Ole Miss Looks to Rebound Against Aggies

The No. 15 Ole Miss Rebels travel to College Station to face the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday. It has been over a month since the Aggies have last played at home.

The Aggies Rollercoaster

Looking at the Aggies going into week nine is far from the No. 6 rank they were given at the beginning of the season.

For a team that had the No. 1 ranked recruiting class for 2022, their 3-4 record and various suspensions haven’t panned out.

Last week, Texas A&M fell 30-24 to the South Carolina Gamecocks. Prior to Saturday, South Carolina hadn’t beaten the Aggies in eight years.

Adding to the struggles, following the loss at South Carolina, Texas A&M has indefinitely suspended three players, all true freshmen.  Defensive back Denver Harris, receiver Chris Marshall and offensive lineman PJ Williams reportedly had a locker room incident.

The Aggies are also no strangers to injuries this season.  They lost their starting quarterback Max Johnson to a broken hand against Mississippi State and their top receiver, Ainias Smith, suffered a season-ending leg injury in September.

Haynes King was injured last weekend, and freshman Connor Weigman stepped in to finish the game.

Head coach Jimbo Fisher had this to say about Weigman’s preformance:

Fisher said that Haynes should be good to go against Ole Miss.

Ole Miss Rebels

The Rebels are also coming off of a loss in week eight. They fell 45-20 to LSU in Baton Rouge, ending their chances of an undefeated season.

Despite the loss, the Rebels still rank No. 3 nationally in rushing yards per game and No. 1 in rushing touchdowns.

However, Kiffin said the Rebels are facing a serious second half scoring problem. They’re scoring 10.4 points per game in the first quarter of games against FBS opponents, 12.6 in the second, 8.9 in the third and just 3.4 in the fourth. Against SEC opponents, they’re averaging 14.5 points per game in the second half compared to 21 in the first half.

Key Players for the Rebels

Quarterback Jaxson Dart has thrown for 1,771 yards and 11 touchdowns while completing 60.7 percent of his passes through eight games.

The Rebels average a whopping 252 rushing yards per game, and running back Quinshon Judkins leads the team in rushing yards and touchdowns at 831 yards and 12 touchdowns.

The other half of the Rebels’ dynamic duo rushing attack is Zach Evans.  He has 605 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.

Kiffin’s Thoughts

Although the Aggies haven’t had the most successful season, Kiffin is still weary of the talent they face this weekend.

Kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. in College Station.