Ole Miss doesn’t need a miracle Saturday to beat Oklahoma.
It doesn’t even need to be perfect. But after the way last week’s loss to Georgia exposed some familiar problems, the path to beating the Sooners feels pretty straightforward.
The Rebels have three areas they simply can’t lose, and if they do, their slim College Football Playoff hopes won’t survive another week.
Here are three questions that could decide whether No. 19 Ole Miss leaves Norman with a much-needed win or another frustrating loss.
Can Ole Miss finally get off to good start on offense?
Everyone has talked about the Rebels’ lack of success on opening drives this week. So, a lot of eyes will be watching what happens the first time they get the ball.
Ole Miss has scored just once on an opening drive this season and has gained 24 yards against teams not named Charlotte. It’s been bad, but most of the time the offense usually finds its groove.
It didn’t last week against Georgia. Oklahoma’s offense isn’t a big threat, but the defense is. The Sooners are allowing just 19.2 points per game.
Ole Miss needs to be the one to score first. It doesn’t want to have to try and play catch up with Oklahoma.
Can Ole Miss protect Trinidad Chambliss and open running lanes without Patrick Kutas?
The Rebels’ best offensive lineman won’t be on the field this week, a week after the line gave up five sacks to a blitz-heavy Georgia defense.
Kutas has won the SEC’s co-offensive linemen of the week twice this season and his versatility has kept the offense from missing a beat when injuries happen other linemen. Troy Everett stepped in last week for Kutas and that may be what Ole Miss does this weekend, too.
It’s important because, as previously mentioned, Oklahoma’s defense is really good. The Sooners have 26 sacks this season and are giving up 122.7 rushing yards per game.
And the Bulldogs put a blueprint on how to pressure Chambliss and make him ineffective. Ole Miss can expect Oklahoma to at least try and replicate that blueprint.
If the Sooners can look like Georgia did against Ole Miss, it’ll be another long day for the Rebels.
Can Ole Miss’ defense bounce back against poor Sooners’ run game?
It’s been the case all season long, but the Rebels have a hard time stopping opposing team’s rushing attacks. They just gave up 295 rushing yards to Georgia and let Florida run for more than 300.
As documented earlier, Oklahoma has not been good at running the ball. The offense is averaging just 110.9 yards per game, which is 124th nationally and 15th in the SEC.
Logic would tell us that if Ole Miss can’t stop this Sooners’ run game, it won’t be able to really stop anyone. But Oklahoma has a new play caller in Jason Witten and ran for 144 yards last week against Florida.
That also included 15 carries for 56 yards by quarterback John Mateer, adding an extra dimension to the Sooner’s rushing attack.
If Oklahoma looks like Georgia or Florida running the ball, all of the talk about the Rebels’ slim College Football Playoff hopes will be moot.
