Today is one of the most important days in Ole Miss football history.
No. 6 Ole Miss is hosting Tulane in a first round College Football Playoff game, the first playoff game Ole Miss has played in. But simply being in a playoff game doesn’t make today the biggest day in program history (it’s close, though).
Think about what difference in reactions to an Ole Miss win and loss.
If the Rebels beat Tulane, they’re one step closer to a national title but also establish themselves as one of college football’s elite programs. A win would also be a nice, one-finger salute to Voldemort down in the bayou and give the fanbase hope that Pete Golding isn’t the next Matt Luke, but more like the next Johnny Vaught.
A loss would have the exact opposite effect. Fans will question Ole Miss AD Keith Carter’s decision to promote Golding and the Joker’s laughs would be heard all the way from Baton Rouge.
So, which one of those two will happen?
The Prediction
There won’t be many prognosticators picking Tulane to beat Ole Miss and you won’t find it here.
Yes, Tulane isn’t the same version of itself that came to Oxford on September 20 and lost 45-10.
“It’s two completely different teams,” Golding said earlier this week. “At this point, we’re playing a conference champion, a team that beat the ACC champion. The team is playing at a really high level that’s really well coached.”
The Green Wave are good at running the ball on offense, one of the few weak spots in the Rebels’ defense.
Ole Miss is giving up 150.5 rushing yards per game and Tulane is averaging 170.2 rushing yards per game. Tulane will also have offensive tackle Derrick Graham available this time around.
“I think (Graham) is a really good player,” Golding said. “We know we got our hands full.”
Tulane quarterback Jake Retzlaff should have better chemistry with his receivers, too. He transferred to Tulane in late July and faced a lot of pressure against the Rebels. He wound up completing just five passes.
A month later, Retzlaff faced a similar amount of pressure against Army and completed 22 of 29 passes. Defensively, the Green Wave have shifted to a more conservative approach. In the last five games, the defense has fielded five defensive backs almost 80 percent of the time.
Don’t expect that to change much, especially now that Tulane has more game film of Trinidad Chambliss to watch. Three months ago, Chambliss was starting just his second FBS game.
So, there are reasons to believe today’s game will be a lot closer than it was three months ago, but Ole Miss should still emerge victorious.
Final Thoughts
There’s too much in the Rebels’ favor to pick against them. They’re better, more talented and have a gigantic emotional motivation to go and win a playoff game.
Final score: Ole Miss 42, Tulane 24
