Ole Miss Football: A Preview of the Offense Against Vanderbilt

A 3rd-25 with 12 seconds left in the first half. Aaron Murray dodged a tackler, rolled to his right and fired a bullet towards the end zone. The result was a go-ahead touchdown, a touchdown that ripped the throats out of the Ole Miss bodies. It sprang a flurry of Georgia scores that buried the visiting Rebels. It took away a swagger of “we can hang with these guys” and threw it by the wayside.

Before that play? Ole Miss had the swagger of a champion, frustrating passionate Bulldog fans into booing their team off the field and calling for Murray’s head on a peach-colored platter. Dave Wommack’s club had six tackles for loss and had caused three turnovers, allowing just seven points, points scored by an act of deception, not by outplaying their opponent.

It was that play that belittled the sensational efforts of a young defense that was looking to improve game-by-game. The dusk came quickly on that promising Saturday, but this week dawns a new horizon. A horizon greeted by a Vanderbilt offense who is 82nd in scoring offense, 84th in passing offense, and 97th nationally in tackles for loss allowed. The need to capitalize is now, and the opportunity for capitalization is here.