Ole Miss heads into Alabama week
OXFORD – It’s Alabama week, a time when football fans flock to Oxford to see Nick Saban in person after spending their afternoon tailgating in the famous Grove.
Ole Miss heads into the week undefeated, although not without defensive adjustments to make after a 76-41 victory over Southern Illinois on Saturday. Alabama rolls into town (yes, pun intended) ranked No. 1 in the nation, setting a new record as it hit the top of the AP poll for the 106th time.
Ole Miss coach Matt Luke and his coordinators took to the podium Monday for their weekly press conference to discuss the incoming Tide, injury updates and more.
The Bama effect
“You don’t have to get the guys up for that,” defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff said of playing Alabama to open conference play. “There’s going to be a lot of energy, a lot of excitement coming from every angle.”
Energy was something the defense lacked in the first half against the Salukis, but there’s no danger of the Rebels defense taking the Tide lightly.
Their challenge instead will be limiting an offense that has scored 50-plus points in its first two contests of the season.
Kicking off conference play with a night game against Alabama is also an opportunity Ole Miss can capitalize on from a recruiting standpoint.
“Obviously we’ll have a lot of prospects here,” Luke said, “and I think it’s a good opportunity to see Oxford at its best: night game, in the Grove, the stadium packed. It’ll be a great atmosphere for college football.”
Red zone
Alabama is known for its defense overall, but its red zone defense, that’s even more intimidating.
Ole Miss struggled in the red zone in its season opener and gave kicker Luke Logan a workout. Logan went 4-for-4 on field goal attempts against Texas Tech.
“The first week, we looked at what the issues were, two of them were quarterback decisions.” Ole Miss offensive coordinator Phil Longo said. “So you go back now and you grade Jordan in the red zone this time, man he was near perfect.”
The Rebels scored a touchdown in each of their five red zone chances against Southern Illinois.
“I think a lot of that was directly attributed to some of the decisions that [Ta’amu] made,” Longo said. “But we also had greater overall team execution in the red zone.”
Injury update
DE Tariqious Tisdale entered into concussion protocol after Saturday’s game and is day-to-day this week.
Linebacker Kevontae’ Ruggs and wide receiver DaMarkus Lodge (concussions) sat out of the SIU game, but are probable for this weekend.