It seems like every college football team in the country wants to run some type of up-tempo, spread option offense that picks up big chunks of yards and wears down the opposition. For some, that philosophy has worked wonders, while for others, it simply doesn’t pan out. The key to running that type of offense is talent. In the case of Ole Miss, there is some talent, but we question whether there is enough for first-year head coach
to work in the SEC. It is difficult for opposing teams to score without the ball, but when you speed up the game against superior defenses, you are asking for not only a lot of three-and-outs but three-and-outs that don’t chew up any clock. In the case of the Rebels, putting your defense on the field any more than it has to be is inviting a lot of blowout losses. Note that Ole Miss ranked 117th out of 120 teams in points per play last year (0.204).
“I did it from studying various people and various offenses at every level and putting it to my personality,” the coach said. “If you were to ask me three years ago who I’d study, it would be Oklahoma State, Oregon and Oklahoma. I think we are a mixture of all of them, really.”
“There’s going to be some times we’re going to rejoice this year and there will be some difficult times,” Freeze said. “... I think those are times we’ll have to lean on our core values. Hopefully we’ll pull a few surprises that will sustain us.”
