Bruised After Georgia, No. 19 Ole Miss Takes a Thin Backfield to Norman to Face a Healing Oklahoma Line

Ole Miss took a 42-7 beating from Georgia last Saturday. This Saturday the Rebels have to find out what they are made of, on the road, in a hostile Southeastern Conference stadium, without some of the players who carried them to a 6-3 start.

No. 19 Ole Miss (6-3, 4-3 SEC) visits Oklahoma (5-4, 3-3 SEC) in Norman, with kickoff set for 3:15 p.m. Central on the SEC Network, according to 247Sports. Both teams are fighting to stay relevant in the league's crowded middle, and both are limping in.

The Rebels' injury report reads like a depth chart. Running back Kewan Lacy is out again with a dislocated left shoulder, and coach Pete Golding said it will be the third straight game Lacy misses, according to HottyToddy.com. Starting guard Patrick Kutas and linebacker Keaton Thomas have also been ruled out.

The news got more complicated on Thursday, when running back Makhi Frazier was added to the report as questionable, leaving Ole Miss thin at the position that has to carry the load when a road crowd gets loud. There was one encouraging note: quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who had been listed as probable earlier in the week, was no longer on the report after Thursday's update.

Golding's group has to answer a bigger question too. A five-touchdown loss can linger in a locker room, and The Ticket framed this trip as a test of whether Ole Miss can regroup quickly. A road win over an SEC opponent would go a long way toward keeping the Rebels in the rankings and in the conversation for a strong bowl.

Oklahoma's concern sits on the offensive line. Fred Hinton is out, Ryan Fodje is doubtful and Caleb Nitta is questionable, according to Sooners On SI. Fodje has not played since he was hurt late in the October 17 loss to Kentucky, but coach Brent Venables said on his Monday night coaches' show that Fodje was getting close to a return, possibly as soon as this weekend.

That would be welcome help for a team sitting at 5-4. One more win makes the Sooners bowl eligible, and a home win over a ranked conference opponent would do more for Venables than any number of good practices. Oklahoma needs its line healthy enough to protect its quarterback and lean on a defense that will be facing a banged-up Rebel backfield.

The first matchup is simple: Ole Miss' offensive line, missing Kutas, against an Oklahoma front that will smell blood. If the Rebels cannot run the ball with their remaining backs, the game lands on Chambliss' shoulders. The second is Oklahoma's own line. If Fodje plays and the Sooners can keep their quarterback clean, Norman becomes a very hard place for a team trying to shake off a blowout.

The third is the intangible. One team is trying to bounce back from humiliation; the other is trying to prove its season still has a second act. Those are the games where effort, discipline and toughness usually decide it, not the preseason rankings.

I like games like this more than the glamour matchups. Nobody is building a national title case in Norman on Saturday afternoon. This is about pride, about seniors who want to go to a bowl game, and about coaches who have to get young men to show up a week after things went wrong.

Ole Miss has more talent on paper, but the injury list is real, and road games in the SEC punish teams that are not right physically or mentally. Oklahoma has spent a month waiting to get its line back, and it might finally get some of it. The team that runs the ball with conviction and wins the turnover battle walks out of Norman with momentum for the stretch run. Whatever happens, it should be a hard-hitting, old-school SEC afternoon, and that is exactly what college football is supposed to be.