Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze was worried his team might lay an opening week egg when it led Boise State just 7-6 through three quarters last Thursday night.

Derek Mason’s Vanderbilt squad did lay that egg in a 37-7 home loss to Temple the same night.

Nevertheless, Freeze expects a fight from the Commodores in the only SEC matchup of the weekend, as he explained in his press conference remarks Monday afternoon.

“Watching them in the game the other night is one of those nightmarish games that I kind of felt like I was in during the first half when we were on offense. I’m sure Coach Mason felt the same way. Their defense played really well actually, only gave up 300-or-so yards and had a short field quite a few times,” Freeze said. “I don’t expect us to go in there and get seven turnovers from them. I’m sure they are making corrections, and I expect it to be an SEC fight like all are.”

Freeze spoke highly of the Commodores’ offensive and defensive lines, as well as their stable of tailbacks, which he felt was masked by poor play at the quarterback position.

He also noted the importance of going to play on the road in-conference, although the game will not be played on Vandy’s campus, but instead at LP Field, home of the Tennessee Titans (interesting side note: Ole Miss will play two games in NFL stadiums before playing one in a college stadium).

It was tough to gauge the Commodores’ fan base after Thursday’s game with Temple was delayed nearly two hours by rain and lightning in the area. Vanderbilt had a good student turnout for the game, but judging by the ‘Dores usual attendance numbers they won’t come close to filling LP Field Saturday.

Still, it is a lot of travel for an Ole Miss team also progressing through the first two weeks of a new academic semester, and Freeze knows his bunch cannot afford to sleep on the Commodores.

“Our kids have to be prepared to go to Nashville and hopefully get a second road win of the year,” Freeze said.

Not a bad attitude to have when approaching a conference road game. Even if Ole Miss was to look past Vandy, who would they be looking ahead to? The answer: a home date with Louisiana-Lafayette.

“We’re not going to overlook them. We’ll get them ready. It’s an SEC football game on the road. They have really good players,” Freeze said, adding “I’ve been impressed with Coach Mason as I’ve seen him around these meetings. I know he’ll have his guys ready to go.”