Ole Miss completed its Southeastern Conference road sweep of the State of Alabama with Saturday’s victory over Auburn.
Now, the 19th-ranked Rebels can focus on the final three games, which will define this team’s place in history.
Ole Miss (7-2 overall, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) will play host to Arkansas (4-4, 2-2) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. CBS will have the national broadcast from Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford.
Ole Miss continues to control its own destiny in the Western Division race thanks to the 27-19 victory on the Plains.
“I was real proud of our kids and our staff, going out and handling a hostile environment pretty well,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. “I only thought twice in the game we didn’t handle the environment as well as we could have because of some false starts. Defensively, 73 total plays, 66 of those plays we held a very good football team to 170 yards. We gave up seven explosive plays. That is the good and the bad of the game. We had seven plays that accounted for 240-plus yards. So we need to shore that up some. But 66 plays, we were very good on the defensive side.”
Auburn has struggled on the offensive side of the ball. A recent change in quarterback has helped the team’s morale and led to slight improvement. The Tigers entered the contest after scoring 46 points in a 54-46, four-overtime loss at Arkansas.
With the recent resurgence, Freeze was proud of his defensive unit which held Auburn to three field goals in the game’s final half.
“Excellent defensive effort on the critical downs. On third and fourth downs they were 2 for 17, and excellent against, again, an offense that gives you lots of problems because of the smoke and mirrors and because of their good talent that they have,” Freeze said. “I’m very proud with that, except for seven explosive plays. Offensively, we had 560 yards. We need more production on the scoreboard. The yards didn’t equate to the points we should have had. We need to improve on mistakes that we are making at critical times, be it red zone or third downs. It was a mixture of not executing, or wishing you could have called a different play, or a drop here that could have led to extra points. Special teams were really sound. Our punt team, with the exception of one punt, pinned them and flipped the field all day.
“We kept them inside the 20 with long drives. We had one punt that wasn’t exactly executed as we hoped. Nathan (Noble) did a good job of putting the ball in good places for us on the kickoff unit. He had one that he hit a little thin, sort of like my wedge. We held them to the 31. The coverage unit was good because the hang time on that was a 2.6. And that is difficult. Gary (Wunderlich) continued to be solid. Collins (Moore) has given us some comfort in knowing what to do in the punt return unit. So it was a good effort. We had two runs where we had some bad tackles. Other than that, our tackling was solid. They caused us some explosive plays, but we’ll continue to work on that week to week.”
Arkansas was open last week. The Razorbacks will be playing for the first time since that four-overtime win.
“I’m really impressed by Arkansas,” Freeze said. “The job Bret (Bielema) has done, particularly with the start they had, he does things right and continues to improve as the year moves on. That’s what they’ve done. They lost some games early on. Sometimes, that can rattle you. It hasn’t seemed to phase them. They’re playing their best football of the year. They give you a lot of problems offensively because of their scheme and talent. They’re able to pound it at you.
“Their quarterback continues to play at a high level with really talented tight ends and a receiver to go to. They use those tight ends really well. It is hard to get a beat on the play when you don’t know if the play is passing by or coming. That can cause a defense problems. Defensively, they have been one of the most sound defenses. They are super well-coached at their technique. They do what they do very well. We’re excited about the challenge that is ahead of us. We’re excited about being back at home. We need our fans to come out in a big way. This is our 10th straight game. I don’t know how many other teams can say they have done that.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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