A New Normal ~ The Essay

In honor of Alabama game week:

      On a cool and windy morning in Loganville, Georgia, this story begins. The date is February 6, 2013. Hugh Freeze, the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels football team, sits in the war room deep inside the football facility on campus. His first football team at the University had just finished the season 7-6 with a resounding win over arch in-state rival Mississippi State and a bowl victory over Pittsburgh, a far cry from where he inherited the program less than a year earlier. The Rebels had just finished one of the worst seasons in college football, losing all but two of their games and firing the previous head coach. Coach Freeze knew that it would be a tough rebuild in Oxford, and that it would take time, but it would pay off in the end. One of those first big victories in the direction of that goal was about to take place. The nation's number one football recruit, Robert Nkemdiche out of Grayson High School, was about to commit to Freeze and the Rebels, and as he donned his red Ole Miss signing cap in front of the nation, he was also bringing star studded talent with him. He and his recruiting classmates, composed of top recruits at each of their positions, had come together and decided they were going to go against the grain, and set a new example. They were going to join forces and resurrect an old power in college football, and together they bought into Freeze's vision of a new normal at the University of Mississippi. It wouldn't be until almost two years later that it would be evident to the rest of the college football world, but as Hugh Freeze sat in that recruiting war room on National Signing Day 2013, he knew he was setting a new chapter into motion, and the power was beginning to shift.

      It's a crisp Saturday morning in Oxford, Mississippi. The scent of oak and bourbon can be smelled circulating between the trees as the cool breeze weaves in and out of multicolored red and blue tents. The Grove, a small sanctuary of green in the middle of campus at the University of Mississippi, is already buzzing with people. ESPN's renowned college football pregame show is in town to make its first appearance to what has been called the sport's partying mecca, the Holy Grail of Tailgating. Top ranked and undefeated Alabama, the sport's most dominant team of the last decade, is in Oxford for a showdown with the Rebels. Ole Miss, to this point, has not so quietly strung together an undefeated record of its own, riding the power of a suffocating defense and star studded sophomore talent from that 2013 recruiting class. Today, Mississippi is the center of the college football world. The feeling around this Ole Miss team is that the Rebels have finally arrived, but no one will say it yet. Not at least until they can prove it. Not until it can be done on the sport's biggest stage. With the entire nation tuned in to Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium, Ole Miss would have its opportunity. The Rebels won't have arrived until they take the next step. Not until they can knock off Alabama.

      As game time approaches, inside the stadium the atmosphere is nothing short of electric. The energy is reaching fever pitch levels as kickoff approaches. The game lives up to the hype, and Ole Miss is holding its own in this heavyweight fight, each team going blow for blow. After finding themselves down late into the second half, the momentum begins to shift. Senior quarterback Bo Wallace finds the highly touted recruit, Laquon Treadwell, with a pass near the 5 yard line. From there, it's all Treadwell. He outmuscles two defenders and scampers into the end zone, 17-10, but still Alabama leads. The teams trade possession back and forth, neither giving the other an inch. It's third down and long, 5:35 left to play in the game. Bo takes the snap and drops back. As the pocket collapses around him, he manages to just get the ball out. The crowd watches the ball as it whistles down the field. Senior receiver Vince Sanders has managed to get behind the coverage as the ball is whistling in his direction. The entire crowd collectively holds its breath, Sanders stretches with everything he has, his finger tips managing to just graze the back end of the football. For a split second, the entire stadium is eerily silent. Then, eruption. The crowd roars, deafening, as he hauls the ball into his chest, flipping from his momentum into the navy blue, “REBELS” scripted end zone. Tie ball game.
      As the teams line up for the ensuing kickoff, the stadium has only amped up the energy level. Alabama return man Christion Jones waits to take the kick down the field, and Ole Miss' defining moment is about to present itself. Jones weaves around a would be tackle, only to have another spin him violently towards the turf. The ball is out. There is a massive pile, every player aggressively fighting with so much at stake. After seconds of disbelief and tension, the referee points towards the student section. Ole Miss' football, and the crowd roars again. The ensuing drive presses on, the clock ticking down as Rebel running back Jaylen Walton sneaks out of the backfield and wheels toward the
corner pylon of the end zone. He looks back, and the ball is already on the way, landing comfortably against his left shoulder pad over the top of Alabama All-American safety Landon Collins' helmet. Defenseless against the perfectly executed throw, Collins can only watch in disbelief as Walton plants two feet in the end zone and slides on his back into the photographers. Stadium cups full of whiskey and coke fly into the air. Ole Miss leads 23-17, 2:54 left to play.

Joe Murphy/Getty Images

      The Rebels lined up for the point after attempt, everyone in the stadium was thinking the same thing, silently, as if hoping to prevent it. The snap, the kick, and the ball dings off of the right upright, but there is a flag. Roughing the kicker, against Alabama. Crisis averted, and the crowd breathes a sigh of relief. They line up again, the snap, the kick, blocked. What everyone was dreading seems to be unfolding in front of their very eyes. As is common to the Ole Miss faithful, it is a well known fact that the Rebels have an annoying knack of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. So much so to the point of an acronym being created in mockery of it, “W.A.O.M.” or “We Are Ole Miss,” to be said when the Rebels find a way to lose even when victory is certain. It was at this point of the game that everyone watching began to believe that Ole Miss was going to “Ole Miss” this game away, too. As the clock wound down under a minute and the Crimson Tide methodically drove down the field, everyone could feel it coming. Until the Alabama senior quarterback dropped back to throw on second down from the Ole Miss 32 yard line. He lofted the ball down field into the end zone towards his 6 foot 6 inch teammate who was draped by the Rebels 5 foot 9 inch, undersized and underestimated senior cornerback Senquez Golson. Both players went up into the air, and one came down with the ball. 

Bill Barksdale/The Clarion-Ledger

      Golson crashed his foot down to the turf, defiantly waving his prize and pointing toward the video board. The referee's have called him out of bounds, but he adamantly disagrees. The play is under further review. The outcome of the game will be decided with this call. Everyone is silent. Could Ole Miss have finally done the impossible? Have they surpassed the “W.A.O.M.” curse and done what seemed impossible? Could the Rebels have finally arrived into relevancy again in the college football landscape, and beat Alabama? “The ruling on the field is that the ball was intercepted. The defender...” The referee begins to explain, but no one can hear what he is saying. Absolute euphoria pulsates throughout the stadium as Bo takes a knee, tucking the game ball safely in his arms as the clock runs out. The Ole Miss fans pour onto the field and the Alabama fans file out. The Rebels have knocked off the best. They have sent a statement to the entire country. Ole Miss is back, and back to stay. All of the hard work, rebuilding of the program from nothing, outstanding coaching, and unbelievable recruiting has paid off. The axis of power in college football had shifted towards the Magnolia State. There is a new normal, and as long as Hugh Freeze is at the helm, there will be plenty more to come.

This essay was written as a creative writing assignment in one of my classes at The University of Mississippi.

-Hunter Jones