Rebels competing for Pontiac Game Changing Performance

The big Tebow stop on 4th and 1 is one of four plays competing to win the Pontiac's Game Changing Performance. The winning school gets money and moves on in the competition.

So go vote! Click here.

What a weekend!

This has been the biggest weekend for Ole Miss since, well since I've been alive. (35 years).

First, the university looked beautiful for the entire world to see at the debate last night. Then to top it all off we go down to the swamp and defeat the gators.

What can be said? Ole Miss, the world knows who we are now!

Keep an eye on the news articles to the right.

Palestra.net visits Ole Miss in prep for the Debates

The Grove:



Grove Fashion



Debate 08: Economic Policy



Studying Business Abroad:



Ole Miss New Coach



Grove Tailgate/Walk of Champions



Debate vs. Football



Archie Speed Limit

Complete disaster!

I don't know what's worse, a last second loss to Wake or the self inflicted loss tonight. Six turnovers? A goal line stand. Unbelievable. If we plan on going to a bowl game we are going to have to stop the self beating!

It will be a long week.

Blog Swap:

I posed a few questions to Josh of the Vandy Blog: Vanderbilt Sports Line.

(1) How far will Vandy go this year?

Vandy has a shot at winning seven games without beating Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Auburn, or Wake Forest. The trick is that we would have to win three SEC games on the road (Ole Miss, Miss. St., and Kentucky). If we can win those three games, and perhaps pull off an upset of one of those four teams, we could be looking at an 8-4 season, which would be a major accomplishment in the eyes of all Commodore fans.

(2) Being 3-0 is the excitement around Nashville at an all time high?

We’ve been 3-0 at the beginning of the season before, but this time there’s a different feel to it. Winning a huge game on national TV last two Thursdays ago really set a different tone for this Vanderbilt. The fans are filling the seats, the team is playing tough late and holding leads, and the players have more confidence than ever. It is a great time to be a Commodore football fan thus far.

(3) What do you see as being the critical matchup this weekend?

Vanderbilt’s front 4 against Houston Nutt’s running attack, specifically the “Wild Rebel.” Vanderbilt has held opponents to 98 yards in their first three games. That stat however, is very misleading as non of the teams we’ve faced so far really committed to running the football.

(4) Do Vany fans see Ole Miss as a major Rival?

I think so. Vanderbilt and Ole Miss are kindred spirits in that both teams have historically been overlooked and looked past by the rest of the SEC (save Mississippi State and perhaps Kentucky). There’s also a rivalry in that both schools think they have the best looking women in the SEC.

(5) What does Vandy need to do in order to win this weekend?

The running game will be key. If Vanderbilt can stop the run, it makes Ole Miss’ offense much more one dimensional. With a quarterback with Jevan Sneed that’s not necessarily the end of the world for Ole Miss, but it would certainly allow Vanderbilt to dictate the tempo and the pace of play. On the other side of the ball, if Vanderbilt can continue to run the ball successfully, it will open up our playbook and allow Chris Nickson to do some things through the air. Vanderbilt’s wide receiving corps has been decimated by injuries early this season. While there is hope that Andrew Diomande, a transfer from Clemson who has been slowed with a toe injury, might make his debut Saturday, the unit is still not 100%. If Vanderbilt can effectively run the ball, it will allow the receivers to get in the game, and hopefully put the Rebel defense back on its heels.

(6) What's your prediction?

True to form, this game will be close. I also think it could be an offensive slug fest. As always, who wins the battle of the turnovers will be key. Still, Vanderbilt homers that we are, we’ve got to go with the Commies. Vanderbilt 27 - Ole Miss 24.

Vandy Fans talk about the game

(1) Starting 3-0 how optimistic are you of getting to a bowl game this year? How far do you think you can go?

More optimistic than I was before the season started, but it will take a win this weekend for me to come off of my 5-7 preseason prediction. I will say that I don't think there's a team on our schedule, other than Florida, that we can't beat.-vandystu

Pretty optimistic-rEvUrB

Very optimistic. As the season has progressed, only UF seems a little out of reach at this point. If (big if) we can stay healthy, I can see up to 8 wins... with a little luck maybe more. I feel like save UF (and we just seem to always match up well with UGA) the SEC East is really not that different from top to bottom this year.-theWinners


Plain and simple, if we lose Saturday, we don't go to a bowl game. In fact, I would say the loser of the game won't go. Looking at the remainder of our games realistically, I don't see 3-4 more wins. If we beat the Rebs, we can certainly beat State. That's 5 wins right there.-DoreFan

Less than 50/50. Better shot next season.-Thunder Gulch

Not too optimistic. This is still a team that gives up significantly more yardage than it gains. We could get some more breaks here and there and win 6, but I'd feel a lot better if we could develop a passing game.-PhilipVU94


Most are still cautious to predict how the season will end. The up side is that VU is 3-0, has been the underdog twice, beat the spread by a huge margin in all three games, and will eventually get at least two of its key players back by midseason. A bowl game is 50/50.-Mike Rapp

Feeling good, but I've been here before. Won't count chickens until I see what bowl we're going to.-ORDore


I'm very optimistic about this ball club. I see us winning against OM, Duke, MS ST., and Kentucky to go 7-5.-CrazyCommodore

Getting more optimistic by the day. If we take care of business this weekend I say we will go bowling.-cjdore

So far, so good. In fact, an 8-4 season isnt out of the question, but I'll go with 7-5.-paulgodores

There is only one team on the schedule that on paper we can't beat. That would be Florida. We beat GA two years ago and had them beat last year but for a late game screwup. Same with Tennessee. Ole Miss game is always a war and always winable by either team. Who makes the least mistakes. Auburn looks bad, always plays bad in Nashville, and if we can score, we have a chance. Duke: enough said. MSU, if we can score... Tennessee loses to UCLA and struggles with UAB? Wake Forest, a good team but I think with a perfect game we can win. Not saying we will, just that we won't go into games as in the past saying there is no hope. Finally, Florida. Doesn't look promising, but it is at home and that is why they play the game.-Cdore78

Mildly optimistic. There are many things that could go wrong but this team has a resilience that VU teams have not had in my 30 + years of following them-AlbertCamus

Being a multi-decade Dore fan, I try not to get my hopes up too much. I hope to heck we make it this year, but the odds, IMHO, are less than 50-50, even after a 3-0 start.-geeznotagain

I think Vandy fans are (realistically) optimistic about a bowl. Before the season I predicted a 4-0 start and an 8-4 season record, and I think both are looking good right now. A loss in Oxford would be a major blow to the bowl hopes though. And of course the last 2 times Vandy started 3-0, the team failed to make it to a bowl, so that's going to be in the back of people's minds.-BrentVU

I predicted 8-4 pre-season, and I'm sticking with it.-vandorawelty

Fairly, I'd say the odds are 50/50 at this point. Up from maybe 10% preseason. Win this one and the odds go to 66%.-SteveE79

I honestly think 7 wins is a reality this year. So yes we go bowling. (And I'm the pessimist of the board)-GluttonforPunishment

Lets go 6-6. maybe 7.-staceyjane

(2) What name will Rebel fans be cursing at the end of the game on Sat?

If we win, Chris Nickson. If we lose, Houston Nutt.-vandystu

DJ Moore-rEvUrB

DJ Moore-theWinners

Either Chris Nickson or D.J. Moore or Houston Nutt.-DoreFan

DJ Moore or Jared Hawkins-Thunder Gulch

Ed Orgeron, duh. I expect OM to win so I don't know who else they'd be cursing.-PhilipVU94

Nickson. He will either get 120 yards on the ground, or Vandy loses.-Mike Rapp

Chris Nickson. He's due a big passing effort.-ORDore

Houston Nutt-CrazyCommodore

Rebs will be cursing 3 names. QB Nickson is elusive and will have you cursing all day long. DJ Moore Will pick off a pass and may take it to the house. And finally Bryant Hahnfeldt will continue to kick the lights out.-cjdore

D.J. Moore.-paulgodores

Jared Hawkins ...who will have chewed up a lot of clock behind what was supposed to be a novice OL.-AlbertCamus

I don't know, do you curse even if you win? I expect the Rebs to win, but I think D J Moore and Langford will have good games. I expect our offense to be inconsistent, so I doubt you'll be be doing much cursing when you're on "D".-geeznotagain

D.J. Moore is Vanderbilt's best player. However, the way Chris Nickson has performed the last two years against Ole Miss, watch out for him too.-BrentVU

whichever of your DBs lets our receivers get behind them for big plays-vandorawelty

Moore, Nickson.-SteveE79

Greg Billinger-GluttonforPunishment

Snead-staceyjane

(3) What do you think of the Rebels this year? Who worries you the most?

2 huge improvements from the past few seasons: 1) a coach not named Orgeron, and 2) a real QB. Ted Cain.-vandystu

Improved, Snead-rEvUrB

Only got to watch part of the Wake game and came away impressed. The team seems to be much more of a team this year. Snead.-theWinners

Obviously, your QB worries me. You guys gave Wake everything they could handle.-DoreFan

Borderline bowl contender. Your OL.-Thunder Gulch

A rapidly-improving team with a decent chance of getting to a bowl. I keep hearing that Snead is the greatest thing ever, but I suppose I'm worried that he might grow into fulfilling the hype. I'm also worried about Hardy now that he'll be back. -PhilipVU94

Ole Miss is adjusting to having a legit coach. They have not played anyone who has Vanderbilt's defensive strengths, and it waits to be seen whether they are better than last year.-Mike Rapp

Don't pay enough attention. Effort at Wake was nice, though.-ORDore

The Rebels are a very pass oriented offensive and that will come back to bite them against the dominant SEC teams this year-CrazyCommodore

Rebs are improved from last year with the addition of a quality QB. Snead's abbilities behind center worries me the most but our CBs are VERY talented.-cjdore

Jevan Snead.-paulgodores

OM is much improved. Interestingly, I am one of the tiny minority that thinks Coach O wasn't half bad. He left the cupboard full for sure.-AlbertCamus

You've improved significantly over last year. Snead is a stud.-geeznotagain

The Rebels have been almost totally transformed by the addition of Jevan Snead. He has a major-league arm, and gives OM the chance in any game they play. His performance against Wake Forest was terrific. Also I think Ole Miss has some physicial specimens... they just weren't very well-coached last year.--BrentVU

you seem MUCH improved, mainly because of Snead who is possibly the best QB in the SEC except for Tebow (maybe even better than Tebow long term because of his impressive elusiveness)-vandorawelty

Much improved. Snead.-SteveE79

Sneed worried me as well as the RBs. You guys should have beaten Wake. But you looked very impressive in defeat.-GluttonforPunishment

much better. running game is much improved.-staceyjane

(4) What do you think of the Nutt hire?

Not sure what to think of Nutt. He's seemingly always overachieving or underachieving. No middle ground. Certainly better than Orgeron, though.-vandystu

Good hire-rEvUrB

An improvement over CEO, but that's not saying a whole lot. I was just never a huge believer even when he was at Arkansas. I believe that he can make Ole Miss solid. Don't know how much more than that he'll be able to achieve.-theWinners

I think it was a steal and a tremendous upgrade (let's just say I don't think Orgeron was remotely a good coach) for Ole Miss. Houston Nutt is a great coach, recruiter and (from what I have heard from my family in Bentonville, AR) a great guy.-DoreFan

Addition by subtraction. Raises them from the bottom to the middle, but I don't think they are going to win any championships anytime soon.-Thunder Gulch

Good, and in light of where Orgeron was taking the program a spectacular coup. I don't think he'll prove capable of taking OM to where its fans think it should be, though.-PhilipVU94

Nutt's hiring, IMO, was a good strategic decision, but not a very exciting hire. But almost anyone would have been an improvement over Orgeron, who never should have been hired in the first place.-Mike Rapp

He seemed to get things done at Arkansas. Stirs the west up, no doubt. Could be a good one.-ORDore

They will see in about 3 years. -CrazyCommodore

Vandy fans have never really liked Nutt. He issued demeaning comments about VU while at Ark and when former Chancellor Gee was trying to improve academics within college sports, Nutt said something to the effect that Gee was trying to destroy college sports. On the field, he never schemes anything that we can't handle.-cjdore

It's definitely a step up from Ed Orgeron.-paulgodores

Nutt alienated Hog nation in a pretty profound way. Rebs may find out why before long.-AlbertCamus

I think he's a very good coach; I think you could have done a lot worse.-geeznotagain

Coach Nutt was a good hire for Ole Miss. Obviously Ed Orgeron was a very poor hire.-BrentVU

Nutt is obviously an experienced veteran but I wouldn't want him at Vandy. He's sort of a Coach O plus 10 IQ pts.-vandorawelty

Good hire. Drove the Ark anti-Nutt people bonkers, so I give it great entertainment level. Also a solid football coach - you could have done a lot worse.-SteveE79

Very good. He can coach.-GluttonforPunishment

Houston "Deez" Nuttz is an average SEC coach.-staceyjane

(5) Do you consider Ole Miss a major Rival?

Not really. I consider Tennessee and Kentucky to be the only "major" rivals. I do think Ole Miss is our biggest SEC West rival, and I think it should be a competitive game most years, as it has been over the past decade.-vandystu

A rival in that it's a game I usually think our chances are decent at winning, beyond that, no-rEvUrB

No. I only consider UT to be a rival, and at this point, we've got to work to get it back where it should be.-theWinners

I don't know if I could classify it as a rival, although we are certainly more competitive against the Rebs than we are against most of the rest of the SEC, so maybe it should be a bigger rival. When I think of Ole Miss, I think of the Egg Bowl or maybe you guys facing Tub-o-lies each year (I heard an Ole Miss fan call Tubs that and I thought it was funny). When I think of the team I hate the most, it's gotta be the vols first, second and third and Bama 4th, but we don't play them every year any more. I just don't see the hatred between the Rebs and Dores, so that's why I say it's not a major rivalry. It is almost always a nail biter though, isn't it?-DoreFan

We'd rather beat UT in football or UK in basketball, but this does appear to be the swing game every season since it's early and neither team really knows how good they are.-Thunder Gulch

Yes. OM has been our most evenly-matched opponent over the past 5 years.-PhilipVU94

Not even close to a major rival. JMHO.-Mike Rapp

By our standards, yes. We play every year, it's almost always competitive, I gotta say so.-ORDore

Yes, the OM fans are amung the worst in the league and they love to run there mouth like they have the best team in the SEC.-CrazyCommodore

Yes we do consider Ole Miss a Major rival. If we don't beat the rebs we don't go bowling.-cjdore

Nah; the games are always competitive, but I bear no animosity whatsoever.-paulgodores

Yes. OM frequently is the best team we have a chance of beating. We are probably more up to play OM than is any other conference team save MSU.-AlbertCamus

No, not really.-geeznotagain

The Vanderbilt-Ole Miss rivalry is a "nice" rivalry rather than a bitter one. The fans generally respect each other. May it always be so!-BrentVU

Ole Miss is definitely a major rival.-vandorawelty

I think it was Woody who said "How do you expect to have a winning season if you can't beat Ole Miss". I'm sure you guys look at it the same way. The one game each year every VU fan wants to win is against UT, after that all wins are precious. Ole Miss and VU are normally fairly close in talent, so it's a key game, when we know we'll have games later in the year where we will be at a talent deficit (due to injuries and depth, or because we're playing UF).-SteveE79

1. UT 2. MTSU 3. KY 4. Ole Miss-GluttonforPunishment

yep-staceyjane

(6) Make your prediction: Final Score:

24-13, Ole Miss.-vandystu

Vandy 24-14-rEvUrB

Vandy, 30-24-theWinners

Ugh...I refuse to predict a final score. I could see a variety of outcomes. My hope is we have the ball last winning or with a chance to win it. If you press me, I'll say Ole Miss by a touchdown.-DoreFan

Ole MS 23-17-Thunder Gulch

OM 24 VU 17.-PhilipVU94

Visitors 31, Grovers 27-ORDore

Vandy- 28, Ole Miss- 20-CrazyCommodore

VU 31 - OM 28...... and may it be injury free-cjdore

Vanderbilt-38, Ole Miss-34.-paulgodores

VU 28 OM 24 -AlbertCamus

Rebs 31, Dores 17.-geeznotagain

Holding off until Friday for a final score prediction. But since I predicted a 4-0 start before the season, I guess I'll have to predict a Vandy win.-BrentVU

Vandy 35- Ole Miss 21 (we get at least one score from our D). Nickson will have his best day yet in the air as he shows what he can do to compete with Snead.-vandorawelty

I'll take 24-21, VU.-SteveE79

35-31 Ole Miss (Sorry, I already told you I'm pessimistic.)-GluttonforPunishment

3-2.-staceyjane

Where we Stand v. Vandy : Stats

Offense:

Rushing Offense: Ole Miss: 43rd 173 yards per game Vandy: 17th 225 yards per game

Passing Offense: Ole Miss : 53rd 234 yards per game Vandy: 118th 84 yards per game

Total Offense: Ole Miss: 45th 407 yards per game Vandy: 93rd 309 yards per game

Scoring Offense: Ole Miss: 37th 34 points per game Vandy: 43rd 32 points per game

Defense:

Rushing Defense: Ole Miss: 51st 114 yards per game Vandy: 38th 98 yards per game

Pass Defense: Ole Miss: 77th 218 yards per game Vandy:97th 258 yards per game

Total Defense: Ole Miss: 57th 333 yards per game Vandy: 68th 357 yards per game

Scoring Defense: Ole Miss: 61st 21 points per game Vandy: 39th 17 points per game

Other

Pass Efficiency:

Jevan Snead: 33rd Chris Nickson: 72nd

Passing:

Jevan Snead: 78th (Vandy not in top 100)

Total Passing Yards:

Jevan Snead: 33rd (Vandy not in top 100)

Passing Yards per game:

Jevan Snead: 51st (Vandy not in top 100)

Total Receiving Yards:

Shay Hodge: 85th (Vandy not in top 100)

Rushing

(Ole Miss not in top 100) Chris Nickson: #40

Rebels Move Down to #8 in latest SEC Power Poll

The SEC Power Poll, week 2, is out and the Rebels fell one spot to #8 after the 30-28 lost at Wake Forest.
Here are the comments about the Rebels:

"Jevan Snead is Matt Jones, Jr. and Ole Miss would qualify as about the third best team in the ACC.--Year 2

They outplayed Wake but got screwed by officials and made a few inopportune mistakes. This looks like a good team.--Garnet and Black Attack

Ole Miss ran their offense well, but are still light on defense. QB Jevon Snead has plenty of weapons at his disposal and the Rebels could be a team to watch later in the season.--Mississippi State Sports Blog"

So close yet....

It seems we've become accustomed to losing the close games. Games we should not win according to the experts and pundits. We were seven points underdogs and lost by two. We should be happy right. I think most Rebel fans are pleased with our team this year. Most believe we will win more than we will lose. However, this weekend's game was very hard to swallow. Hard to swallow because we were winning most of the game. Hard because we had four turnovers. Hard because it was too familiar to games over the past three years. We have to win one of those sometime right?

It's time to move on. We have at least five more games we should win (Samford, Vandy, Louisiana Monroe, Arkansas and Miss. State) USC also looks winnable.

Blog Swap: Old Gold & Blog

I recently had the opportunity to ask Zach of Old Gold & Blog, a Wake Forest blog, a few questions about this weekend's game:

(1) Last time Ole Miss played WF the Demon Deacons had a strong running game. What's the difference in the Offense now versus then?

Riley Skinner. Two seasons ago Skinner was a redshirt freshman starting for the third time in his career. In that game he was 4-5 for 43 yards. Skinner is all grown up now, and I'd argue that he's the best quarterback in the ACC. Last week against Baylor he threw the ball 36 times for 27 completions, 220 yards, and three touchdowns. He's matured into a great leader, he makes smart decisions, has good awareness in the pocket, and is incredibly accurate. The offense you see on Saturday isn't going to look very much like the offense of two seasons ago.

(2) Tell us a bit about your stadium renovations and what that means to the WF fans.

Saturday's game will be the grand opening of Deacon Tower, the $47 million project to update the press box on the west side of the stadium. The new box not only has a huge media area, state of the art television broadcast booths, and coaches boxes, but also a new club level, suites, and chairbacks in the middle sections of the stadium. The difference between the old box and Deacon Tower is night and day.

What this all means is that the Wake Forest's football program is here to stay. The program has total support from the school, the A.D., and most importantly the fans. Wake may never be able to put 60,000+ people in a football stadium because it just isn't possible with the alumni base, but the school and the fans are clearly dedicated to making it the best experience it can possibly be, and everyone is very excited about the tower.

(3) Now that WF is the ACC's only ranked team in the latest AP poll, do you feel that WF has the best shot at winning the ACC?

I do. As much as I've tried to defend the ACC in the past, I think after last weekend I'm going to have to drop most of my arguments. Wake has clearly made itself the front runner now, and although I still worry about the trip to Tallahassee to play Florida State and Clemson's visit to Winston-Salem, at this point it really does seem like it's Wake conference to lose. It's still early, and I'm not ready to declare the Deacs the champions today, but things to seem to be coming together to make it a strong possibility.

(4) How will Hanna affect your game plan for Sat?

If it's pouring rain Saturday there will probably be an negative impact on Wake's offense. Based on what we've seen so far, it looks like the passing game is going to carry the Deacs this year, and obviously that's more difficult in the rain. Still, for all the talk about Riley Skinner and the passing game, the defense is really the strongest part of this team. I'd be surprised if they let anyone score too many points this season, and bad weather would work to their advantage. I think you'll see Wake stick to a very conservative offensive game plan to avoid turning the ball over, take the opportunities that present themselves to put points on the board, and rely on the defense to get the job done.

(5) You asked first so: Any predictions for Sat? How far can this Wake team go this year?

I know, I know. I've got to save my actual score prediction for Friday's preview, but for now, even if the weather is bad, I still think Wake wins by two touchdowns. If somehow the weather gives us a break, I think there could easily be a 17+ point margin.

As I said before, things are lining up well for Wake to win another ACC championship, and I feel like there's a pretty good possibility of seeing that happen. The way things stand right now, I'd be surprised if Wake wins less than 10 games this season.

Wake fans talk about the game Sat.

(1)What do you guys think of our upcoming game this year?

Should be a great game, two fairly even teams. I think that Ole Miss will struggle to stop Wake Forest's offense with Greg Hardy and Peria Jerry out. The Rebels do have a lot of athletic ability, however, especially on offense.-JaredShelton

The Memphis game (regardless of the strength of the Tigers) got most Wake fans' attention, I think. There will be a contingent that looks at the dismantling of the Rebels two years ago and expects the same thing. My general feeling is that we're getting you guys at a great time with Hardy being out and Jerry perhaps being limited in his snaps. Y'all should be a team that improves throughout the season as you get Nutt's gameplan in place. I think that Wake's offense will have a lot of opportunities against Ole Miss' defense. McCluster scares me (as he did when he was a freshman? in '06, though y'all couldn't get him involved too much that game).-DeacInVermont

I don't think there's any doubt that it will be our toughest out-of-conference test. Ole Miss made a colossal mistake in making the change from Cutcliffe to Orgeron, but the one thing Orgeron could do was recruit, and Nutt stands to reap the benefits. It does somewhat go without saying when an SEC team (not named Vandy) comes to town, but this is a very talented squad with a lot of playmakers. Nutt also causes havoc for opponents in much the way Wake does for its opponents in that his offenses will do some things that teams don't see very often otherwise. As anyone who watched the LSU game last year can attest to, he does an outstanding job of utilizing the assets at his disposal. I'm hopeful that Wake's experience and overall completeness will be enough to see us through, but there is no doubt in my mind that it will be a very competitive game.-wsc8521s

(2) What are your strengths and weaknesses this year?

Strengths: the defense as a whole. This is the best defense that Wake Forest has had in quite some time, and they have very good team speed. The skill positions as a whole are also strength for Wake.Weaknesses: The offensive line is talented, but very inexperienced. They didn't run block well at Baylor, but they did do a good job in pass protection. They should be thanking their lucky stars that Ole Miss isn't at full strength along the DLine.-JaredShelton

Wake's biggest strengths are the back seven on defense and the ultimate game-manager at QB. This isn't to slight our D-Line because it's good, just that our linebackers and defensive backs tend to outshine. Weaknesses are an unproven receiving core and offensive line. As a fanbase, we liked what we saw out of the O-Line from a pass-protection standpoint, but the run blocking was a bit lacking.-DeacInVermont

I would say our weakness is the O-line, just because we are shuffling so many new guys in there. It takes a while to build cohesion and I think that showed with our run blocking and pass protection (at times) in our opener. If teams crowd the box against us early on we will struggle to run the ball. But this won't necessarily hurt us because of one of our strengths...Riley Skinner. He is exceptionally poised in terms of scanning the field, knowing who to go and knowing when to get rid of the ball. Our back seven also is a strong point, with Curry, Smith and Ghee all touted pro prospects and exceptional playmakers.-wsc8521s

(3) What will Hanna affect the game?

If Hanna does affect the game, it will put more emphasis on the running game and ball security. Wake struggled with both last week, but the Deacs do have two very good running backs.-JaredShelton

Only the Lord Knows.-DeacInVermont

Let's hope not for the fans and the unveiling of Deacon Tower's sake. But as you all learned in '06, you don't want to be playing in the rain against Riley Skinner, he's a mudder!-wsc8521s

(4) What do you think about Houston Nutt being the HC at Ole Miss?

Houston Nutt is a great coach. What he did at Arkansas with limited recruiting resources was fantastic, and it was ridiculous for the Razorbacks to run him out of town like they did. The Rebs got a good one.-JaredShelton

I don't have much of an opinion of him one way or the other.-DeacInVermont

Very, very good coach. Ever since he had Arkansas a fluke fumble away from beating #1 undefeated (and eventual national champion) Tennessee on the road in his first season on the job there in '98 I've had a lot of respect for him. He got terribly mistreated there with all the success he brought them...hell he was in the SEC Championship game (and winning in the 3rd quarter) against Florida all of two years ago. The Nutt hire was as good as the Orgeron hire was bad...and that's saying something.-wsc8521s

(5) What will be the final score on Sat?

28-24, Wake Forest.-JaredShelton

I'll go with 34-20, but I don't have a lot of confidence that will be the actual score. This thing could go any number of ways.-DeacInVermont

Assuming the rain holds off...I think both teams offenses will excel and cause problems for the opposing defenses. But I think Skinner outduels Snead and some costly mistakes by the Texas transfer harm the Ole Miss cause. Let's go Wake 34, Ole Miss 24.-wsc8521s

WWHD?

What will Hanna do?

The latest has Hanna right over Winston-Salem on Sat. The game is likely to go on as Hanna will be a tropical depression by the time it reaches North Carolina. It seems the biggest impact Hanna will have on the game will be how gameplans change because of the rain and the wind.

The rain *may* benefit the Rebels because of our strong running game. The Wild Rebel and the run by committee will be in full swing as the rain falls and the wind whips. Well, here's to hoping anyway.

It's eerily odd that the last time Ole Miss and Wake played it was nasty weather. Wake won easily that year by pounding the Rebels with their running game. Could this be Karma? Does Wake Forest need to check us off of their Karma list like Earl? Let's hope so.