{"id":28242,"date":"2015-10-15T19:14:40","date_gmt":"2015-10-16T00:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=28242"},"modified":"2015-10-19T15:22:26","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T20:22:26","slug":"oxford-rebels-invade-memphis-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/oxford-rebels-invade-memphis-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Oxford Rebels Invade Memphis Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"5900_memphis_tigers-helmet-1994\"<\/a>Neighbors aren\u2019t necessarily good friends.<\/span><\/p>\n

Families aren\u2019t necessarily close.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nearby colleges aren\u2019t necessarily rivals.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a little sad, perhaps, but true: the Memphis Tigers<\/strong> vs. Ole Miss Rebels<\/strong> football series does not constitute a rivalry.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"BlackBearPhoto2015\"<\/a>Never mind what your old copies of NCAA Football<\/em> for PlayStation told you, never mind this year\u2019s top-25 matchup, and never mind the constant battle for an upper hand in Mid-South recruiting. It would take Tiger High 38 consecutive years of victories over Ole Miss to even the overall series (48-10-2 leading up to 2015\u2019s game), and then we could talk.<\/span><\/p>\n

That said, games don\u2019t have to be historical rivalries in order to be challenging and important.<\/span><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Memphis team is undefeated, ranked, and motivated. Finally blossoming into a legit mid-major threat under fourth-year coach Justin Fuente<\/strong>, these Tigers have their eyes on bigger prizes than usual. No game on their schedule would underscore their arrival quite like a win over their SEC neighbors, the top-15 Ole Miss Rebels. The Tigers will take on the Rebels as a top-25 team for the first time in their history, and they\u2019re looking to prove that they can go toe-to-toe with the country\u2019s best.<\/span><\/p>\n

And why shouldn\u2019t they?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cheerleaders2015\"<\/a>They\u2019ve got the 4th-ranked scoring offense in the entire country (besting the Rebs\u2019 5th-overall offense by a point per game), a quarterback completing over 70% of his passes, and a couple of high-profile mid-week wins over solid USF<\/strong> and Cincinnati<\/strong> squads. And they get Ole Miss at home.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for the Rebels, they\u2019re banged-up, a game back in the SEC West standings, serving the tail ends of NCAA suspensions, and potentially looking ahead to a big home game vs. Texas A&M<\/strong> next week. I can\u2019t speak for the mindset of the team, but as an in-tune member of the fanbase, I won\u2019t pretend that everything this team\u2019s done has instilled me with confidence that Ole Miss will positively wipe the field with Memphis.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"LaremyTunsil\"<\/a>Even though the Rebs are favored in this matchup, this game should offer a good deal of insight into the team\u2019s mindset and ability heading into the season\u2019s crucial second half. Stopping Fuente\u2019s high-flying offense without star defenders Tony Conner<\/strong> and CJ Johnson<\/strong> will provide clues as to the Rebs\u2019 ability to halt Kevin Sumlin<\/strong>\u2019s Texas A&M attack. Chad Kelly<\/strong> and his much-maligned offensive line will have the opportunity to show that their performance on the road vs. Florida <\/strong>was a fluke, and get back to the #swag they displayed in taking down Alabama<\/strong> in Tuscaloosa (though – praise be – this will be Laremy Tunsil<\/strong>\u2019s last game on the sideline!). Perhaps most importantly, though, we will see if Ole Miss can regain the confidence required to contend for conference and national championships as the hunted instead of the hunters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Memphislogo702\"<\/a>And that\u2019s precisely what makes this game so dangerous – the mentality that \u201cOle Miss should<\/em> win, right?\u201d This year, it won\u2019t cut it to say that \u201coh, it\u2019s just Memphis,\u201d or that \u201cTexas A&M will be the real challenge.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rivalry game or not, these Rebels can\u2019t afford to be caught napping against Memphis this year. Another loss, and the playoff becomes practically unattainable. With a decisive win, however, Ole Miss can announce that they\u2019re going to \u201cshow up and show out\u201d for every game they\u2019ve got left in this pivotal season.\u00a0 \"The<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neighbors aren\u2019t necessarily good friends. Families aren\u2019t necessarily close. Nearby colleges aren\u2019t necessarily rivals. It\u2019s a little sad,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"featured_media":16511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ole-miss"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/OleMissMemphisFeat.jpg?fit=620%2C349&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}