Once ranked third in the nation, the Ole Miss football team is now simply trying to save the season.
After a gut-wrenching 53-52 overtime loss to Arkansas Saturday, Ole Miss will do some soul-searching during this week’s open date. The season will then conclude with a home game against No. 9 LSU and a road game at No. 20 Mississippi State.
Ole Miss fell to 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the Southeastern Conference. The road to Atlanta and the SEC Championship game just got longer as the team no longer controls its own destiny.
“Well, I never experienced anything quite like what we experienced on Saturday,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. “After watching the film and the effort that was given by both teams and ours, we couldn’t find issues with effort. It was certainly one of those days where the offenses had their way on both sides. It was a very difficult ending. You think you have won it a couple of times. Obviously, a game is never just decided on those plays, but they are a part of it. It’s a difficult loss, but there were a lot of positives. It was possibly one of the most efficient offensive games since I’ve been here. I thought Chad (Kelly) played extremely well, as did the offensive line and receivers.
“There were a lot of positives in the game. I thought we controlled the run game against a very good running team. Obviously, that was the plan, to stop the run. We unfortunately didn’t have answers to their pass game. That is something that we will have to address. I’m looking forward to an open week to get some people healed up, healthier and digging in on our stuff so we are evaluating what we are asking our kids to do. Hopefully we are making it simple for them to execute at the highest level.
The teams combined for 1,195 yards and 66 first downs. Arkansas scored in the final minute of regulation play to tie. The Razorbacks went second in the first overtime scored a touchdown and hit a 2-point conversion to win.
“A combination is always the answer,” said Freeze, when asked to explain the defensive struggles. “Sometimes, they had the perfect call, just like we did offensively. Sometimes, you lose one-on-ones, which we did a good bit. Was it a good call for our defensive staff to put our players in those situations? That’s what we have to evaluate. I’m certain that there are calls, sometimes, that we would love to have back. SO it was a combination of things. They present an issue to you, when you watch the tape.
“Whether it’s real or not, this year they are a little different. In your mind, you really look at it, and there are a lot of gaps that they created in the run game. They have really quality offensive linemen, tight ends and running backs. You certainly want to stop the run, which I thought we did well. The negative to that, when you have to put people in the gaps that they create, their tight ends and wide receivers are going to be in a lot of one-on-one situations. They won a large percentage of those. Schematically, we probably should have done some things differently. Obviously, in individual one-on-ones, we need to find a way to win more.”
LSU also saw its SEC Western Division hopes hurt by a 30-16 loss to Alabama Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. LSU has another challenging task this week when its plays host to Arkansas.
“There is always something to learn from other games,” Freeze said. “Obviously, players are different in every scenario, and players are different in different schemes. Alabama is built to stop runs inside the tackles. That is what they do. It didn’t surprise me that they were going to stop that kind of run game. There are certain things that we can study and learn from them. We will. We will look at all that and try to fit it to our game plan. As far as the game, the lateral and the bounce over C.J. (Johnson’s) head, to a linemen that tips it right into their fastest guy’s hands. That is one of those things that the longer you’re in the game as a coach, some of those bounces go our way.
“We have had a few of those bounces go our way. We stopped them on the two-point conversion, but had a flag on the ground. It was totally unintentional by our kid to touch the facemask. It was a difficult ending for sure.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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