If we learned anything from Friday’s night College Football Playoff opening game it’s that how you start doesn’t matter.
The first half of No. 6 Ole Miss and Tulane’s game reinforces that lesson.
Ole Miss had an amazing start. The offense began the game with five-straight plays of 20 yards or more and needed just three plays and 59 seconds to score their first touchdown.
The defense also had a great start. The Green Wave moved the ball fairly well, but a promising drive ended with a Jaylon Braxton interception. Their second drive ended on a failed fourth down attempt.
The third drive for Tulane ended with a 39-yard field goal. So far, the Ole Miss defense is only bending but isn’t breaking.
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Then the Ole Miss offense sputtered, scoring just three points the rest of the first half. More troublesome was running back Kewan Lacy went down with an injury and, two plays later, quarterback Trinidad Chambliss went down with an apparent head injury.
That drive would end with Austin Simmons being strip-sacked. Luckily for Ole Miss, Tulane’s offense wasn’t able to turn that turnover into points.
Tulane running back Jamauri McClure is having some success running the ball (11 carries for 70 yards), but the Rebels’ defensive line is spending a lot of time playing on the other side of the line of scrimmage.
Will Echoles is having a great game. He had four tackles in the first quarter and ended the first half with six tackles and one tackle for a loss.
If there’s a cause for concern (beyond the health status of Lacy and Chambliss), it’s that Ole Miss’s offense sputtered in the middle portion of the first half. Tulane was able to force the Rebels to punt after forcing a negative play on first down. On two drives, the Rebels ran nine plays and gained just 21 yards.
That was something Golding talked about leading up to the game. The importance of having positive first downs and getting third down stops on defense. The Green Wave are 3-for-7 on third down attempts.
Ole Miss is 1-for-5 on third down, but one of those failed attempts was a dropped pass.
