College football, especially in this conference, is a royal bitch.

This Arkansas defense is the worse that I have seen in my lifetime...for a Hog team....I am so frustrated.

most pathetic display of fundamental football I have ever seen (except for last week)

Another pathetic defensive performance. The norm?

Has anyone checked the recruiting rankings lately? That won't do much to inspire your view about the future.

Other than Malcolm Shepard there isn't a single player on the D that would be starting for Bama.

Jerry Franklin is just not who we thought he was.

QB Tyler Wilson needs to come in NOW....much more mobile and accurate on shorter passes. The Alabama Defense demands this change....obvious.

can we start looking for a new DC now?

if it was up to me... the D would RUN till they PUKE then run some more till they PUKE again!!! maybe at some point the d backs would learn to turn around and LOOK for a ball and maybe they would think twice about trying to play two hand touch and DECIDE to lay some WOOD!!!!

this is EMBARRASSING!!!
FL will hand us our "A" by the end of the first quarter with the way we cover receivers!!! I understand our "O" being a little off but our run is always to the short side and we continue to go DEEP with the pass when we have had our most success in the midlevel range

embarrassing

What's the point really? Why even bother with playing the game.

Urban Meyer spent two hours preparing for this game. He knew he could walk in and step on our throats. This sucks.

Well I thought we'd at least make a game of it. Yes I know it's still first quarter, but this is sad/pathetic. Ortmayer must be fired. Stagnant recruiting gets you these results.

UF decided to make this their sixth practice of the week.

Absolutely putrid.

I don't understand this....seriously. It's like watching a train wreck. You want to puke and hide your eyes, but you can't even blink...

We look pathetic and intimidated.

Our defense is playing like they have no arms..... :(

What have we learned?

The Ghost of Jay Cutler — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:39:10 -0000

More photos » by Mary Ann Chastain - AP

Is that really Stephen Garcia?

Browse more photos »

Stephen Garcia is no loger terrible.
Hell, I might even venture to say he's "good-esque." While not possessing the moxie and physical abilities of ~~Jevan Snead~~ somebody else, he marched his offense down field on several occasions against a strong Rebel defense. I'm still taken aback as to how well he has matured since his arrival in Columbia.

Jevan Snead is still Jevan Snead.
Remember how Jevan Snead, one week before defeating Florida in the Swamp, threw four interceptions against Vanderbilt last season? Yep. He hasn't changed a bit. The Brett Favre of college football struck again last night, completing only a third of his passes and generally looking dumbstruck. The South Carolina defense is good, our playcalling was suspect, and our offensive line was weak, but Snead didn't help the offense very much. If the trend remains, he'll likely torch Vanderbilt.

Eric Norwood is a monster.
Well, we didn't learnthat at all. Still, the guy's a hoss and deserves every ounce of praise which has been heaped upon him.

Our defense is good.
Once again, something we didn't necessarily learn, but something which we certainly gained a better understanding of. Our pass defense is leagues better than it was last season and our defensive line is still quite capable at stopping the run. They will keep us in every game we play.

Our offensive line, on the other hand, well...
I hope to avoid this becoming the Cup's broken record statement of the week, but Bradley Sowell has no idea what he is doing. John Jerry was, very surprisingly, also performing poorly. Neither of them had the mental presence or the nasty streak (that is not an underwear joke) needed to play tackle in the SEC. Oher is one of the best Rebel linemen of all time not because of his size or athleticism, but because of his football knowledge and his undying insistence on being the meanest son-of-a-bitch on the line.

The coaches did not prepare well for South Carolina.
I know so much of our offense is predicated on good line play and I know that Jevan was making some absolutely poor choices out there, but the play-calling seemed, at times, like the coaches decided against reviewing tape of the Gamecock defense. Furthermore, is something wrong with Dexter McCluster? Why did it take the coaches three quarters to get him the ball as often as they should have?

Chicken Little is alive and well.
Rebel fans, the sky is not falling. We knew we would stumble somewhere because damn near every team does. Teams can recover from such setbacks and the truly elite ones do. This game doesn't prove that we're not as good as other people said we were, but the following ones will.

They all "told us so."
But, see, they didn't. Nobody here said we would go to Atlanta. Nobody here said we would win every game we played. We said we had legitimate shots of doing so, especially with regards to the former, but nobody predicted it. Sure, there were plenty of Rebel fans that said we would, but I would venture that most of us saw something like this coming. We've come to expect it in Oxford. People have been telling us that we don't deserve the number four ranking and, even before last night, I agreed. So please, spare yourself the effort if you're planning on coming over here to say the same. shit. we. hear. every. day. We expected your arrival when and where ever we were going to suffer our first loss because, yes, despite what you think about yourselves, you're all predictable dipshits.

Suffice it to say that I have really been able to probe into the psyche of the average college football fan pretty well over the last few months. This has been an interesting time to be a Rebel fan if not for the unchartered perspective from the top. Being undeservedly ranked so highly brought out hordes of people hell-bent on letting everybody know just how overrated we were--as if somehow their opinions were some sort of great paradigm shifting realization. Perhaps I haven't been paying attention, but I have never--and I mean never--seen such vitriol against a non-traditional top-10 team being ranked thusly. Is it because people are scared of the idea of Ole Miss being a good football team? Is it because everyone, deep down inside, hates Ole Miss? Is it simple playa hatin'? Maybe it's a little of each, but who knows. After this weekend the morons having their moment (not you, South Carolina fans, enjoy your moment) in the sun will quiet down and go back to poorly typing stupid shit on TigerDroppings.com.

Tonight could be showcase game for Jevan Snead, Eric Norwood

Mocking Dan — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:50:02 -0000

More photos » by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

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Tonight against South Carolina begins the quest of Jevan Snead to show that his early season struggles have been an aberration.

Against Memphis to start the season, Snead was clearly trying to hard to make plays. He often over-threw his receivers, even in the face of minimal pressure. His second game was against Southeastern Louisiana, a useless game for talent evaluators.

Tonight, Snead will face a solid pass rush, led by South Carolina's Eric Norwood. A converted defensive end, Norwood has seemed to always be near the ball so far this season.

A good showing and Snead will re-affirm his lofty NFL stock and maybe quiet those Jake Locker fans who have come out of nowhere. If Snead has a poor game, it should say just as much positively about Norwood.

That might be the top matchup, but those aren't the only two players to observe tonight. Here are a few more:

South Carolina:

- Jarriel King, OT, 6'5, 312 pounds (No. 76)
He's an athletic lineman with good reach. He quickly steps out of his stance and redirects blitzers really well.

- Weslye Saunders, TE, 6'5, 280 pounds (No. 88)
A plus-sized receiving target, Saunders has good enough athleticism to get separation from linebackers. He had a great game against Georgia. Solid as a tight end.

Mississippi

- Dexter McCluster, WR, 5'8, 168 pounds (No. 22)
A shifty receiver who runs the Mississippi Wild Rebel formation, McCluster is best in the open field.

- John Jerry, OT/OG, 6'5, 348 pounds (No. 77)
The big man will move to guard as a pro and clearly needs to. He's a massive player who can engulf defenders.

- Greg Hardy, DE, 6'4, 265 pounds (No. 86)
Arguably the best defensive end in the nation, Hardy has a great burst off the line. He can really close fast, but he's had issues in the past about his effort.

- Jerrell Powe, DT, 6'2, 330 pounds (No. 57)
Powe was a disruptive force against Memphis and routinely split double teams. The junior has some stamina issues but is good in short bursts. Tonight he can truly prove he's becoming a top player.

- Patrick Trahan, 6'3, 228 pounds (No. 7)
Trahan has displayed great athleticism for the Rebels. He's great in space when he can move around and not get caught up in the trash.