Welcome to Ole Miss Nutt

Well it seems to be official. We have a new but familiar coach in Oxford. Even though it hasn't officially been reported from all indications Houston Nutt will be taking over.
This is an interesting hire for the Rebels. We wanted an experienced coach and we got one. He comes into town with a good bit of talent waiting on him.

There are a lot of questions left to be answered but at least we know where to start.

Hotty Toddy

Coaching Search begins

Deja-vu. Just a few years ago we were in this same situation. However, this time is different. The next Ole Miss coach will come into an ideal situation. We have talent. Many commentators have written about how attractive of a job we have. Here are a few snips:

"Look for the Mississippi job to attract a lot of attention, as Ed Orgeron left a stocked cupboard."--Sporting News

"Whatever the case, there will be a new sheriff in town, and he will have more than ample talent at his disposal.If the Mississippi State game was proof that game management was not Orgeron’s strength, it was also proof that the Rebels quite clearly have the talent to compete against a 7-5 bowl team.There was also talent enough for Ole Miss to play with some of the better teams in the conference, at least for periods of time.Orgeron’s successor will have something he never had, and that’s an SEC-caliber quarterback. Orgeron thought he signed such a player in Brent Schaeffer, but that attempt was incomplete." --Daily Journal

Black Fri turns into Shakedown Sat

One day after a black Friday for the Rebels, Shakedown sat has begun. Coach O was let go this morning. After weeks of standing behind his man, Pete Boone said actions in the last two games changed his mind. There was speculation that Pete Boone would resign as well today but that didn't happen.
Stay tuned......

Black Friday indeed.

Another frustrating loss. Another depressing day. Black Friday has another meaning for us Rebel fans today.
What would have happened if we got the 1st or if we punted and pinned them? Who knows? No one can say for sure but it's likely the game would have ended 14-0.
Football is over for this year. I am happy to be moving on the Basketball.

My favorite Egg Bowl

I've lived through a lot of Egg Bowls. (34) I have several favorite games. My first year at Ole Miss was an exciting game. MSU had numerous attempts within our 10 yard line in the last few moments to tie us in 1992. They failed. Then there was the immaculate deflection. I am not sure what year that was, but I don't remember the game.
My favorite game however was in 1997 when TT , with a gutsy call, went for two to beat MSU 15-14 in Starkville. Both teams were decent that year and the winner had the upper hand in going to a bowl game. We went on to beat Marshall in the Motor City Bowl.

What is your favorite Egg Bowl?

Egg Bowl Week

It's Egg Bowl week again. No bowl game for us but we can keep the Dogs from going as well. If I am not mistaken in order to get an at large bid a team has to have at least 7 wins. No matter it's nice to beat State.

The LSU game was interesting for a while. It was nice to see the Rebs on National TV and in HD for the first time this year. Every football fan watched part of the game. All my friends up here in Ohio saw part of it. So it was good exposure.

Congrats to the University for getting the Presidential debate in 2008.

Hotty Toddy from Mexico

Sorry I havent written a lot lately. I decided to take a cruise. Don't worry, I will be back in LA on Sat in time for the game. I am sure the Vaught and the Grove will be packed for the game! We are hosting #1...... It's time folks!

Hotty Toddy from Mexico!

I'm glad to see AK's boys off to a 2-0 start!

Ultimate Pay Back?

Many years ago, before I was born, there was an LSU player named Cannon, who as J. Vaught said, "rained on our parade." He ruined Ole Miss's chance of winning a National Championship. This story, played out each year when Ole Miss & LSU meet, haunts Ole Miss fans.
What better chance than on national TV to change the story told in the future. Little Ole Miss can achieve the ultimate payback by ruining LSU's chance of playing for the national championship.
The story line is perfect. Ole Miss, 3-7, down on our luck, knocks off #2 LSU and secures national media darling Ohio State a national championship. The entire country will be pulling for Ole Miss. The entire country will celebrate a Rebel victory. What a signature win!

Win 3

It was great to get another W. It was a bit depressing to have NWS rack up 400 or so yards of offense and score 31 points. It was also sad to have only 23K at a game. Perhaps this is the low point and it will only get better from here.

The rest of the season should be about spoiling our rivals seasons. We can keep LSU out of the National Championship. We can keep Miss. St. from going to a bowl game. So there is a lot still to play for. Win the next two and it can propel us into 2008.

We play Saturday?

It's Northwestern St. week. I have to be honest, it's hard to get motivated about this week. I even thought this was the bye week. Most Rebel fans have written off football and is now focusing on Basketball, others are mired in self pity (ole miss self pity) and calling "off with their heads". Coach O will be here another year and I think Boone will be as well so we should all focus on how we can support this team.
The next two weeks will be difficult in football but with LSU & State up and coming things will improve. Also, there is a basketball game on Friday.

Loss #7

Ole Miss v. Auburn = boring game.
I was glad to see the Rebels stay in the game until the end. But, as usual, we lost. And let's face it, Auburn isn't so hot this year. So it's official, even though it was pretty much assumed, another losing season. Four in a row. I am tired of losing. Our next home game against Northwestern State will probably be our smallest crowd at Ole Miss in 10 years of so. But it's hard not to blame folks.
So where do we go from here. Basketball? Baseball? With LSU & State still to go on our schedule, we could prove spoiler and make ourselves feel a bit better. LSU will probably play for the NC, unless they lose again. Either Ohio State or BC will lose and that will open the door for a one loss team. We could keep LSU from playing in the NC. State is sitting at 5 wins. They will likely have to beat us to become bowl eligible. What a better way to end the season than to keep the dogs out of a bowl game? So it's time to circle the wagons and beat out two biggest rivals if for nothing else, pride.

Blow out

Saturday was not fun. It started out well because we got the ball first and mounted a decent drive. Then Arkansas got the ball and it was downhill from there.
This is the first ball game in which I can't think of any positives. In the smoldering ashes of the blow out, rumors are now rising up on the message boards. The biggest one: Pete Boone will retire this year. It will be another one of those weeks.

For your viewing pleasure

The Lexington Brothers on Mr. Jackson:

Q&A with Razorbackexpats.com

The guys at Razorbackexpats.com took the time to answer a few questions about Arkansas and this weekend's game.

(1) How do you think the Arkansas players will react to the close loss to Auburn? Will they come out flat or motivated?

It's hard to say. I'd imagine that they're feeling pretty bad after three straight last minute SEC losses, plus all the controversy swirling around the program. It's certainly possible that Houston Nutt will use this as a "circle the wagons" opportunity and get them properly fired up...it's happened before. My guess, though, is that they'll come out flat but will play better as the game goes on.

(2) What is the morale of the team and the fan base at this point in the season?

Hard to say about the team....like I said above it could go either way, but I certainly wouldn't blame them for feeling pretty low by now. The string of tough losses plus fan uprisings like the banner and booing have to hurt (even if things like the banner are claimed to be only about the coaching staff). As for the fan base, things are bad and getting worse. There's a huge amount of unrest about the program and its future right now - just check out the comments and articles on our blog or any of the other Razorback blogs to get a first hand taste. There's a lot of bitterness left over from the end of last season and the whole Malzahn/Mustain controversy, and the disappointing results this year have only added to that. I think Nutt has lost all but his most die-hard supporters by now.

(3) Is Nutt in trouble?

Oh yeah. I really can't imagine a scenario where he's the coach next year. Best case for him is that he gets to resign with some dignity still intact and then goes on to another decent job in another conference. Worst case is that he needs a police escort to safely get him past the angry mob surrounding his house, I suppose.

(4) What are the keys to an Arkansas victory?

Well, for starters if we have a lead in the 4th quarter it would be really nice if we didn't blow it. Beyond that obvious statement, the key to every game so far as been to establish at least a tiny semblance of a down field passing game so McFadden and Jones aren't battling all 11 guys on defense. Aside from a few stretches that hasn't really happened much this year.It would be great if McFadden and Jones could pop a couple of their trademark long runs, of course. The Auburn game was the first one in quite awhile where they were both contained, so I'm hoping they'll get back on track. Also, I know you guys have a good passing game so we need to keep the big plays there under control, of course - we had some problems with that against Alabama and Kentucky, but did a much better job against Auburn.

(5) It seems Arkansas has a one dimensional offense right now. Is this because of your QB play or does this have to do with play calling?

Probably a little of both. Casey Dick isn't going to be on Mel Kiper's short list of 1st round NFL picks any time soon, but you certainly can't put all the blame on him. He's had moments where he's hit some really nice passes, so I know the potential is there. He's certainly not being helped by the rather lackluster play calling, that's for sure. Perhaps most importantly, he hasn't really had a whole lot of people to pass to this year...our two top returning receivers, Marcus Monk and Ben Cleveland have been injured all year (Monk may play on Saturday; Cleveland is out for the year) and no one else has stepped up as a consistent playmaker.

(6) Is this win a must for Arkansas to make it to a bowl game this year?

It's crazy that I'm saying this, but I guess it is. I mean, technically we could still beat South Carolina, Tennessee or LSU instead, but no one is feeling great about that happening at this point. Right now our best chance to get to that six-win mark would be against you guys and Mississippi State (although neither of those games are gimmes by any means) plus our four incredibly weak non-conference opponents. Thank God for North Texas State, at least.

(7) How is your defense this year?

Not as good as last year - we lost a few stars to the NFL - but it's getting better. Our secondary in particular was torched by both Bama and Kentucky (who both scored more than 40 on us), but we looked a million times better against Auburn. Reggie Herring's defenses tend to start slow and improve over the course of the season, so hopefully that trend will continue this year.

(8) What did you think of the controversial call at the end of our Bama game?

To be honest, it seems like it comes down to a lot of judgement calls about various rules and regulations that I'm not intimately familiar with. I'm sure if I were an Ole Miss fan I'd be incredibly outraged...I can certainly understand that sentiment. And if I were a Bama fan, I'd probably think the call was correct!

(9) Will McFadden win the Heisman this year?

No way. It's too bad, because I really think he's the best player in the country and definitely deserves it. But the Heisman typically goes to the QB or RB on a top 5 team, and with our three losses (and counting) we're certainly not going to be in that conversation. Unfortunately, he's being hurt by a lot of things largely beyond his control.

(10) What are your predictions for the game?

Maybe someday I'll learn my lesson, but I'll stick with the optimistic route for now. Hogs win, 24-14.

Battle for the Bottom

One team will finally have an SEC win this year. One will be the only team without an SEC victory. Who will it be? Even the winning team will probably be thinking ahead to basketball season this year.

I like Ole Miss chances in this game. I think we can move the ball on Arkansas and put up some points. The obvious key will be to stop the run. If Arkansas continues to have a poor passing game perhaps we can load the box and slow them down. Another concern for me is our special team coverage. We much keep them backed up and make them go the distance of the entire field to score. Also, Arkansas probably doesn't have the refs on their side so that always helps.

Regardless, I expect a full house of Rebels Saturday to cheer the Rebs to victory. (Our first SEC victory of 2007)

Faulkner for a mascot, the play and more

A few stories floating around:

ESPN discusses "the play". This was a pretty fair assessment of the situation.

CBS throws out the suggestion that Ole Miss should have Faulkner as our new mascot. -- Let me think about this idea for awhile and get back to you.

College Hoops says Ole Miss is the 143rd best basketball team in the country this year. -- What are these guys Smoking?

States: Year to date

Rushing:
National Rank:98th 113.71 per game
SEC Rank: 12
Arkansas: (nat/SEC) 3/1

Passing:
National Rank: #45 243.3 per game
SEC Rank: 4th
Arkansas: (nat/SEC) 110/11

Total Offense:
National Rank: 80th 357.00 per game
SEC Rank: 8th
Arkansas: (nat/SEC) 21/2

Scoring Offense:
National Rank:95th
SEC Rank: 12th
Arkansas: (nat/SEC) 19/4

Rushing Defense:
National Rank:98th 194.57
SEC Rank: 11th
Arkansas: (nat/SEC) 63/8

Pass eff. Defense: 127.63
National Rank:68th
SEC Rank: 11th
Arkansas: (nat/SEC) 6/3

Total Defense:
National Rank:95th 436.57
SEC Rank: 12th
Arkansas: (nat/SEC)

Scoring Defense:
National Rank: 68th 27.43
SEC Rank: 11th
Arkansas: (nat/SEC) 41/8

Refs, Bama beat Ole Miss by 3

Not much to say at this point. The Ole Miss players played their hearts out to come up short again. Of course, Bama was aided by the review officials in the booth. By rule it should have been Ole Miss ball with a chance to win or tie with a field goal. Even if he stepped out of bounds on his own, Bama touched the ball first. Therefore, Ole Miss ball with a chance to win.

Its time to beat Bama Blue

We've only beaten Bama Blue 8 times since the late 1800's. There have been a lot of close games but in realty we are to them what Vandy is to us. The Bama game is usually one of our biggest games of the year. I would put it third on the list behind LSU & MSU. Of course to hear a Bama fan talk they are out biggest game of the year. (A bit inflated but not unusual considering the source.)

I was born in Huntsville and grew up in Tennessee , a few miles (spitting distance) from the Alabama border. I had to endure Bama, Auburn and Tennessee fans growing up in the late 70's- early 90's. We only beat Bama once during that time that I can remember. It was a good one, the year that the Bear Bryant museum was dedicated. Shortly after that victory, bricks went flying and one ended up in the coaches office. He was gone after that year. I also remember the year we went up 21-0 over Bama and lost the game 62-21.

A friend of mine here in Ohio asked me who to pick in the Ole Miss v. Bama game. I said, I think we have a great shot of beating Bama but you might want to go with history. I told her the series record and she said, I'm going with Bama. I couldn't blame her.

Oddly enough it seems that we always feel as though we have a good shot at Bama but end of losing in the end. We should be use to losing to Bama and I suppose we are.

8 times in 50+ tries... It blows my mind. I am a glutton I suppose but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Hotty Toddy! Beat Bama Blue!

Q&A with The Tide Druid

The Tide Druid was kind enough to answer a few questions about Alabama and this week's game.

(1) How do you evaluate QB Parker up to this point in the season?

If you look at his stats alone, he hasn't done horrible: 8 TDs passing, 3 TDs rushing with 1200 + yards and 4 interceptions. But, he just hasn't been able to play a consistently good game. He does have a bad habit of staring down his main targets. He is also prone to throwing off of his back foot when pressured, which usually ends up with Alabama punting. Most people want to blame him more than anyone else on the offensive side of the ball. Still, he has been able to score when it comes to crunch time. He's great with a no huddle or 2 minute offense. With the regular offensive play calling, he is adequate.

(2) How about your young O-Line, how are they doing so far?

They've been both good and bad at times. When they have given Wilson protection, we've been able to move the ball. But, they've also been a little to comfortable, allowing more pressure than a group this talented should. Andre Smith is a stud, but has been a little inconsistent at times, as have the others. Expect a new set up for the O-line on Saturday. Justin Britt's mother had a car accident (she'll be ok), so he probably won't play since he's been with his family most of the week. Antoine Caldwell (center) will be moved around as Evan Cardwell takes his place.

(3) What do you think the keys are to a Bama victory?

Ball control by the offense. Though our defense is thin, we've been playing better than most people expected. The problem is that our offense has a tendency to go 3 and out for long stretches of time, forcing our already thin defense to stay out on the field way too long. They end up tired when it matters. This would help to explain such events as the Arkansas comeback, the last FSU score, and the Houston comeback.

(4) What concerns you the most about Ole Miss this weekend?

My biggest concern is that Ole Miss comes out like they have something to play for, while Alabama comes out flat again. If we get behind quickly, I don't know how we'll react on the road.

(5) What's your prediction for the game?

The national nail bitters association should have a field day with this one. Alabama will either start hot, or end with a sudden offensive flourish after struggling most of the game. Ole Miss should be able to move the ball more as the game goes on. Both teams will have their fair share of mistakes I'm sure. To be honest, this game will probably come down to who keeps their mistakes to a minimum in the 2nd half. I think Alabama is capable of winning, but I'm not sure if they will.