No question that Ole Miss has not lived up to preseason expectations. During his Monday press conference, Rebels coach Hugh Freeze put a little bit of a different spin on the matter.

“When the expectations get so high and you don’t meet them, it is easy for the frustration or the pressure to feel like you have to perform at a certain level,” Freeze said. “I think all of us can feel that at certain times, but I try to embrace it, and I tell the team that’s a good thing that people expect that of you.”

Ole Miss certainly wasn’t expected to be 7-0 at this point but also wasn’t expected to be 3-4, 1-3 in the SEC. Losses mounted against Florida State, Alabama, Arkansas and LSU, Saturday’s 17-point loss in Baton Rouge the most disappointing.

The Rebels gave up 515 total yards on Saturday, 311 on the ground. Yes, it was Leonard Fournette, but Fournette hasn’t been the opponent every week and after seven games, Ole Miss is last in the league in rushing defense, allowing 227 yards per game.

“It’s disappointing, but when you look at the tapes of the teams we’ve played, it’s easy to see that you can lose those games,” Freeze said. “I’ll put it in baseball terms, we can’t afford right now — with the issues that we may have at certain positions or talent level compared to others — we can’t afford to throw 75 mph on the corner of the plate and get by. We have to throw 96 mph on every single play to be able to compete and have a chance to win some of the games that we are in right now.”

It is an interesting dynamic on Saturday with No. 15 Auburn visiting. The Tigers are now first in the SEC in rushing and may have Kerryon Johnson back to make it quite a one-two punch with Kamryn Pettway.

It is a tough hill to climb with the struggles Ole Miss has had, losing top cover corner Ken Webster in the opener, playing with so much youth in the secondary and still looking for better production from the linebackers.

Freeze is right. The conference is tough, and everyone except Alabama goes through what Ole Miss is going through.

The toll is starting to take an effect beyond this season. The Rebels’ lack of linebacker recruiting is showing and Monday, Willie Gay pulled his commitment. The four-star linebacker from Starkville is the third-best prospect in the state and No. 8 OLB in the country according to 247Sports. Ole Miss’ 2017 class needs him, the only four-star to commit since the NCAA investigation became official.

The Rebels are climbing more than one hill. Freeze is right about the good of people expecting big things, but Ole Miss isn’t answering enough of the expectations for that to continue. As losses mount this season, they are also mounting for next season.

Beating Auburn, Texas A&M and Mississippi State was once considered necessary for a New Year’s Six Bowl. Now it’s almost necessary for any bowl, not to mention to continue to get the Willie Gays of the world to Oxford.