Ole Miss Travels West to Face Fresno St.

Turmoil is an understatement when describing the past couple weeks for Ole Miss Athletics. Something I really don't want to get into.

So I'll throw my two-cents in and move on.

As a former member of an Ole Miss team and alumni, Chancellor Dan Jones' letter was an embarrassment. It's time for the higher ups at Ole Miss to stop sugar-coating every statement they release to the public.

I've not been as ashamed to call myself an Ole Miss fan in I don't know how long. This is the same school administration that has taken so much tradition away from the program for "political" reasons. Yet, just two years ago they allowed animals such as the Ku Klux Klan to protest on our campus on the biggest weekend of the year (vs. LSU). And spare me with the, "they have the right to peacefully protest."

Now, let's please move forward to this weekend.

Last week's loss against Georgia went about how I thought it would. The Rebels hung around for awhile but in the end the Bulldogs proved to be more talented and physical. It's still an issue when Ole Miss has to use trick plays to score their points.

If Ole Miss does not come out of the gates with high intensity this weekend, they could find themselves down two touchdowns very quick. Fresno St. torched Ole Miss through the air last year for 390 yards. Ole Miss countered that with 425 on the ground in the 55-38 win.

Houston Nutt and his staff desperately need any sort of offense to give the defense a rest at times. The obvious question facing the offense will be who plays at quarterback. A topic which has left me scratching my head as well.

At times, Zack Stoudt has shown the ability to throw the ball down field with poise. However, when under duress he looks like a true freshman making his first start.

Randall Mackey is clearly the better athlete of the two. However, his inability to stay in the pocket and deliver the ball to receivers will be a problem when Ole Miss gets into the heart of their SEC schedule.

Brandon Bolden seems to be getting healthier as the weeks progress. It's almost a certainty that for the offense to score points, Bolden has to be in top form.

Freshman playmakers Donte Moncrief and Nick Brassell will look to continue on their very good starts to their young careers. Moncrief already looks the part of a big receiver and Brassell can just about run with anyone in the SEC. He will be a stud one day in this league.

The defense was burned at times last week, but played about as well as they could in the second half. It doesn't help either when the offense can barely manage to stay on the field. In short, defense has played better than the numbers show.

The secondary will have to be especially sharp this week as they face one of the best quarterbacks they will see all year in Derek Carr. Yes, the little brother of NFL quarterback David. He has a handful of targets to throw to and a solid running back with Robbie Rouse.

More and more freshmen continue to see action on defense for the Rebels. Serderius Bryant played well last week against a quality SEC opponent. And according to the coaching staff, true freshmen Cody Prewitt and Senquez Golson will see more playing time this week as well.

This is a very tricky game to predict. Fresno St. loves playing in these types of games, especially at home. They will probably be more enthused about this matchup than Ole Miss, who is traveling over half the country.

I really don't want to imagine the state of the fan base if the Rebels come out of this with a loss. It sounds like a broken record, but is this the week Ole Miss finally rights the ship? As Fall arrives and the season kicks into full gear, they had better find a way to.