Ole Miss has already lost plenty of games this season, four to be exact – Florida State, Alabama, Arkansas and LSU.
This week, the Rebels lost to Michigan and didn’t even play the Wolverines. That’s how bad it’s gotten. The Rebels have struggled all over the field defensively – ranked 107th in the country in total defense. One of those highlighted spots is at linebacker, where leading tackler DeMarquis Gates is only tied for 22nd in the conference in tackles.
To the Michigan reference, that’s who in-state recruit Willie Gay now says is his top school. The four-star linebacker is the No. 3 recruit in the state and No. 8 outside linebacker in the country, according to 247Sports. He had been an Ole Miss commit since the middle of June. Until this week.
It’s a recruiting hit to go along with where the momentum has switched to, backward. Unranked and no chance at the SEC West, only chances at bowls that no longer satisfy raised expectations, Freeze can’t talk about the recruiting hit from the NCAA investigation and the losing season.
“We’ve got to rebound and continue to work, and hopefully the leaders will lead, and we look forward to another challenge at home this Saturday,” Freeze said.
That’s not where the narrative was supposed to be after seven games this season. At worst, the Rebels would have been expected to have two losses. Three would have been viewed as disappointing. It stands at four, the journey Freeze started now stalling.
Freeze inherited a team that went 0-8 in the SEC in 2011. He vowed it was a process to get out of the wilderness. It happened quicker than even he thought, big bowl games since then, recruiting classes unheard of in Oxford, becoming a thorn in Alabama’s side.
Now, Freeze is faced with his toughest test, stabilizing and re-establishing belief.
“Do I think overcoming adversity is the easiest thing to do for young men in today’s time? No, I think it has to be continually addressed, particularly defensively right now,” Freeze said. “We are searching for some guys that really take the leadership role and do it the right way.”
Young recruits are in the fire. Some of the tension briefly spilled over onto the sideline in Baton Rouge, a spat caught on ESPN’s cameras.
Freeze and his coaches and players are answering questions they didn’t expect to be answering at this point. The “Rise Up” theme installed this season is no longer a saying. It has to be enacted. The Rebels have plenty of chances left to regain momentum heading into the recruiting season, a season that needs to see more big names arrive and see the big names already there reach potential.
That starts at home on Saturday against Auburn. Knock off No. 15, then maybe beat a top 10 Texas A&M and win the Egg Bowl, and things will be headed back in the right direction.
There have been way more ups than downs in Freeze’s five seasons. His latest and toughest test is to regain the ups.
“… we are not the first to experience that and probably won’t be the last time we experience it in this league,” Freeze said. “We’ve got to fight.”
