Ole Miss had an opportunity to put the Texas Longhorns in the rearview mirror. Texas suffered back-to-back losses and was backed into a corner. Instead, the Rebels' flat first half resulted in a 34-27 defeat.
Ole Miss plummeted in the latest AP Poll, and with two losses, Pete Golding's team is now on the ropes. They cannot afford another loss, or the Rebels' College Football Playoff goals may evaporate.
As Ole Miss prepares for Auburn, it must clean up some mistakes that Texas exposed.
Tackling Issues Resurfaced
The Rebels' tackling and big-play vulnerability were exposed on Saturday. The Rebels allowed 11 big plays (rushes of 10+ or passes of 15+). Texas running back Raleek Brown finished with 157 yards as the Longhorns won the line of scrimmage near the end of the game.
It was an issue in Ole Miss' loss to Florida as the Gators continuously ran the ball against the Rebels' defense. While their performances against Vanderbilt and Missouri were encouraging, Pete Golding's defense took a step backward on Saturday.
"We didn’t obviously start the game the way we would like to. Couldn’t really get anything. Couldn’t get in rhythm on offense, Golding said in his opening statement on Saturday. "And then from a defensive standpoint, a lot of ups and downs. You know, we had some good series and then didn’t leverage the football on the perimeter. You know, we’ve shown before and had some missed tackles and then gave up a couple explosives in the pass game."
Ole Miss is Missing Its Running Identity
Kewan Lacy dislocated his shoulder and will miss this week's game against Auburn. Lacy was neutralized by the Texas defense before the injury, averaging 2.3 yards per carry on 16 attempts.
Makhi Frazier ripped off a 34-yard run but had five carries for 13 yards outside of that run. The Longhorns are a stout defense, but Ole Miss' running identity hasn't been the same this year. The Rebels have had one 100-yard rusher this year (Lacy, 122) and are 12th in the SEC in rushing yards per game (148).
Last season, Ole Miss had four 100-yard rushers through seven games. Most notably, the absence of Trinidad Chambliss' running ability has been surprising. Since Week 1, Chambliss has 74 rushing yards. It played a big role in his success last year, so I'm not sure why Chambliss hasn't been given those same opportunities this season.
Lacy's absence is affecting the Rebels' ability to run the ball, but they must find answers without him moving forward.
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