“5 at 5” Football Edition Installment #11, Original Analysis: Memphis Preview

The #10 Ole Miss Rebels vs Memphis on Saturday, September 27th, 2014 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford. Photo courtesy of OM Athletics.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Counting down to the first week of Ole Miss football practice the week of August 15, HottyToddy.com’s own Collin Brister, former sports editor of the Daily Mississippian, will bring you exclusive “5 at 5” analyses of either A) the opponents Ole Miss will be facing this season or B) some background on Ole Miss’ players at each position. It’s being called “5 at 5” because each original piece will give you 5 key things to know, and we will post these stories at 5 p.m. every Monday-Friday.

NUMBER 1:

Recent History

The Rebels suffered their worst loss in the Hugh Freeze ear last year in Memphis. Ole Miss was not able to get off the field on third down, and Rebel quarterback Chad Kelly was under duress the whole contest. The Rebels struggled mightily on third down. The Tigers converted on 12 of 20 third downs during the contest, and quickly did away with the 14-point deficit that Ole Miss put Memphis in. The Rebels knocked off Memphis in 2014 24-3. Ole Miss held Memphis under 110 yards of total offense that night.

NUMBER 2:

Paxton Lynch

The Tigers will be without, arguably, the best player that ever played at Memphis. Lynch was the driving force behind the Tigers victory last season as the junior quarterback completed 39 of 53 passes for 384 yards and three touchdowns. Lynch was drafted last season in the first round by the Denver Broncos. The Tigers, like the first three FBS opponents, will have a new quarterback at the helm this season. Memphis has options as the Tigers have former Starkville High School quarterback Brady Davis in the program. The Tigers also garnered a signature from Riley Ferguson who was ranked the third best quarterback among junior college players.

NUMBER 3:

Justin Fuente

Funete led the program the previous three seasons and led the Tigers to two bowl games the previous two seasons. Fuente led the Tigers to 19 wins the previous two seasons. Fuente left after the season to take the head-coaching job at Virginia Tech.

NUMBER 4:

Mike Norvell

Norvell was hired after Fuente’s departure from Arizona State. Norvell served the previous four seasons as the offensive coordinator at Arizona State. He was the offensive coordinator at Pittsburgh before heading to Tempe. Norvell is one of the younger coaches at the division one level at 34 years of age.

NUMBER 5:

Analysis and Pick

The Rebels are more talented than Memphis. The Rebels are a better football team than Memphis. Ole Miss should beat Memphis without an issue. The reality is, however, that was the situation last year as well. Ole Miss had zero reasons in losing to Memphis last year, but it did. The point is that anyone can beat anyone on a Saturday. The Rebels are getting Memphis at a time where they came off of games against solid SEC programs in Alabama and Georgia.

With last year’s loss, however, the likelihood is that the Rebels likely won’t overlook the Tigers this season, and if they don’t, they’re not losing to Memphis.

Ole Miss-37
Memphis-17

View Monday’s “5 at 5” here.

Collin Brister is a staff writer for HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at collin.brister@hottytoddy.com.

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