As the sun rose early Saturday morning, and the cool morning temperatures began to heat up, there was a new presence in the air. An excitement was culminating, about to overflow. Long ago are the memories of an upset win over perennial power Alabama, a visit from College Gameday, a miraculous and dominating Egg Bowl victory, and a complete and utter dismantling in the Peach Bowl. A new chapter is getting ready to be written, a chance at redemption, and a sense of trying to finish what had been started the previous season. College Football season was back, and the opening Saturday for the Ole Miss Rebels was finally here.
I step out of my bedroom doorway into the homey, three bedroom town house in Magnolia Grove. It's 6 AM, and as I walk towards the couch, I see the front door already open. The cool Oxford breeze flows in and fills my nostrils. It smells like football season. Suddenly, my ear drums are met with the blaring sound of speakers, chills shoot down my spine and I'm not sure if it's from the music or the sudden jolt of sound so early in the morning. It quickly turns into excitement as my roommates, already dressed and drinking, rush through the door singing. “Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land!” I quickly get dressed in my finest Grove attire, now amped about the possibility of the first game day and jump into the car. Then it occurs to me. “This could be our year.” I say to Meghan, my girlfriend, as I slide in the back seat next to her. She quietly adjust her “AOΠ loves our Rebs!” button onto her dress. “You think so!” She says as she smiles back at me. That's when I got to thinking. There is so much going for this Rebels team, and this once half hopeful/half joking saying could actually hold some weight.
Returning seven starters from the nation's top defense, statistically, as well as nine starters on offense, including both defensive and offensive lines, respectfully, is a huge positive. Not to mention, the core of this football team is composed of the highly touted, and now seasoned veteran, recruiting class of 2013. Laquon Treadwell and Evan Engram lining up at receiver and tight end, Laremy Tunsil on the offensive line, Tony Connor in the secondary, and the nation's number one prospect, Robert Nkemdiche, leading the charge in the trenches are what football coaches dream of. All number one players at their respective positions, all assuming leadership roles on their football team. But, just as all teams have, there are some question marks that can keep even the most optimistic fan from getting to ahead of themselves. The biggest happens to be arguably the most important. Who is going to take control under center at the quarterback position? Being the football obsessed and aspiring coach that I am, I had been trying to attack this question all summer. I knew that the once Clemson star recruit turned junior college transfer, Chad Kelly, had been brought to Ole Miss for one reason, and that was to be the signal caller for the Rebels. But Hugh Freeze had come out and said after spring training that sophomore Ryan Buchanan was in the lead for the job. So at the time, I did as much digging as I could. I won't give away my source, but he only had one thing to say every time I could ask. “Chad Kelly is everything he is supposed to be.” is the only answer he would give me. From then on I need not ask again, I knew. That is why when I came to my EDSE 400 class a few months later and the professor let us know she heard that someone named “Machine Gun Kelly” was going to be our starting quarterback, I sat back contently and smiled. Even though I knew who our quarterback would be, there was still the concern of just how good he would be, and that question was about to be answered.
We walked briskly from the Grove to Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium and found our seats in the middle of the student section. It was scorching hot, and we were drenched in sweat, but the excitement of a new football season was too overwhelming for anyone to care. Soon it was time for the Rebels to take their first offensive snap, and everyone was watching intently thinking their questions were soon to be answered. What proceeded were a couple of good but not overly great offensive snaps, followed by an errant snap over Chad Kelly's head, leading to a punt on the first series of the 2015 season. I thought to myself how I had liked what I had seen so far, but I was not overly impressed. This would be a problem since the opponent on the field was light years away from the talent level Ole Miss would find itself playing in the SEC later in the season. So, I sat back and said, “Looks like we may start out where we left off last year.” Boy was I about to be proven wrong. seventy-six points and an overpowering defensive performance later, I found myself in shock and awe. Chad Kelly had all but cemented himself into the starting role and lived up to the hype, compiling 211 passing yards in just 9 completions, and accounting for 3 touchdowns, 2 through the air and one on the ground. One telling throw that comes to mind is an effortlessly thrown touch pass on a route up the seam where he hit receiver Quincy Adeboyejo in the end zone for an uncontested touchdown early in the first half. The defense matched the offensive performance, losing no ground from last year's juggernaut, giving up only 3 points in mop up duty, and looking every bit the part of championship caliber defense. The bottom line is, I don't care who the team is they were playing. In division one football, to make plays look effortless takes a lot of talent, and the Rebels showed they were lacking none of that.
Some people outside of the program may still be timid to believe in this Ole Miss football team because of the weak opponent they beat last Saturday, but to them I say think about this. It was not too long ago that the same quality opponent that the Rebels just dismantled came into Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium and beat Ole Miss. Hugh Freeze has brought this football program miles since that day, and Ole Miss beat UT Martin like a championship team should beat UT Martin. I know it's very early in the season, but everything is seemingly falling into place. The coaching is there, and the leadership is there. The Rebels can match up with any team in the country from a talent standpoint. So to all the Rebel faithful out there, it's okay to start sipping the red Kool-Aid. This team is for real. Give it one more week, then after they give Fresno State the same treatment they gave to UT Martin, fill the cups up to the brim and drink them all the way down highway 82 into Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Rebels are poised to make a run, and the final destination is the College Football Playoff. Then again, it is only the first week of the season. Maybe I should lay off of the Kool-Aid for a few more weeks, huh?
This essay was written as a creative writing assignment in one of my education classes at The University of Mississippi.
I step out of my bedroom doorway into the homey, three bedroom town house in Magnolia Grove. It's 6 AM, and as I walk towards the couch, I see the front door already open. The cool Oxford breeze flows in and fills my nostrils. It smells like football season. Suddenly, my ear drums are met with the blaring sound of speakers, chills shoot down my spine and I'm not sure if it's from the music or the sudden jolt of sound so early in the morning. It quickly turns into excitement as my roommates, already dressed and drinking, rush through the door singing. “Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land!” I quickly get dressed in my finest Grove attire, now amped about the possibility of the first game day and jump into the car. Then it occurs to me. “This could be our year.” I say to Meghan, my girlfriend, as I slide in the back seat next to her. She quietly adjust her “AOΠ loves our Rebs!” button onto her dress. “You think so!” She says as she smiles back at me. That's when I got to thinking. There is so much going for this Rebels team, and this once half hopeful/half joking saying could actually hold some weight.
Returning seven starters from the nation's top defense, statistically, as well as nine starters on offense, including both defensive and offensive lines, respectfully, is a huge positive. Not to mention, the core of this football team is composed of the highly touted, and now seasoned veteran, recruiting class of 2013. Laquon Treadwell and Evan Engram lining up at receiver and tight end, Laremy Tunsil on the offensive line, Tony Connor in the secondary, and the nation's number one prospect, Robert Nkemdiche, leading the charge in the trenches are what football coaches dream of. All number one players at their respective positions, all assuming leadership roles on their football team. But, just as all teams have, there are some question marks that can keep even the most optimistic fan from getting to ahead of themselves. The biggest happens to be arguably the most important. Who is going to take control under center at the quarterback position? Being the football obsessed and aspiring coach that I am, I had been trying to attack this question all summer. I knew that the once Clemson star recruit turned junior college transfer, Chad Kelly, had been brought to Ole Miss for one reason, and that was to be the signal caller for the Rebels. But Hugh Freeze had come out and said after spring training that sophomore Ryan Buchanan was in the lead for the job. So at the time, I did as much digging as I could. I won't give away my source, but he only had one thing to say every time I could ask. “Chad Kelly is everything he is supposed to be.” is the only answer he would give me. From then on I need not ask again, I knew. That is why when I came to my EDSE 400 class a few months later and the professor let us know she heard that someone named “Machine Gun Kelly” was going to be our starting quarterback, I sat back contently and smiled. Even though I knew who our quarterback would be, there was still the concern of just how good he would be, and that question was about to be answered.
We walked briskly from the Grove to Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium and found our seats in the middle of the student section. It was scorching hot, and we were drenched in sweat, but the excitement of a new football season was too overwhelming for anyone to care. Soon it was time for the Rebels to take their first offensive snap, and everyone was watching intently thinking their questions were soon to be answered. What proceeded were a couple of good but not overly great offensive snaps, followed by an errant snap over Chad Kelly's head, leading to a punt on the first series of the 2015 season. I thought to myself how I had liked what I had seen so far, but I was not overly impressed. This would be a problem since the opponent on the field was light years away from the talent level Ole Miss would find itself playing in the SEC later in the season. So, I sat back and said, “Looks like we may start out where we left off last year.” Boy was I about to be proven wrong. seventy-six points and an overpowering defensive performance later, I found myself in shock and awe. Chad Kelly had all but cemented himself into the starting role and lived up to the hype, compiling 211 passing yards in just 9 completions, and accounting for 3 touchdowns, 2 through the air and one on the ground. One telling throw that comes to mind is an effortlessly thrown touch pass on a route up the seam where he hit receiver Quincy Adeboyejo in the end zone for an uncontested touchdown early in the first half. The defense matched the offensive performance, losing no ground from last year's juggernaut, giving up only 3 points in mop up duty, and looking every bit the part of championship caliber defense. The bottom line is, I don't care who the team is they were playing. In division one football, to make plays look effortless takes a lot of talent, and the Rebels showed they were lacking none of that.
Some people outside of the program may still be timid to believe in this Ole Miss football team because of the weak opponent they beat last Saturday, but to them I say think about this. It was not too long ago that the same quality opponent that the Rebels just dismantled came into Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium and beat Ole Miss. Hugh Freeze has brought this football program miles since that day, and Ole Miss beat UT Martin like a championship team should beat UT Martin. I know it's very early in the season, but everything is seemingly falling into place. The coaching is there, and the leadership is there. The Rebels can match up with any team in the country from a talent standpoint. So to all the Rebel faithful out there, it's okay to start sipping the red Kool-Aid. This team is for real. Give it one more week, then after they give Fresno State the same treatment they gave to UT Martin, fill the cups up to the brim and drink them all the way down highway 82 into Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Rebels are poised to make a run, and the final destination is the College Football Playoff. Then again, it is only the first week of the season. Maybe I should lay off of the Kool-Aid for a few more weeks, huh?
This essay was written as a creative writing assignment in one of my education classes at The University of Mississippi.
- Hunter Jones
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