Alabama vs Ole Miss prediction, game preview, how to watch: Saturday, October 2
Alabama vs Ole Miss How To Watch
Date: Saturday, October 2
Game Time: 3:30 ET
Venue: Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, AL
How To Watch: CBS
Record: Alabama (4-0), Ole Miss (3-0)
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Alabama vs Ole Miss Game Preview
Why Ole Miss Will Win
The offense can keep up.
Alabama’s got the talent on defense to turn the lights out on just about anyone, but Miami – yes, Miami – Mercer, and Southern Miss don’t have high-powered attacks. Florida was able to bruise and batter its way to making the Bama game interesting in the second half, but it doesn’t have a high-powered passing attack.
Here comes Ole Miss with Matt Corral and company with a dominant 3-0 start with everything clicking. The attack came up with 647 yards in last year’s 63-48 loss to Bama – no one else in 2020 got to 470 – and this time around there’s a D to go along with that O.
At least, there’s a slightly improved D.
This Rebel defense isn’t going to be a brick wall at any point, but it’s athletic, experience, and far less cringe-worthy than the one that give up yards and points by the bucketload in 2020.
There’s more of a pass rush so far this season, the run D is getting gouged just a little bit instead of in monster chunks, and there might be just enough to hold serve so Corral and the offense can push a pass defense that’s been okay, but hasn’t been tested.
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Why Alabama Will Win
Louisville, Austin Peay, Tulane.
Let’s do a little bit of roll slowing here, America.
Ole Miss has a great team with an outstanding offense and a big-time playmaker of a quarterback. It also has a head coach who should and would be the new head man at USC, but won’t be because … well, because.
Yeah, the team has looked and played great, and yeah, there hasn’t been a problem so far, but the team has also taken target practice against a few middleweights and an FCSer.
Ole Miss has been able to get the O going partly because the running game has been unstoppable – that’s not going to work this week. Bama still has to prove that the glitch from the Florida game has been fixed, but just assume that the defensive side isn’t going to meltdown in the second half like it did in Gainesville.
Bama hasn’t been razor sharp so far – there’s a reason Nick Saban has been ranting and raving about a team that’s seemingly the best in college football – but Ole Miss has a bad habit of getting flagged and flagged some more, the O line is a wee bit leaky in pass protection, and for all the good things the attack does, it hasn’t been sharp on third downs.
Ole Miss has to be perfect, and it won’t be.
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What’s Going To Happen
There are two ways this can go.
Alabama decides enough is enough and comes out roaring with a dominant effort to show that it really and truly is the No. 1 team in the country, or this is a firefight of epic proportions that comes down to who has the ball last.
Can Corral pull a Johnny Manziel and take the Heisman with a historic performance with the sports world watching?
Or will this be the moment that Bryce Young sets the tone for the rest of the season for both the Heisman and Alabama?
Both quarterbacks will be great, both offenses will be great, but one defense will come through when it needs to.
Alabama vs Ole Miss Prediction, Line
Alabama 45, Ole Miss 30
Line: Alabama -14.5, o/u: 79.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2
Must See Rating: 5
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