Ole Miss a big underdog as Alabama rolls into Oxford

Last year I said that one of the best players to ever play at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium would be Cam Newton of Auburn. He proved every bit of that. I also thought the Rebels would upset the Tigers. Contrarily, he proved me wrong.

When No. 2 Alabama comes to town this weekend, fans may be witnessing one of the best teams to play at Ole Miss in the past two decades. Perhaps LSU in 2003 or even Auburn in 2004 can compare, but let's just see how Alabama finishes the season.

Throw in the fact Ole Miss has arguably their worst team in the last 15 years, and you have the making of a blowout.

It's really quite simple. Spectators at the game will be able to see just how big and physical the Alabama team really is. There's no denying that the Ole Miss offensive line looks the part. But they've yet to live up to the hype.

Alabama, however, is the real deal.

Consider their linebackers average around 6'3", 255 pounds, and the secondary goes about 6'2", 210 pounds. These are NFL-type players. You’re talking about guys like Donta Hightower, Courtney Upshaw, Dre Kirkpatrick and Mark Barron—all players who have a great chance of being drafted in the first round this April.

The Crimson Tide offense is similar to recent years. They pound the ball behind a great offensive line with an All-American running back in Trent Richardson. A scary thought as well for Ole Miss is that quarterback A.J. McCarron is coming off his best performance of the year against Vanderbilt, a team who probably has the best secondary he's faced so far this season.

So if you're Ole Miss, where do you turn to for hope?

The Rebels are coming off their best performance of the season after beating Fresno St. And it appears they have found their quarterback in Randall Mackey, who was sufficient enough in the win. Another positive is being allotted two weeks to prepare.

However, the suspensions of running back Brandon Bolden and three other players will hinder Ole Miss' slight chances of victory even more.

Ole Miss is not going to out-gain Alabama. They are not nearly as talented enough for that. The Crimson Tide will most likely post over 400 yards of offense while Ole Miss would be fortunate to amass over 200.

The recipe for an upset is typically creating turnovers and winning field position. Ole Miss was a 21-point underdog three years ago when they upset Florida in Gainesville. They were able to do this by forcing turnovers in Florida's half of the field.

Both teams are about even in turnover margin for the year. Ole Miss has one of the nation's best punters in Tyler Campbell while Alabama's lone weak spot is in their kicking game.

The Rebels will find it extremely difficult to sustain long drives against the stingy Tide defense. You would almost have to expect Houston Nutt to have a few tricks he will throw at Nick Saban's defense. Ole Miss playmaker Nick Brassell will be a key offensively and on special teams, but Nick Saban will certainly have a plan to contain him and Jeff Scott.