THE GOOD
Seth Adams had a very solid first outing as the new quarterback of the Rebels. I'll be one the first to admit he's a lot better than I was originally giving credit for. What Seth does well is understand what he can and can't do. He did a good job of managing the game and did not try to do too much and loose the game. Like his counter part Martin Hankins did. One of the best assets a quarterback can have is not loose the game with stupid turn overs and killing drives by wasting downs trying to get a huge play when it isn't there.
Adams did that. He put up solid number going 19 of 30 for 63% with 197 yards 1TD and most importantly no interceptions. Hankins on the other hand had 4 interceptions. A couple of his interceptions were in the red zone. In a game where one made field goal is the difference in a win a red zone interception can literally be the game. Once less turnover by Memphis and they probably win. So having no turnovers turned out to be a huge stat for Seth. He also made some impressive throws in the first half and the ability to move the chain with a precision short yardage attack. What remains to be seen is what he will do with a real SEC defense. Which he won't get to see until Florida.
Ashley Palmer also had a great day for the Rebels in his debut. He finished with 12 tackles and an interception. Was flying all over the field making a lot of plays. Clearly the linebacker that was the most prepared for Memphis's attack and made the most plays. Looks like he'll be a great player. Marcus Tillman and Greg Hardy, especially, had great days for the Rebel defense. Hardy caught the Rebels lone offensive touchdown and had a sack and 11 tackles.
The Special teams also came up with a big score on one of the worst looking punt attempts I've ever seen. Seriously Memphis its usually good to keep a few people in to block.
The game ball however has to go to Dustin Mouzon. As previously mention the difference in this game was turnovers. And the Rebels got then when they had to have them. Mouzon especially was huge as he got two interceptions and a fumble recovery on the way to SEC defensive player of the week honors. The most critical of his interceptions was the one he caught as Memphis was going into score and cut the lead in half right before halftime. Instead Mouzon comes up big as he catches and races 99 yards for a touchdown. If he gets caught or doesn't make that interception we might be looking at a different outcome in this game. Huge game for Mouzon that he
THE BAD
The Running game was no where to be found. The Predator managed to chalk up 79 rushing yards mostly in the first half. When the team had the big lead and needed to burn up the clock by running the ball the running game disappeared. Memphis is one of the worst defenses the Rebels will face this year. The running game was supposed to be one of the Rebels strenghts this year with the Predator and 4 out of 5 offensive linemen returning. If the Rebels can't get a better showing out of the running game than that than the offense is in even worse shape this year and looking at another ugly season.The Defense also pulled a disappearing act in the second half. The linebacker core minus Ashley Palmer had several times where the went for big hits and came up with misses. After holding Memphis scoreless in the first half they made the adjustments to come out in the second half and drive at will against the Rebels. The Rebels could not come up with the big stop they needed and thankfully Memphis ran out of time at the end.
Failing to counter the other team's halftime adjustments continues to be a problem for the Rebels.
THE UGLY
Luck. Quite frankly luck hasn't worked with the Rebels lately. Last year it was Vandy. So far this year Memphis. It seems like the Rebels keep having to use up all their lucky breaks just to beat bad teams instead of using it like Appalachian State to pull off a signature upset.
Interesting new weekly link. The Coaches Hot Seat Watch.
Ogerzook hot seat watch: Down to 17. (From 5 last week.)
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