Rapid Reaction | Alabama rolls past Ole Miss

Kudos to Alabama. The Crimson Tide are the gold standard of college football. There is certainly no one, especially in Oxford, who questions that status after Alabama whipped…no, manhandled…Ole Miss 42-21 on Saturday in Tuscaloosa. The final score was not indicative of how badly the Rebels were defeated. It was a dominant showing from the Tide, and a whimper from the Rebels, who had two weeks to prepare for an opportunity that held so much promise. All 21 points the Rebels scored, let’s be honest, came after the outcome was well decided.

Alabama’s outstanding talent, coaching, recruiting and everything else, however, does not mean Ole Miss doesn’t own its disappointing performance. The Rebels seemed confused and quickly frustrated after their opening drive. Very questionable coaching decisions to go for it on fourth down contributed to an avalanche that led to a 28-0 halftime lead. The first, on the Bama goal line in a scoreless game, you could understand. The second, inside the Ole Miss 30 in what was a game still in question (14-0), left nearly everyone scratching their heads and led to a quick Crimson Tide score. Alabama took the opening drive of the third quarter and proceeded to move ahead 35-0. 

It wasn’t just the fourth-down decisions that were questionable. The Rebels went to war against Alabama with its Iowa State-inspired 3-2-6 defensive formation. There seemed to be nothing else. The Crimson Tide simply bounced would-be Ole Miss pass rushers like pin balls and gutted the Rebels between the tackles. That should have been predictable.

Those are some of the things Ole Miss owns from this showing. It does not, however, erase what must be acknowledged: The Rebels are a far cry away from Alabama. We, myself included, bought a little fool’s gold with the three convincing wins to open the season. The sledding is much tougher the rest of the way.

If there is a silver lining in this game, what is it? Maybe it’s the fact that gravity creates reality and the Rebels, after licking their wounds, may find a new focus.

What does this loss mean? Other than conclusion that the program has a weighs to go to compete with Alabama…and Bama would likely have to lose twice in the SEC for that elusive trip to Atlanta to finally happen for Ole Miss…pretty much all team goals remain in tact. This team can beat anyone left on its schedule.

As for Matt Corral and his…all of ours…Heisman hopes, it took a hit. He did not play poorly, but he was not effective. He’s not out of the race, but the frontrunner talk with die down a bit after today. He has plenty of time to recover, and so does his team.

Next up is what will undoubtedly be an Arkansas (4-1, 1-1 SEC) team with a mad-on after the Razorbacks were destroyed Saturday by No. 2 Georgia. How Ole Miss (3-1, 0-1 SEC) responds and tackles that challenge is really all that matters now.

Spit out the bad taste. Throw this one in the trash. There is a lot more exciting football left to play with many brighter days to come.