The Ole Miss football team is used to weekly challenges as a member of the Southeastern Conference this week.
However, this isn’t your ordinary week for the No. 13 Rebels. At 11 a.m. Saturday (WKDH-WTVA), Ole Miss will step outside of the SEC to face a formidable foe — undefeated Memphis — in the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee.
In addition to playing a regional rival, Ole Miss learned Monday that starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil will miss the game against Memphis as he final game of a seven-game suspension. He will be able to return for Ole Miss’ game Oct. 24 against Texas A&M.
Tunsil sat out Ole Miss’ first six games. Those games were included in the penalty the NCAA handed down against Tunsil for receiving several improper benefits.
Among the benefits the NCAA said Tunsil, a 6-foot-5, 305-pound junior, received were three loaner vehicles in a six-month period without payment, a four-month interest-free promissory note on a $3,000 down payment when purchasing a used vehicle, and an airline ticket.
Ole Miss also said the NCAA determined Tunsil “was not completely forthcoming when initially questioned by NCAA investigators regarding the loaner vehicles. He later corrected his account and since apologized.”
“I take full responsibility for the mistakes I made and want to thank everyone for their continued support,” Tunsil said in a statement released by the school. “I want to apologize to my teammates, coaches and the entire Ole Miss family for how my choices affected our program. This was a learning experience, and I’m looking forward to being back on the field with my team and redeeming myself. ”
Ole Miss announced during the summer that it was working with the NCAA because of allegations Tunsil had received improper benefits and had illegal contact with agents.
The Rebels (5-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) have had to juggle their offensive line in Tunsil’s absence, moving starting right tackle Fahn Cooper to left tackle and then inserting redshirt freshman Sean Rawlings into the starting lineup at right tackle.
Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said in a statement, “We have been supportive of Laremy throughout this process, and we are thankful he can return to competition starting with the Texas A&M game.”
Along with the seven-game suspension, the NCAA also ordered Tunsil to pay the value of the extra benefits to charity, do community service and make the vehicle down payment.
The news turned the focus off Memphis, if only for a moment, because Freeze and the Rebels know they will have a tough game.
“We play an outstanding football team in Memphis,” Freeze said. “I know the excitement level and enthusiasm they have around their program right now. We experienced some of that. That is credited to their players, their coaching staff and their administration. It is a quality football team. They are playing with great confidence.”
Ole Miss saw its season-opening four-game win streak snapped with a SEC loss to Florida. The Rebels bounced back from that defeat to dispatch winless New Mexico State last Saturday at home.
Freeze said playing on the road (and winning) at Alabama, as well as playing on the road (and losing) at Florida will help this team prepare for the challenge of a third ranked opponent on the road. While Memphis isn’t ranked by The Associated Press, the Tigers (5-0) are No. 22 in the nation in this week’s coaches poll.
“We played Alabama when they were undefeated and Florida, now Memphis,” Freeze said. “That is good for your resume building if you can have success on the road. Playing undefeated teams on the road, there is no question there is an experience factor that comes with that we need to draw upon. Some good and some bad. So there are some things we can take from our previous road trips into Saturday’s game.”
Led by quarterback Paxton Lynch, Memphis enters the game off a 24-17 American Athletic Association win at South Florida two weeks ago. Dating back to last season, the Tigers are now on a school-record 12 game winning streak, the second longest active streak (along with TCU) in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
“They have a good sound, quarterback,” Freeze said. “He’s one of the better ones I’ve seen on film. He takes care of the ball and puts it where it needs to go. He can make all the throw. He’s a very talented kid with really good players around him, so it is going to be a challenge.”
Ole Miss scored 17 fourth-quarter points to pull away to a 24-3 victory last season in Oxford. Lynch was held to 81 passing yards and sacked four times in that game.
“I thought he was really good last year also,” Freeze said. “We were playing with great confidence on the defensive side at that time. I think we were a pretty good unit. We were giving people a lot of problems. Has he improved? Of course he has. I would assume. I don’t know him personally but he strikes me as the type of player that spends the time in preparing that you should to play that position.”
Freeze is pleased to see the rivalry with Memphis renewed since the campuses are less than 90 miles apart.
“Every game from this point on on our schedule, our fan base is excited,” Freeze said. “They live and die by our football program. Every week is a roller coaster, so to speak. From play to play, from game to game, that explains that their fans and our fans have, and the passion around college football. It means a lot.
“They work together. They live together. A lot of friends on both sides, I’m sure. It would give us bragging rights for the next 365 days or so until we play again. It means a lot to both fan bases, and I have a clear understanding of that.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Reports from The Associated Press are included in this report.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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