All Guts Aside, Trench Talent Still the Difference with Alabama
So much for the surprise of Ole Miss contending with Alabama in 2020.
After conversation of the Crimson Tide's embarrassment in that 63-48 win in Oxford, it felt like three hours of revenge back in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. It was evident from the outset and the impression was stronger than the final score, 42-21, would otherwise indicate.
Alabama had its popcorn ready.
There were moments in which the Rebels looked like a group ready to play four quarters of competitive football, particularly quarterback Matt Corral's early-game decision making, the spectacular one-handed grab by Braylon Sanders and sharp cuts in the open field by Henry Parrish in making defenders miss in space.
But up front, whether Ole Miss had the ball or not, it was a different matchup.
Lane Kiffin was ready to be bold, going for seemingly every fourth down in the first half, with success on two of the first three, but the threat of the rushing attack wasn't daunting to the Alabama defense. The line didn't create lanes on offense and the Rebel pass rush was nowhere to be found against a balanced Alabama offense, willing to play efficient football through the air and stick with the powerful Brian Robinson in the run game.
Kiffin didn't need to review the tape to admit the dominance it suffered in the trenches.
Ole Miss averaged 2.3 yards per carry. Corral was sacked twice, including on a turnover to set up short field and the dagger score to make the game 28-0, and it felt like it could have been three times as much if not for the swift signal-caller. On the flip side Robinson was a classic Crimson Tide workhorse, rushing 36 times for 171 yards and four scores to match his jersey number. Bryce Young's often-clean pocket enabled him to complete 78% of his attempts.
The Rebels kept Alabama on their heels in 2020 with a run-first game plan. It found success on early downs, enabled the chains to move and of course for the tempo to increase. Outside of the scripted initial drive of the game, where Ole Miss was methodical in the run and short passing game over 16 plays before the fourth-down failure, Alabama was able to play downhill without much hesitation.
Ole Miss totaled just 232 yards the rest of the way.
It limits Kiffin and partner in play-calling crime Jeff Lebby. It, along with the absence of Jonathan Mingo, boxes in the offense because Corral has to consider the pressure instead of the progression. It will make the notions of Kiffin being the first former Saban assistant to beat him at Alabama that much more far fetched.
In 2020 Corral connected on chunk plays when there were openings in the UA secondary, set up by strong blocking, the running game and said tempo.
On Saturday Corral completed 21 passes just like he did in 2020 but the difference in production was a whopping 152 yards (365 in 2020, 213 Saturday). The rushing difference was even bigger, amassing just 78 yards on the ground compared to 268 a year ago.
At least it was easier to see why when the Rebels were on defense. It has moved to a three-man front on early downs and Alabama was willing to run with less defenders in the box. With pressure at a premium against Corral, Saban's squad seemed to have attacked with more blitzes from linebackers to create additional urgency.
The Ole Miss offensive line could not adjust soon enough.
On either side of the ball, the trench gap was evident and likely played into part of the reason Kiffin was over-aggressive with the football. The play selection on the fourth downs tells part of the story, too.
It rushed just twice on five fourth-down tries.
The first result was no gain, the second was minus-4.
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