Continue to Improve

The Rebels continue to improve, but they still can not get past the hurdle as the Rebels lose another close game this week to Alabama 26-23. It took the Tide an overtime touchdown to defeat the Rebels in front of a packed house at the remodeled and impressive Bryant Denny Stadium.

The Rebels and Brent Schaeffer played another good game, but just could not get it done. Ole Miss went into the half with a 13-10 lead. However many feel like the final seconds of the first half could have been managed better and could have gone in with a 17-10 lead. Unfortunately the Ole Miss coaching staff did not have enough confidence in their QB as they were afraid he would throw an interception if they opened up the offense.

The Rebels came out in the second half and allowed the Tide to get on the board and go up 20-13. In the third quarter the Rebels gave up a play that in my opinion changed the game. The Tide were facing a 3rd down and 25 from their own 15 and the Rebels gave up a 26 yard pass. I believe this changed the game totally. You can not give up plays like this on the road and expect to win.

I was happy to see Coach O open up his playbook in the fourth quarter and call a fake punt with the Rebels facing a 3rd and 8 with about 8 minutes left in the game. The next play Schaeffer completed a 50 yard pass to tie the game and eventually send it into overtime. It is plays like this many Rebel fans have been looking for from Schaeffer, but have not seen them. The Ole Miss faithful were finally glad to see Schaeffer have a complete game for the Rebs.

There are several things that caught my eye in the game.

-Alabama picked on Ole Miss corner Trumaine McBride the entire game, and were successful most of the time they threw the ball his way. Surely we can do better than this.

-The false start in overtime on 2nd and 2 after an eight yard gain killed that drive. We opened up overtime with a great run and that penalty absolutely killed our chances.

-How the referee waived the flag off for clipping is still beyond me. It makes no sense as to why they waived that flag off. On this same note, I wrote earlier in the week about how I was disappointed with Coach O's reaction to bad play calls. He did much better this week. He let the referees have it when they made some bad calls.

-In the past two games, Rory Johnson has had more of an impact than Patrick Willis. Willis, an All American, is not playing at the same speed and aggressiveness he played at last year. Don't get me wrong I love having Patrick on the field, but it seems like to me he is not playing like he did last year. I could be wrong, but Johnson seems to be a better linebacker these past few games than Willis.


While the Rebels did improve this week, and I am glad to see, Coach O is not going to be happy until we start turning improvements into wins. And I am right there with him. It is time to start producing some W's on the schedule. However, I do believe they will come sooner than later. Next week is going to be a challenge. Arkansas has snuck up on everyone and is leading the SEC West. I know nothing about the Razorbacks except their QB Mitch Mustain. Hopefully the Rebels will continue to improve this week and will make a game out of it with the Hogs.