Ole Miss vs. Alabama: Game Grades for Rebels, Crimson Tide

In a thrilling finish, the Ole Miss Rebels defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide by a score of 23-17 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi. 

Quarterback Bo Wallace led a second-half charge in which the Rebels outscored the Crimson Tide by a score of 20-3. The senior signal-caller threw three touchdowns—including the game-winning 10-yard toss to running back Jaylen Walton. 

Alabama was plagued by extremely poor special teams play all afternoon. In terms of play-calling, the Crimson Tide curiously went away from the ground game after sustaining good success during portions of the game. 

A final box score can be found here, courtesy of NCAA.com. 

Check out first-half grades and final grades for the Rebels and the Crimson Tide. Additional analysis for different positional units will also be addressed. 

Position Units	First-Half Grades	Final Grades
Passing Offense	C	A
Pass Defense	A	A
Rushing Offense	D	D
Rush Defense	B	B+
Special Teams	B	C
Coaching	B	B+

Ole Miss Rebels Game Grades

Passing Offense

Bo Wallace only threw for 54 yards in the first half. Alabama's front four was putting the signal-caller under siege, and he rarely had time to drop back and throw. The play-calling also was catering to shorter throws. 

In the second half, he was a completely different player. He had beautiful throws down the field to Evan Engram, Vince Sanders and Laquon Treadwell. He demonstrated poise, touch and guile. 

The signal-caller finished an efficient 18-of-31 for 251 yards and three touchdowns. Perhaps most importantly, he didn't turn the ball over once. 

Pass Defense

Although Amari Cooper had nine catches for 91 yards, the Ole Miss secondary did a great job of not letting him beat them over the top. The unit as a whole tackled extremely well and limited the talented receiver to just over 10 yards per catch. The secondary also held Blake Sims without a passing touchdown. 

There was one lapse in coverage, when Alabama tight end O.J. Howard galloped alone down the sidelines for a 53-yard gain. Outside of this mistake, it was a great night. Senquez Golson's interception in the waning moments will also likely go down as one of the biggest moments in Ole Miss football history.

Rushing Offense

This was not a great day for the rushing attack. Truthfully, Ole Miss doens't have a conventional every-down back. Walton and I'Tavius Mathers are both smaller, situational backs. Without the threat of a consistent ground game, the quarterback draws with Wallace become more difficult to run. 

Mathers' controversial fumble at the end of the first half was a huge blow from a momentum standpoint. As a whole, the unit rushed for 72 yards on 32 yards. This equates to a paltry 2.3 yards-per-carry average.

Rush Defense

Early on, the defensive front did a very nice job of bottling up the duo of T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry. Isaac Gross in particular was getting penetration against the interior of Alabama's offensive line. 

Toward the end of the first half and in the early part of the second half, Alabama opted for the stretch play to the left side of its line (behind true freshman tackle Cam Robinson). This is where the Crimson Tide got the majority of its yards. 

On the day, Alabama did finish with 168 yards on 44 carries. While it wasn't a stellar showing by Ole Miss' defensive line, it did hold Alabama to a respectable 3.8 yards-per-carry average.

Special Teams

It was a mixed bag on the day for the unit as a whole. The rotation of Gary Wunderlich and Andrew Fletcher was interesting. Fletcher missed a short field goal, and Wunderlich nailed a longer attempt from 46 yards away. A point-after attempt was missed by Wunderlich.

After a penalty allowed for a re-do, Fletcher came in and had the attempt blocked. In general, the kicking game needs to have more consistency. 

The returning duo of Walton and Mark Dodson was very good on the afternoon. Dodson had a 36.5 yards per return average. Punter Will Gleeson also had a perfectly executed coffin-corner punt to pin Alabama back against its 1-yard line late in the second half. 

Coaching

Defensively, the unit was strong all afternoon. The scheme worked very well—blitzing Sims at times, and also relying on pressure from the front four. Most impressively, it held Amari Cooper pretty quiet for the majority of the day. Alabama had one long pass play to O.J. Howard on a busted coverage. Outside of that, it was a very good effort by the defense. 

Offensively, the play-calling in the first half was vanilla and conservative. However in the second half, Hugh Freeze did a nice job of opening it up and attacking the Alabama secondary down the field. 

In totality, it was a very effective day for the Ole Miss staff. 

Position Units	First-Half Grades	Final Grades
Passing Offense	B	B-
Pass Defense	A	C
Rushing Offense	B	B
Rush Defense	A	A
Special Teams	C	F
Coaching	B	C

Alabama Crimson Tide Game Grades

Passing Offense

Sims managed the game well but wasn't a difference-maker in the contest. He did finish a respectable 19-of-31 for 228 yards. The one interception he threw came in the waning minutes of the contest. 

However, his legs weren't a factor in this game. From an accuracy standpoint, he did miss a few throws down the field. He also wasn't able to find Cooper down the field for a big play.

Pass Defense

The secondary performed very well in the first half. Wallace had only 54 yards passing—in large part to the Alabama corners contesting and jostling with the Ole Miss receivers. Cyrus Jones in particular looked impressive. 

In the second half, Ole Miss took more shots down the field. A busted coverage allowed for a big 50-yard pass play to Engram early in the second half. This galvanized Wallace, and it enabled him to get into a rhythm.

Quick-strike throws to Sanders and Treadwell opened things up even further. Elite safety Landon Collins was even beat on the long touchdown to Sanders.

It was a truly a tale of two halves for the secondary. Wallace threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns against the unit. 

Rushing Offense

True freshman Cam Robinson galvanized the ground game in the second quarter. The gifted left tackle opened up running lanes for Yeldon with great effectiveness. In fact, one could argue the stretch play to the left side was the most productive play throughout the afternoon for the Crimson Tide. 

The loss of starting center Ryan Kelly in the second half did complicate things. The offense was flagged for multiple procedure and false start penalties. To be fair, redshirt freshman Bradley Bozeman was thrown into a very uncomfortable situation. There was a lack of togetherness with the line—which is completely understandable. 

However, the unit failed to play with the same sort of rhythm and effectiveness as the game progressed into the fourth quarter. As a whole, the unit rushed for 168 yards on 44 carries. Yeldon himself had 123 yards on 20 carries.

Rush Defense

The defensive line dominated the line of scrimmage for the majority of the afternoon. It did a great job of closing down running lanes and plugging gaps effectively. The pursuit by linebackers on stretch plays was also impressive. 

Ole Miss managed only 72 yards rushing on 32 plays. Take out the quarterback draws by Wallace, and these numbers are even more minuscule. It was an impressive effort by the Alabama front seven. 

Special Teams

It was a day to forget for special teams coach Bobby Williams. 

Poor kickoff coverage gave Ole Miss great field position on multiple possessions. One of these returns led to points for the Rebs. 

Kicker Adam Griffith made only one of his three field-goal attempts. Surely at some point, Nick Saban can recruit a quality placekicker, can't he? The misses came at the end of long, productive drives. 

Lastly, a fumble on a kickoff by Christion Jones led to the game-winning touchdown for the Rebels. 

Need I say more? 

The lone bright spot was punter J.K. Scott. He boomed two punts of over 60 yards. His 51.8 yards per punt average is very impressive. 

Coaching

The special teams portion has already been addressed. Coaching in this category failed miserably. 

Offensively, Alabama needs to figure out what type of team it'll be. At some points, offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin utilized spread principles—including a zone-read element. This wasn't overly effective early. Then, he opted for a more run-heavy offense. This did pay dividends—until he went away from it and opted for more throws. 

As the schedule gets progressively harder, he might have to rely upon more of a rushing attack. This makes sense, considering a strong offensive line and a good stable of running backs. 

Defensively, the unit did play very well in the first half. In the second half, Kirby Smart seemingly could not adjust to the wide receiver bunch formation Ole Miss brought out. This same formation led to multiple big plays in the passing game. It was almost as if the Alabama secondary was befuddled each and every time.