Hopes were high for Hugh Freeze’s team heading into this season. There was a thought they could challenge Alabama for the SEC West Division.

However sitting at 3-4, the Ole Miss Rebels are on the cusp of a complete collapse.

Having lost the last two games, Ole Miss now has to host a very hot Auburn team. In fact, becoming bowl eligible may be a dicey proposition should they drop this contest.

According to a report from The Oxford Eagle, players Evan Engram and Marquis Haynes orchestrated a players-only meeting, unbeknownst to Freeze:

“I fine with that as long as the leadership that’s leading it is representative of our core values and what we’re trying to get accomplished. I don’t know exactly what happened, so it’s hard for me to say, but I know that Evan (Engram) and Marquis (Haynes) were behind it. I trust those two.”

Engram then told The Clarion-Ledger about what the meeting entailed:

“We were able to be transparent with each other. It was just us guys in here talking it out. I think it helped us a lot. We’re a little crushed, we didn’t expect this, so as competitors it’s a little upsetting … today, we were way up. It was a little better. We have guys speaking up from walk-ons to guys who play most of the game.

‘That’s a beautiful part on this team, we have guys who hold each other accountable no matter what their role is. We’ve had players’ meetings before (but) today was by far the best one. Seeing guys’ responses and hearing from other guys, guys that usually don’t speak up a lot had the chance to speak up today and I think that was huge for our team.”

Sitting at 1-3 in conference play, the Rebels desperately need a victory this Saturday. Time will tell as to whether this meeting ultimately had a positive impact.