Rebels' Inability To Sustain Defensive Success Dooms Them vs. Tide
Ole Miss waltzed into Bryant-Denny Stadium and held the Alabama Crimson Tide to the fewest points they've scored against the Rebels in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, since 2010.
If you were told that would happen on Thursday, you'd expect the Rebels to be the team standing on top at the end, right? Of course, considering they came in averaging 52.4 points and 526.7 yards per game — both of which were top 11 in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Sometimes football is funny like that to where the explosive offensive team has a defensive stronghold on its opposition but just can't seem to score enough points. That's what happened to Ole Miss Saturday, as it was outplayed in the second half en route to a 24-10 loss.
"I think you got to make plays on offense when you come in here, and you can't just keep putting it on your defense," head coach Lane Kiffin said. "Eventually, a lot of times, you end up breaking. That's a really big offensive line and a powerful running back. And when the quarterback, he's as good a runner as there is in the country at that position. That's really challenging when we put ourselves in that spot. We kind of had them one dimensional in the first half. They were one yard per carry at halftime, and then we started to break down."
The Crimson Tide shot themselves in the foot with an interception in the end zone and an inability to score a touchdown, losing 21 yards after being set up on the Rebels' 1-yard line. That aided Ole Miss' 7-6 lead heading into halftime.
However, Alabama's mistakes weren't all to blame. Ole Miss was executing its game plan to keep quarterback Jalen Milroe in check, as he accounted for the only two 10-plus-yard runs in the first half thanks in large part to the spy defensive coordinator Pete Golding put on him every play.
In the second half, Milroe's arm and running back Jase McClellan's legs started to hurt — bad.
Milroe had separate completions of 21 and 54 yards with a 33-yarder going for a touchdown to give the Crimson Tide a 17-7 advantage. Meanwhile, McClellan had 13- and 22-yard runs as a 21-yarder got shortened to a 10-yard pickup due to a holding penalty.
McClellan racked up 81 of his 105 yards in the second half, while Milroe only needed to throw seven passes in the final 30 minutes to pull out the win. He completed his final six attempts for 132 of his 225 yards and his lone score through the air.
The blame can't lay solely on the defense, though.
Ole Miss' offense only scored three points in the final half while averaging just four yards on 37 plays. The Rebels only had four drives in the second half that resulted in an interception, a field goal, a punt and a turnover on downs that Alabama was then able to end the game after.
The Rebels were the better team for the opening half and, had they sustained that success, they would be the country's talking point this week.
