Ole Miss Football Flashback: The 2013 Season

We’re less than two months away from the kickoff of the 2014 Ole Miss Football season. All season long Ole Hotty Toddy will be bringing you the ultimate Ole Miss football coverage to get you prepared for the season. Hotty Toddy, Rebel Nation!

In 2013, the Ole Miss Rebels came into the second year tenure of Ole Miss’ head football coach Hugh Freeze. Freeze was coming off a rebounding year for the program in his first season as head coach. The program had long been under turmoil before Freeze came to town. Previous coach, Houston Nutt had driven the football program in the mud after finishing his final season as the Rebels’ head coach with a 2-10 record.

Monumental Recruiting Class

Prior to the beginning of the 2013 Ole Miss football season, Coach Freeze and the Ole Miss staff had signed the best recruiting class in school history on February 6, 2013 (National Signing Day). The class included the overall number one prospect in the country, Robert Nkemdiche. A major role of Robert’s selection to go to Ole Miss was that older brother Denzel Nkemdiche was already playing for the team.

Nkemdiche wouldn’t not be the only weapon Ole Miss would produce in 2013. Laquon Treadwell, the number one wide receiver in the nation, committed to Ole Miss long before Robert Nkemdiche. We knew he would be a big factor for the team, but it wasn’t until the first game of the season until all the hype was revealed to be true.

Ole Miss would also sign two offensive linemen, who were top in the country of their positions, Laremy Tunsil and Austin Golson. The Rebels also signed a little known tight end by the name of Evan Engram. We all would soon find out how he would make a surprising impact to the Rebels’ offense.

A Great Start

The 2013 season started off just how Rebel faithful wanted it to start. After pulling out a season-opening thriller win over Vanderbilt, beating SEMO at home, and upsetting Texas with a beat down victory in Austin, the Rebels had started their season 3-0 for the first time since the ’80s.

Tough Times in Alabama and a Heartbreaker Against A&M

All of the hype was building around the team now as the team that could shock the nation that season. They came into the game against No. 1 Alabama with all the momentum behind them. The Rebels would hold their ground throughout most of the game, but the 25-0 shutout by Alabama would prove to be a stab to the team and the bleeding was not stopping there.

The very next game, Ole Miss would face Auburn on the road. Little did the Rebels know that they would be facing the future national title contenders. Even though Ole Miss would keep up with Auburn in the game (30-22 the final score), the Rebels seemed inconsistent all around. The loss to Alabama a week ago, seemed to be still on their minds.

Another upsetting loss would come a week later at home to Texas A&M. Even after suffering major injuries in their starting rosters throughout the game, Ole Miss had the game won all the way up to the final minutes. Then Johnny Manziel proved he could do the unimaginable things, by sending the Aggies into a last second game-winning drive.

Magic in the Magnolia Bowl

It seemed the road was not getting any easier for Ole Miss as they headed into the home game against LSU. The Rebels would hold a 10-0 halftime lead with all the momentum going their way in the game against the Tigers. They would continue that stride in the second half and would ultimately upset the top ten ranked LSU with a last second field goal by Andrew Ritter. It was the largest upset by the program since beating Florida in 2004.

After the win over LSU, Ole Miss would finally see their much needed easy stretch of the schedule. They would pull together wide open victories over Idaho, Arkansas, and Troy. The four game win streak brought momentum back into the team as they geared up to face a surprisingly good Missouri team.

Disappointment to the End of the Season

That momentum was quickly lost in the home game against Missouri. The win streak was deceased as Ole Miss suffered a 24-10 loss to the Tigers. Another shocking loss would come a week later in the final regular season game. Ole Miss would loses in overtime (17-10) in the annual Egg Bowl to intra-state rival, Mississippi State.

Bowl Win in Nashville

After finishing the regular season with a 7-5 record, Ole Miss went on to clinch their second straight bowl berth under the Coach Hugh Freeze era. They would face Georgia Tech in the 2013 Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee on December 30th. Ole Miss went on to beat Georgia Tech by the score of 25-17, which brought back-to-back bowl wins for the Rebels.