Could Trae Elston's Suspension Cost Ole Miss Game, Perfect Season vs. Texas A&M?

Ole Miss topped Alabama 23-17 on Saturday to vault into the No. 3 spot in the latest AP poll and announce itself as not only a contender for the SEC West title, but also the national title.

For the Rebels to keep the national title train going in the right direction, they're going to have to get a big performance this weekend from their stout pass defense, which leads the SEC, giving up just 152.4 yards per game through the air.

They're going to be doing it without starting safety Trae Elston for the first 30 minutes of the game after Elston attempted to stomp on Alabama running back Kenyan Drake during Saturday afternoon's win over Alabama (Warning: the incident occurred on the same play in which Drake suffered a gruesome ankle injury, so watch at your own risk).

Will Elston's absence be a big loss for the Rebels? Absolutely.

He is fifth on the team with 24 tackles, has one pick and one forced fumble on the season and has started at the "Rover" position this year. Ole Miss is equipped to replace him with either backup "Rover" David Kamara or by moving a reserve—like freshman C.J. Hampton—into a more prominent role.

That's not good news considering Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill is completing 66.9 percent of his first-half passes (97-of-145) and tossed 12 of his 21 touchdown passes during the first 30 minutes of games.

As NFL.com's Chase Goodbread notes, Aggies offensive coordinator Jake Spavital will pay special attention to Elston's absence.

Elston's suspension will not, however, cost Ole Miss the game and its perfect season.

That would've happened regardless.

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Ole Miss simply doesn't match up well with Texas A&M.

The Aggies' biggest hole on defense is their inability to stop the run up the middle, which is where Arkansas and Mississippi State both found success over the last two games. The Aggies rank next to last in the SEC in rush defense (178.83 YPG) and are giving up 5.34 yards per rushing attempt against conference foes. 

The Rebels don't run between the tackles, though. 

Jaylen Walton (238 yards) and I'Tavius Mathers (152 yards) are their top two rushers, and both are more dangerous off the edge than they are between the tackles. As was the case the previous two seasons, quarterback Bo Wallace shouldered some of the load on the ground, notching 11 carries—tied for the team lead on Saturday with Walton.

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He's not the type of running threat who can expose the Aggies like Alex Collins, Jonathan Williams, Dak Prescott and Josh Robinson have over the last two games.

If Ole Miss is going to spring the upset—the Rebels are three-point road underdogs according to Odds Shark—it's going to have to pass. That means Wallace—who's tied with South Carolina's Dylan Thompson and Florida's Jeff Driskel with an SEC-worst six interceptions—will have freshman phenom Myles Garrett and his 6.5 sacks coming at him.

Different than Alabama, though, Texas A&M will almost certainly force Ole Miss into more of a shootout than the Crimson Tide did. A shootout means more passing situations, which means more opportunities for Garrett to pin his ears back and for "Bad Bo" to make an appearance on the road in a hostile, late-night environment.

Elston's half-game suspension doesn't help. In fact, it makes a shootout more likely. 

That was going to happen anyway, though. The matchups in this game were going to cause Ole Miss' perfect season to come to an end on Saturday night in College Station whether Elston was there or not.

Barrett Sallee is the Lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.