Alabama vs Ole Miss - honest assessment

We'll have a hundred threads about how Bama fans are "scared" or Ole Miss is going to get crushed, but let's have at least one which looks at the game realistically. Of course Bama wants this game badly, and of course Ole Miss is good enough to make this extremely difficult. I think this is the biggest challenge on Bama's schedule right now.

The strength vs strength will be the Ole Miss offense against the Bama defense. Ole Miss doesn't seem to have much of a running game, so the key here whether Bama can get enough of a pass rush to keep Kelly from getting it to his receivers. Alabama has outstanding starters in the secondary. But if Kelly has time to throw, and we're relying on our 3rd and 4th db's in nickel and dime coverages, there could be a lot of big plays. Alabama HAS to get to Kelly.

Weakness on weakness - Bama's running game vs Ole Miss rushing defense in the latter stages of the game. If Alabama runs effectively in the first half and wears out Ole Miss on D the way Florida State did, things should go very well. If Alabama can't sustain drives, have a lot of three and outs and turnovers, and lets Ole Miss still be relatively fresh late into the second half, it's a different story. Right now, it looks like the Bama OL is struggling to get push and Scarborough isn't playing at the level expected. Harris is, though, so if the OL can get it together, eliminate the penalties, and at least establish a decent run to complement Hurts' playmaking, Bama should win.

With Ole Miss' outstanding starters but lack of depth, and Bama's depth and talent but inconsistency and youth, this will be a very interesting game. Despite winning the last two, Ole Miss will be pumped in Oxford. The winner of this is in the driver's seat for the SEC West.