Game Five: The View

September 30^th

Vs. University Of Mississippi (in Oxford, MS)

If you ask any fan of an SEC school their favorite place to watch a football game, they will probably tell you their own school’s stadium. If they don’t, I’m pretty sure the laws in most states will allow you to slap them silly. Ask them their SECOND favorite place to watch a game, and they’ll probably tell you Oxford, Mississippi. I know what you’re thinking. Why? The Ole Miss Rebels haven’t been “in the hunt” for a while, what could be so special about being there? First off, they have LOTS of pretty women. Then there’s tailgaiting at the Grove. There’s the Mannings. I already mentioned pretty women, right? Tradition at Ole Miss means something to all SEC fans.

Recent football has been another issue. The Rebels record the last two years is 7-15. During those two years they ran off one “legend” (David Cutcliffe, now at UT) and brought in another (Ed Orgeron, mastermind behind the USC Trojans defensive line) Enter QB Brent Schaeffer. Two years ago at Tennessee, he was the first true freshmen to start an SEC opening game in a cajillion years. After some problems in Knoxville and a parting of ways with Coach Fulmer, he went to a couple of different junior colleges (I think one was named after a tree) and he’s FINALLY landed at Ole Miss. Schaeffer gives the Rebel offense instant credibility. And they’ve got a linebacker named Patrick Willis who could fend off a bull to go tackle a rhino. However, this is the SEC where depth matters. The Rebels are being projected around .500 or lower. As for the Dawgs, this is an away game and Schaeffer scares me. By the end of September, he could really be taking off and clicking on all cylinders.

Of course, so could Tereshinski. Or Joe Cox. Or Blake Barnes or Matthew Stafford. Dawgs win a squeaker with a solid running game