Ole Miss football coach Hugh Freeze wants his football team to feel good again.
Once considered a contender for the Southeastern Conference championship, a three-game losing streak against ranked opposition has left the Rebels reeling. Freeze likes the effort his team has delivered, but he knows the execution has to be better for a grueling four-game stretch run.
Ole Miss will try to bounce back from a 40-29 loss to Auburn at 11 a.m. Saturday (ESPNU) against Georgia Southern at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford.
“After meeting yesterday and watching the film, our kids competed and competed against what I think is one of the hotter and more talented football teams in the country,” Freeze said. “You are right there, needed a couple of plays to go our way there at the end that didn’t that resulted in another loss. It continues to be an issue for us on defense, stopping the run and giving up explosive plays, and I have zero frustration in the effort of our kids.”
The Rebels have struggled to finish games. After battling LSU to a 21-21 halftime tie that game ended in a 38-21 loss. On Saturday, Ole Miss led 22-20 at halftime but couldn’t keep up the pace in the second half.
“I do continue to have frustration over not being able to fix a reoccurring problem,” Freeze said. “That is something we have to just keep grinding on to fix to give us a chance to win when you are playing some of the top teams in the country in the Southeastern Conference Western Division. Our team is determined, and our goal is to go 1-0 this week against a talented Georgia Southern team that rises to play at a very, very high level against teams when they get opportunities.
“Traditionally, they have done extremely well when they are playing power-five teams. They are a scary matchup because of all the athletic guys they have running that option offensively. Defensively, they can give up some yards, but they’ve done very well at being sound in the red zone, which is something — we’ve got to score touchdowns with the way we are playing defense. We need to get it in the end zone. It is a worthy opponent come Saturday. I am glad we are home again. I encourage our fans to continue to keep supporting these kids and to be extremely loud to make communications difficult on the opponent.”
Starkville native A.J. Brown had three receptions for 48 yards against Auburn. Quarterback Chad Kelly set a school record for passing yards in a game with 465 yards on a 36-of-59 night with three touchdowns.
“A.J. is going to be a phenomenal wide receiver,” Freeze said. “He is getting better. I think he is going to continue the tradition we have here of wide receiver play. He is going to help it he and D.K. (Metcalf) and Tre (Nixon), along with the guys that are already here. His deal is just understanding the different leverages in coverage and how that changes a route from time to time and he doesn’t have quite a good understanding of that just yet, and that’s normal for a lot of freshman receivers. Others have been the same way.
“There are so many different routes he could run and so many different coverages he has to see, it just takes time to make sure that you’re adjusting the route stems accordingly. You saw the other night when he can run a slant or he can do things that happen fairly quick off the ball, he’s very special and talented.”
Georgia Southern (4-4) is in fourth place in the Sun Belt Conference. It is coming off a 34-10 loss to Appalachian State last week.
“They present a challenge because they recruited or either had transfers that were really talented kids at the skill positions and their speed is concerning,” Freeze said. “They create option on almost any kind of blocking scheme, whether it be power, counter, zone. A lot of the time they are going to have the capability of pulling and running the option, and that’s not the easiest thing to prepare for when you don’t see it that regularly. It is a concern because of their speed and athleticism, but also because of the system. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get zoned in on stopping that.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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