Rebels Look to Get Back on Track Against Georgia Southern

Photo by Randall Haley

Ole Miss steps out of conference play today as they host the Georgia Southern Eagles inside the Vaught. Game time is slated for an 11 a.m. kickoff on ESPNU.

Ole Miss (3-5) is coming off of a heartbreaking loss to Auburn by the score of 40-29. Making this the first three-game losing streak since the 2013 season.

Chad Kelly tops the SEC in passing (316.5 ypg), total offense (355.1 ypg) and passing TDs (18), and he has broken Ole Miss career records with 12 300-yard games and 21 straight games with a TD pass.

Tight end Evan Engram leads all TEs in the nation with 6.1 catches/game and an SEC-best 87.5 receiving ypg.

But, let’s take a closer look at Georgia Southern.

Georgia Southern is 4-4 overall and 3-2 in conference play entering this week’s game with Ole Miss. The Eagles started the season 3-0 before dropping three straight road games, including at Western Michigan (31-49), at Arkansas State (26-27) and at Georgia Tech (24-35). Georgia Southern rebounded with a 22-19 victory over New Mexico State before falling at home to Appalachian State (10-34).

The Eagles run the ball to the tune of 239.0 yards per game, which leads the Sun Belt Conference. Three Eagles have run for at least 400 yards this season, led by Wesley Fields at 423 yards. Quarterback Kevin Ellison has 408 rushing yards to go along with 579 yards through the air. Senior BJ Johnson III is Georgia Southern’s leading receiver with 23 catches for 320 yards. Forcing 17 turnovers this season, the Eagles’ defense ranks 15th nationally and second in the Sun Belt. Linebacker Ukeme Eliqwe does it all for the Eagles, tallying 58 tackles, 6.5 TFL, one INT and three forced fumbles. Younhoe Koo is a perfect 14 of 14 kicking field goals this season.

What kind of challenges does Georgia Southern present to the Rebels this weekend?

“Well, they present a challenge because they recruited, or either had, transfers that were really talented kids at the skill positions and their speed is concerning,” said Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze. “They create option on almost any kind of blocking scheme, whether it be power, counter… zone. A lot of the time, they are going to have the capability of pulling and running the option, and that’s not the easiest thing to prepare for when you don’t see it that regularly. It is a concern because of their speed and athleticism, but also because of the system. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get zoned in on stopping that.”

Ole Miss has four games remaining on its schedule. How do the Rebels look health wise?

“It is not good right now. This is one of those years where the injuries have just followed us around,” Freeze said. “Yesterday we didn’t have an offensive line for practice. Sean (Rawlings) is in a boot, and when he got hurt the other night, it really hurt us in the tight red zone there on the third and fourth down because we had to call on (Robert) Conyers to try to get in there. And, Conyers’ knee right now is tough for him to move it and that really hurt us on those two plays there. Both of them are questionable. Daronte (Bouldin) had a hip pointer, and he wasn’t doing really well yesterday either. Rod Taylor did come out of his boot. We sure hope he can give it a go because we are going to need some bodies in the offensive line come Saturday.” 

Looking deeper into this matchup, the Rebels and the Eagles have never faced one another on the gridiron. Against current Sun Belt teams, Ole Miss comes in with a record of 30-1-2; under coach Freeze, the Rebels are 4-0.

Fans that can’t make it into town for this early morning kickoff can watch the game on ESPNU or listen to the call on the Ole Miss Radio Network.

Adam Brown is the sports editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.

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