Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze has a difficult task the week, going up against Alabama, an opponent he has yet to beat. Both teams are highly ranked, with the Crimson Tide third in the Associated Press Poll (first in the Amway Coaches Poll) and the Rebels 11th, and facing their first opponent listed in the top 25.

Here’s some of what Freeze has to say about the matchup during his press conference Monday.

“We’re excited about coming into the week 4-0 and having the opportunity this week to play the No. 1 team in the country at home with College GameDay here. That’s going to provide a very festive atmosphere here in Oxford, and we’re excited to showcase our atmosphere in the Grove. Our team will hopefully play well against a superb Alabama team. We’re coming into the game with the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked defenses in the conference and No. 2 and No. 4 ranked total offenses in our conference, so something has to give at some point. At the end of the day, it’s about players playing their individual matchups and that’s something we’ll challenge our kids all week long to prepare themselves to do. It should be a great, great atmosphere, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

On the run game:
“I believe I’m accurate that there hasn’t been a team to rush and pass for over 100 yards against Alabama in the same game in the last two seasons. I know there hasn’t going back to the middle of last season. I didn’t check all the way back. There are people who have rushed for 90 and thrown for over 100 or thrown for 200, but it’s very difficult to rush the football against them. They are so well-coached and have a really good scheme and a really good plan and they have really good players and there are three-deep of them. It’s a difficult task. Do I think we’re better running the football? I do, but are you judging it just on this next game? I don’t know. It’s a tall task to consistently do it. You have to be balanced. You have to mix it up and find things that give your kids a chance to do what you’re asking them to do, but it’s a difficult defense to do it against.”

On Lane Kiffin’s impact at Alabama:
“Number one, they’ve always been very good offensively at what they do. I would say to you that they have some different things now that adds to that. Having the kids they have makes their schemes even better. I know Coach Saban is getting out of his kids what he wants to, and they, under Lane, have changed a bit offensively that has made them more difficult to defend.”

On Alabama’s Blake Sims and Amari Cooper:
“The most impressive with Sims is his accuracy and how efficient he’s been running the offense. He’s completing a huge percentage of his passes and throws the deep ball extremely well. Cooper is arguably one of the top three receivers in the nation, if not the best, and he’s been super explosive. You have to guard him on runs because of the screen game, and you have to guard him on the deep ball. He’s a difficult matchup for everybody, including us.”

On being balanced offensively against Alabama:
“If I had an ideal balance it would be 50-50. Is that reasonable in this game? I don’t know yet. I probably won’t know until we start the game, and the score dictates a lot. If your defense is playing really well, then you’re going to continue to try things to stay balanced and play field position and punt and play defense. That’s the reason I’ve said from day one we’re going to build defense first. I think we’re close. I wish we had a couple of our injured for this game. That would really help us, a Tee Shepard to go out there at 6-foot-1 and line up and play a guy and feel good about it. We have some, but I wish we had more of them. We’re close enough and playing really well there and taking care of the ball, and you’re more apt to be balanced. If you’re really struggling, you’re more apt to find ways to protect and throw it around.”

On the middle of Ole Miss’ offensive line against Alabama:
“That’s the struggle with running it, with how big and physical they are, particularly inside and their ends are good, too, and they have improved themselves on third down with the addition of some guys. Their third down rush is better than it was last year. Their base defense is very difficult to get movement on, especially against the inside guys.”

On Alabama no longer being just a measuring stick:
“In this room, we expect to compete Saturday. We expect to have a chance to win it. I know our kids feel that way, and our coaches feel that way. I don’t know that we will. I have no idea what the scoreboard will say at the end, but I expect our kids to go and compete and have fun and do a good job.”

On the line of scrimmage against Alabama…
“I think anyone would be hard pressed to say they match them, probably 80 or 85 percent of the teams in the country would struggle saying that looking at their three-deep depth chart. I know we’re better than year one and year two, and we believe we’re able to compete as long as we can create some balance. I think we’ll have a shot to compete at the line of scrimmage. Defensively, we’re much more equipped.”