Alabama Crimson Tide Looks For Revenge Against Ole Miss Rebels

Last season, the state of Alabama shook when the Ole Miss Rebels defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide in Oxford, MS. Running back Kenyan Drake went down in the second quarter with a gruesome leg injury and everything suddenly got very dim. Saturday will go down as a rematch for the two teams, this time at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL.

Ole Miss has won their first two games of this season. Their season and home opener was against UT Martin. The Rebels racked up 76 points compared to UT Martin's 3. Last Saturday, Ole Miss defeated Fresno State in the same fashion with the final score being 73-21.

Alabama has also won their first two games. They defeated the Wisconsin Badgers 35-17 in the season opener in Arlington, TX. Their home opener was last week against Middle Tennessee, the final score being 37-10.

With the game on Saturday being both teams' first SEC games of the season, both will be put to the test compared to the first couple of games each team has played thus far.

The Quarterbacks

Jake Coker has secured the starting position for the Tide over Cooper Bateman. He has thrown two touchdown passes and has 427 passing yards in the first two games of the season. Coker has showed that he has a pretty powerful arm and can make plays with his legs when needed.

Chad Kelly is in his first year at Ole Miss. Kelly started at Clemson before being kicked off the team in the spring of 2014. He then transferred to East Mississippi Community College and led that team to a national title. Kelly has six touchdown passes in his first two games with a total of 557 passing yards and only one interception. He has also rushed for two touchdowns. With his strong arm, the Rebels will have a great chance at ripping apart the Tide's average secondary.

The Running Backs

Derrick Henry is Alabama's top running back and is on his way to becoming a Heisman finalist. He has 243 rushing yards and six touchdowns combined for the season. He's averaging 7.8 yards a carry. Henry is a big running back at 6'3 and 242 pounds. He is almost like a bulldozer running all over the defense, once he gets going it is almost impossible to bring him down.

Kenyan Drake is also having a good start this season. He is almost completely back to his playing level before the season-ending injury last year. Look for Drake to come out strong this Saturday as he will be looking for a little redemption himself. He has 117 rushing yards along with 139 receiving yards on the season. He also has one rushing and one receiving touchdown.

Ole Miss has used five running backs so far this season: Jaylen Walton, Akeem Judd, Eugene Brazley, Jordan Wilkins, and D.K. Buford. They have a combined 448 yards and six touchdowns. Alabama's front seven returned five starters from last year, however, and have allowed only 91 rushing yards combined in the first two games of the season.

Special Teams

Adam Griffith is Alabama's field goal kicker. He has started off rough again this season, missing all four of his field goal attempts. If this game comes downs to field goals, Ole Miss will definitely have the upper-hand.

Gary Wunderlich is the field goal kicker for Ole Miss and made his only attempt of this season. In his eight attempts last year, he made six.

Key Factors

Ole Miss will be without offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil for the third straight game. Tunsil is under investigation by the NCAA for receiving "impermissible benefits from agents and officials at Ole Miss", according to a report by Chris Low at ESPN.

Alabama will be forced to play three freshmen on defense since defensive back Maurice Smith is dealing with shoulder stingers. This could prove to work in Ole Miss' favor.