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#1 Alabama, #19 Ole Miss clash on Saturday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 9/13/2016  at  5:02:00 PM
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ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE (2-0)
at OLE MISS REBELS (2-0)

Vaught-Hemingway Stadium – Oxford, MS
Kickoff: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET
Line: Alabama -9.0, Total: 54.5

#19 Ole Miss will be going for its third consecutive victory over #1 Alabama when the teams meet on Saturday.

Alabama has looked dominant in its first two games, beating USC 52-6 as a 13.5-point favorite in a Week 1 neutral site game and following it up with a 38-10 victory as a 27-point home favorite against Western Kentucky. The Crimson Tide have allowed just 433 total yards this season, which is a truly ridiculous number. They’ll be hoping to play shutdown defense against Ole Miss as well. The Rebels got back to .500 with a 38-13 victory as 44-point home favorites against Wofford last weekend. It was a much-needed victory, as Ole Miss was stunned by Florida State in the season opener. The Rebels will, however, be looking forward to this game. They have now beaten Alabama two years in a row and can really get themselves back into the College Football Playoff picture with a win in this one. One trend favoring the Crimson Tide in this game is the fact that they are 49-27 ATS in road games after two or more consecutive straight up wins since 1992. The Rebels, meanwhile, are 19-7 ATS in home games after two consecutive games where they forced one or fewer turnovers since 1992.

Alabama is still giving QB Blake Barnett (164 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT) playing time, but this job belongs to Jalen Hurts (405 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT). Hurts is a big, mobile signal caller and his ability to run the football gives Alabama a whole new element offensively. He rushed for two touchdowns in the opening week victory over USC and that part of his game is going to keep defenses honest. When Hurts goes to the air, WR Calvin Ridley (11 rec, 138 yards, 1 TD) is the guy he’ll mostly be targeting. Ridley is one of the best receivers in college football and is coming off of a game in which he had nine catches for 129 yards and a touchdown. This game might just be a high-scoring one and if that’s the case then Ridley will need to come up big for Alabama. Defensively, DB Marion Humphrey (4 tackles, 1 INT) is going to need to be on his game. Humphrey already has a pick-six this season and the Crimson Tide could sure use a big play out of him in this one. The Rebels have one of the best quarterbacks in the country and Humphrey must do everything he can to make him uncomfortable in this one.

The Rebels got off to a rough start with their loss to Florida State, as they had control of that game and completely lost it. Rebounding against Wofford in Week 2 was big for the team, as it needed some confidence heading into this meeting with Alabama. If Ole Miss is going to beat this team for a third consecutive time then QB Chad Kelly (532 yards, 7 TD, 3 INT) is going to need to play a great game. Kelly was 20-for-27 with 219 yards, three TD and zero INT against Wofford last week, but this game is going to be a lot tougher. Fortunately for Kelly, he already knows what it takes to beat this team. Kelly lit up the Crimson Tide last year, going 18-for-33 with 341 yards, three TD and zero INT through the air. He also rushed for 21 yards and a TD in the 43-37 victory. Alabama will surely find a way to better prepare for Kelly this time around, though. He’ll need to be ready to counter when things get a little tough for him. Defensively, the Rebels have a ton of size and athletes that are capable of making plays all over the field. They did, however, struggle with Deondre Francois’ dual-threat ability and must be better prepared to take on Hurts this Saturday.


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