Here's the story of both games:
| Date | 9/19/2015 | 9/19/2015 | 10/3/2015 | 10/3/2015 |
| Team | Ole Miss | Alabama | Ole Miss | Florida |
| Avg. Starting Position of Offense | Own 39 | Own 28 | Own 20 | Own 45 |
| Turnovers | 1
(onside kick) | 5
(2 FUM, 3 INT) | 4
(3 FUM, 1 INT) | 0 |
| Points off Turnovers | 24 | 7 | 0 | 19 |
| Points Scored | 43 | 37 | 10 | 38 |
| Points Scored not off turnovers | 19 | 30 | 10 | 19 |
| Avg. Scoring Drive (Plays) | 4.8 | 11 | 12.5 | 5.4 |
| Avg. Scoring Drive (Yards) | 41.5 | 60.7 | 72.5 | 42.1 |
| Avg. Scoring Drive off Turnover (Plays) | 3.8 | 7 | N/A | 3.8 |
| Avg. Scoring Drive off Turnover (Yards) | 15.8 | 30 | N/A | 15.5 |
Alabama gave Ole Miss the ball at our 17, our 26, our 18, and our 31 yard lines and they put up 24 points on those possessions. On their other 11 possessions, they scored 19 points and that includes a once-in-a-lifetime lucky bounced pass into the arms of a receiver and a TD that should have been called back for ineligible receiver downfield. So when you factor the points we handed to Ole Miss on turnovers, the "Doink in Bryant-Denny" pass play, and the long pass play on which officials were unable to see 300-lb linemen 5 yards beyond the neutral zone, Ole Miss should have only put up 2 FG against our defense. Everything that went right for Ole Miss in Bryant-Denny went the other way in the Swamp and they weren't able to deal with it as well as our guys. If the referees would have just correctly called the ineligible player downfield penalty, we likely would have been tied at the end of regulation and went to OT even with all of the turnovers and I would have liked our chances in OT. We ran well against them and Kelly's passing statistics would be more pedestrian if not for the fluke play and the pass where the offensive lineman was almost as far downfield as the receiver.
| Date | 9/19/2015 | 9/19/2015 | 10/3/2015 | 10/3/2015 |
| Team | Ole Miss | Alabama | Ole Miss | Florida |
| First Downs | 16 | 29 | 23 | 18 |
| 3rd Down Conv. | 4-14 (28.5%) | 11-20 (55.0%) | 5-14 (35.7%) | 8-16 (50.0%) |
| Penalties - Yards | 8-57 | 4-36 | 5-30 | 6-51 |
| Net Yards | 421 | 495 | 290 | 345 |
| Total Plays | 65 | 100  | 73 | 63 |
| Yards per Play | 6.48 | 4.95 | 3.97 | 5.48 |
| Rushing | 32-92 (2.88 avg)
2 TD 1/1 FMBL/LOST | 42-215 (5.12 avg)
2 TD 2/2 FMBL/LOST | 33-31 (0.94 avg)
0 TD 4/3 FMBL/LOST | 34-74 (2.18 avg)
1 TD 2/0 FMBL/LOST |
| Passing | 18-33 (55%)
329 yards 9.97 ypa
3 TD 0 INT | 32-58 (55%)
280 yards 4.83 ypa
3 TD 3 INT | 26-40 (65%)
259 yards 6.48 ypa
1 TD 1 INT | 24-29 (83%)
271 yards 9.34 ypa
4 TD 0 INT |
Passing (without
fluke and illegal play) | 16-31 (52%)
190 yards 6.13 ypa
1 TD 0 INT | same as above | N/A | N/A |
| Time of Possession | 24:34 | 35:26 | 28:10 | 31:50 |
Turnovers, especially deep in your own territory, will do you in. The fact that we almost overcame that many turnovers that were so effectively taken advantage of by the Ole Miss offense, as well as an immaculate reception and a 5-yard downfield screen pass that was so conveniently missed by an officiating crew from the organization that emphatically stated that they would put additional effort into detecting such violations. It's funny that the next week, an officiating crew from the same organization (The Steve Shaw Blind-as-a-Bat Eye Foundation) flags Cam Robinson for that violation and he wasn't far enough downfield to have probably been flagged in the NFL. The SEC seems to make plenty of money, so they need to earmark some funding for Lasik for their officials (and maybe a hearing aid for Hubert Owens
).
