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After a string of five straight SEC contests, Ole Miss faces a virtual bye week with Presbyterian traveling to Oxford.
Its Big South opponent has never beaten an FBS team, and the Blue Hose present an opportunity for the Rebels to heal up before a bye week. Ole Miss then closes the season with match-ups against Arkansas and Mississippi State.
Reporters asked head coach Hugh Freeze about the list of injuries during his weekly news conference on Monday, and Freeze almost didn’t know where to begin.
“The list is long,” Freeze said. “I’Tavius [Mathers] and Trae [Elston] both had concussions. They’ve started our concussion protocol. We’ll have to wait until the doctors clear them for them to return back to practice. Laremy [Tunsil] has a partially torn bicep. One week wasn’t quite enough for him to feel like he could function. Now hopefully with this week and next week we can get him, hopefully, ready for that last stretch.”
Junior offensive lineman Aaron Morris left the game against Auburn and did not return. According to Freeze, Morris will be able to return this season.
After two straight losses, its season derailed and with an inferior FCS team coming to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, how do the Rebels continue to play for its goals?
“Don’t blink. We play the next play,” Freeze said. “We keep pressing on. We’ve lost the last two games by a total of seven points to one of the hotter teams in the country right now at their place and then to one of the top two or three in the country.
“I’m a big-picture guy. I’ll continue to talk about our journey. It’s still young, in my opinion. I’m excited we’re still relevant again in a short time.”
The Blue Hose are averaging a meager 17.9 points per game, and now face the nation’s toughest defense. Freeze exuded anticipation to get back out on the field and get back in the win column.
“We’re going to treat this like getting prepared for another game,” Freeze said. “It counts. It matters. I hope it matters to our fans. They need to be here to support these men. We’re happy its an early game. Our coaches and players are excited to get up and go play instead of waiting around all day.”
Freeze said Presbyterian will present similar schemes to Auburn, but that it’s important for the Rebels to physically impose its will.
Ole Miss needs rest. The Rebels are on pace for one of its best seasons in the last decade. Freeze said he hopes to get his starters plenty of rest.
“For me to expect our kids to be all hyped up and excited after coming off the last two weeks is probably not a reasonable expectation,” Freeze said. “I have to get them ready to execute. That falls on me. Hopefully the case will be a lot of kids will get some reps.”
After living in Birmingham, Ala., Jordan left the ground zero of SEC Nation to head south to Florida to tell the unique stories of the renowned tradition of SEC football. In his free time, his mission is to find the best locales around.