#2 Alabama survives tough challenge from Ole Miss

After a dominant start to the season by the Crimson Tide, they could be excused for not being at their best against Ole Miss. The Rebels scored first, representing the first time all season Alabama has trailed but the Tide responded to go up big at halftime. Then they almost blew it all, but found a way to win—and that’s what good teams do when they’re not playing as well as they’re capable of.

Alabama trailed 3-0 after a 25 yard field goal by Joshua Shene with 5:25 left in the first quarter. Despite not having experienced the necessity to “come from behind” prior to this, they responded about as well as possible and regained the lead just over a minute later when Tide QB John Parker Wilson found Marquis Maze for a 26 yard TD pass. Alabama would score 17 more unanswered points to enter the locker room at halftime up 24-3.

Ole Miss didn’t quit, however, and began to chip away at the deficit beginning with a 9 yard TD pass off of a fake field goal early in the 3rd quarter. Another TD early in the 4th cut the lead to 7 points and another Shene FG later in the quarter really made a game of it. A final Ole Miss offensive drive was shut down by an inspired Alabama defense, however, and the Rebel comeback bid fell short.

Alabama’s offense bogged down severely in the 2nd half, allowing Ole Miss to hold the total yardage edge for the game 359 to 326. Neither team really did a good job executing when they needed to, with the Tide 3-11 on third down conversions and Ole Miss 2-14. Ole Miss turned the ball over 3 times, Alabama twice. Still, despite not playing anywhere near their best Alabama scrapped out the “W” which in a strange way demonstrates more about the quality of their team than a blowout victory.

The Tide will head to Knoxville next weekend to play Tennessee before returning home on 11/1 for a game against Arkansas State from the Sun Belt Conference. They’ll face another tough challenge on 11/8 when they travel to Baton Rouge, LA for a game against #13 LSU. Ole Miss will play at Arkansas next weekend before a home date against Auburn. After a bye week their schedule will resume at home against Louisiana-Monroe.