Coming off a 52-24 victory over then-No. 13 Texas A&M last week, No. 2 Alabama heads to Oxford on Saturday night for an SEC matchup versus Mississippi and former offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin. The current head coach of the Rebels was the offensive coordinator under Nick Saban for three seasons, which included three conference championships and a national title.
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The Crimson Tide come into this one riding high on offense, led by the trio of quarterback Mac Jones, running back Najee Harris and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. Jones has thrown for 684 yards and six touchdowns, with Waddle accounting for 276 of those yards and three scores. Harris has been a force on the ground, racking up five touchdowns on 141 yards through the team’s first two contests.
If Ole Miss has any hopes of staying in the game, Kiffin will have to find a way for his offense to break through an Alabama defense that is allowing 21.5 points a game. Quarterback Matt Corral has recorded 715 yards and seven touchdowns, and is ranked third in the country in passing efficiency. Wide receiver Elijah Moore has been Corral’s go-to target, racking up 319 yards and a touchdown on 20 receptions.
Saturday’s game will air on ESPN. If you don’t have cable or a similar TV service, you can also watch the game on fuboTV, which has a seven-day trial for free.
No. 2 Alabama vs. Mississippi
Start time: Saturday, 10/10, 7:30 PM ET
TV channel: ESPN (Channel finder: Verizon Fios, AT&T U-verse, Comcast, Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, Dish, Hulu, fuboTV, Sling.)
Live stream: FuboTV | If you don’t have cable, you can sign up for fuboTV (or use their free trial) to watch online.
More coverage via the Associated Press:
Mississippi’s Matt Corral appears to have put that offseason quarterback battle firmly into his rear view mirror. No real challenge ever materialized for Alabama’s Mac Jones.
Now, they’re directing two of the nation’s most prolific and efficient passing games so far heading into Saturday night’s meeting in Oxford, Mississippi. On Thursday, kickoff was pushed back 90 minutes in hopes of better weather amid Hurricane Delta.
“Who would have thought these two quarterbacks would be first and second in quarterback efficiency?” first-year Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said.
Corral, who emerged from a competition with John Rhys Plumlee, has thrived in Kiffin’s offense.
He ranks third nationally in both pass efficiency and passing yards per game. Jones is the top-rated passer and ranks fourth in yards.
Maybe bad weather could do what opposing defenses haven’t been able to: Slow down Corral, Jones and their collection of playmaking receivers.
While Corral fought off Plumlee, Jones didn’t really get a challenge from heralded freshman Bryce Young, especially with no spring practice because of COVID-19.
Instead, the Tide offense hasn’t missed a beat without star passer Tua Tagovailoa.
Corral has been freely targeting Elijah Moore, the nation’s leading receiver, and tight end Kenny Yeboah, with Jonathan Mingo coming off a career game against Kentucky.
Jones has the nation’s No. 2 receiver Jaylen Waddle, plus DeVonta Smith and John Metchie III.
“They’re like a track team back there,” Ole Miss cornerback Deane Leonard said. “They’re fast, they’re agile. They can really do it all.”
PREPPING FOR RAIN
The teams have prepared for the prospect of playing in bad weather by using wet footballs.
“That’s all we can do to prepare for it. We can’t make it rain,” Saban said. “I think handling the ball is the most important thing, but I also think it’s important to have a mind-set of getting used to handling the ball so it’s not an issue when you’re playing a game.”
STALLED RUNNERS
Tailbacks Najee Harris of Alabama and Ole Miss’s Jerrion Ealy are both off to relatively slow starts while the respective passing games have soared. Both are averaging less than 5 yards per carry, though Harris has run for five short touchdowns.
If the weather is rainy and windy, that could lead to more reliance on the run for both teams.
FACING EX-ASSISTANTS
Kiffin is the latest former Saban assistant to face him as a head coach. He scoffs at any notion that he might gain an edge from that familiarity, and the numbers back him up strongly. Saban has won all 20 times in that situation.
“You’re not a very good gambler if that’s what you’re saying because 20-0 is a pretty strong record,” Kiffin said.
He’s the second of four straight ex-Saban underlings facing their former boss: Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher, Kiffin, Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Tennessee’s Jeremy Pruitt.
CANADIANS
The game will feature several players from Canada: Rebels linebacker Tavius Robinson and Leonard and Alabama’s Metchie. Leonard and Metchie could square off against each other at times.
“I think it’ll be really cool two guys from Canada doing it on the big stage,” Leonard said. “Yeah, it’ll be really cool seeing him out there.”
POINTS GALORE
Ole Miss has pulled off some upsets against the Tide, including wins in 2014 and 2015. But in the four meetings since then the Tide has averaged 58.8 points with only one being competitive.