Ole Miss at Texas A&M: Four Keys to a Rebels’ win

Ole Miss and A&M kick off at 6:30 p.m. (CT) today. The Rebels (7-1, 3-1 SEC) are looking to earn another league win as they head into a bye week.

Here are our four keys to an Ole Miss win:

The Buck Stops Here

Over the last two weeks, the Rebels have been susceptible to giving up big yards on the ground. In the games against Auburn and LSU the Ole Miss defense gave up 301 and 252 yards, respectively. 

This weekend versus Texas A&M, the Rebs will be tasked with stopping the SEC’s fourth-ranked rusher, Devon Achane. He has rushed 117 times this season for 627 yards and four touchdowns. 

With the recent struggles stopping opponents on the ground, Ole Miss will need to focus on the fundamentals. Tackling has been a bit of an issue of late — the Rebels missed 11 tackles against LSU last Saturday. 

Achane has the ability to break tackles and make opponents pay when they miss tackles, so that will need to be a point of emphasis. With A&M’s struggles at the quarterback position, it is almost a given they will look to hand the ball to Achane early and often.

All Gas, No Brakes

Against Auburn and LSU, Ole Miss jumped out to early leads, 21-0 in the Auburn game and 17-3 versus LSU. In both games, the Rebels let each team get back in the contest. 

Texas A&M might be 3-4, but three of the Aggies’ losses have been one-score games. They are young but show plenty of fight. 

Much like Tiger Stadium last week, Kyle Field is a loud, hostile environment. Ole Miss will be playing in front of what is expected to be more than 100,000 fans. 

In Tiger Stadium, the Rebels seemed to handle the environment well. Still, this weekend Ole Miss needs to jump on this young Aggie team early and not let up.

Protect Dart

Last week against LSU, Jaxson Dart was pressured on 19 of his 39 dropbacks which is 49%. 

Today against Texas A&M, the Rebels’ offensive line has to do much better than that. Plain and simple, Dart needs to have enough time to make the correct reads and find open receivers or else the Ole Miss offense will sputter. For the majority of the season pass protection has not been an issue but after last week, it serves as an area to keep an eye on.

Run, Rebs, Run

Last week was an uncharacteristic game on the ground for Ole Miss. With the absence of Zach Evans due to injury, true freshman Quinshon Judkins had to take the bulk of the carries. 

As a team, Ole Miss ran for 117 yards which is the lowest total of any game this season. Although the game was out of balance late in Baton Rouge, giving Ole Miss not much choice to pass the ball, this weekend has to be different and it starts up font. 

Zach Evans’ availability in the game against Texas A&M is unknown but having him back would be a shot in the arm for the Rebels.