For over a week now I’ve heard Ole Miss fans talking nervously about the next game on the schedule.
Granted, they were probably wanting to talk about anything because there’s only so much cussing and stomping around they could after the Rebels were steamrolled by Florida.
The bye week gave them plenty of opportunity. Not a lot of strutting around was in the works, but there was plenty of time to moan and complain.
History is why it brought to mind Darrell Royal made when his Texas Longhorns were running roughshod over everybody in the 1960’s. Lowly TCU had surprised them near the end of the year, 24-17. The Longhorns finished the season 6-4 and no bowl game.
Royal pointed to that TCU game because the Horned Frogs weren’t very good in those days. He had an interesting one of his legendary comparisons.
“They’re like a cockroach,” he said about the Frogs. “It’s not how much they tote off but what they fall in and mess up.”
That may be completely appropriate for what the Commodores have been for the Rebs.
Ole Miss-Vanderbilt has a history Rebels can’t ignore
Vanderbilt’s back on the Ole Miss schedule this week.
If you’ve followed the Rebels for any length of time, you already know how you feel about that.
On paper it’s fine. Ole Miss leads the series 54-40-2 and has won five in a row.
Paper has never meant much in this one, though.
The Commodores are the team you pencil in as a win in August and then spend a week in October worrying yourself to death over.
They don’t do it every year. Just enough that folks in Oxford quit laughing about it a long time ago. Even comfortable wins for Ole Miss haven’t gotten that way until late in the fourth quarter.
Next one’s Saturday in Nashville, 2:30 p.m. on ESPN.
Where both teams stand
Pete Golding’s bunch is 3-1 and 1-1 in the SEC. They held their No. 9 position in the rankings after the off week.
Ole Miss handled Louisville, Charlotte and LSU, then went to Gainesville and got flattened. Then the Gators got steamrolled by Missouri, so it’s going to be that kind of year in the SEC.
Florida ran for 302 yards and six touchdowns in that 52-28 win. You don’t need me to tell you that’s a problem. Everybody seems to have their own take on that.
The Rebs have had an open date since. I’d guess tackling came up along with an effort question.
Vanderbilt is 3-2 and 0-2 in the league after losing 21-15 at Auburn and 38-14 at Georgia.
Clark Lea’s team hasn’t lost at home, though. It’s 3-0 there, and one of those was a 35-31 win over NC State that ended on a fumble recovery in the end zone.
The quarterback is freshman Jared Curtis, the five-star kid who was headed to Georgia until he wasn’t.
A ranked team going on the road to play somebody winless in the league. Rebel fans have seen that movie, and they didn’t care for the ending.
Vanderbilt has done this before
For a long time this wasn’t a series worth worrying about. Ole Miss was ranked No. 2 in 1960 and again in 1961 and won 26-0 and 47-0.
The Rebels won 10 straight from 1953 through 1963. A tie in 1964 stopped that, and then they won seven more.
Vanderbilt finally got one in 1974, 24-14.
After that it got to be a regular nuisance. The Commodores won in 1981, 1982 and 1984. They won in 1991 and 1992. They won 37-34 in Oxford in 1999.
Then it got worse. Starting in 2005, Vanderbilt won six of nine.
The one people still bring up is 2008 and probably still gives former coach Houston Nutt nightmares. Ole Miss was up 17-7 at home and lost 23-17. Six turnovers will do that.
Dexter McCluster fumbled at the goal line with 2:40 to go. Ryan Hamilton picked off three passes for Vandy.
A week later that same Ole Miss team went to Florida and beat the No. 4 Gators 31-30. Figure that one out.
What it means for Saturday
It happened in 2016 too, 38-17 in Nashville.
And in 2018 the Rebs led 13-0, out-gained Vanderbilt 578-387 and lost 36-29 in overtime anyway.
“Our emphasis this past week was to finish,” Vandy quarterback Kyle Shurmur said that night.
Ole Miss could’ve used some of that.
To be fair, the last three haven’t been close. The Rebels won 31-17, 52-28 and 33-7.
But they haven’t played since 2023, and Vanderbilt won 10 games last year. This will be Golding’s first try at it as the head coach.
I think Ole Miss wins. Trinidad Chambliss is the best player on the field and the Rebs have had two weeks to stew on Florida.
I’d just feel better about it if the game were in Oxford. Vanderbilt is 29-23-2 against Ole Miss in Nashville.
