Tide guards against letdown against Mississippi

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Posted 5:45PM on Friday, October 14, 2005

Alabama doesn't want to get caught looking ahead or behind. Two weeks after a rout of a Southeastern Conference power and with another big game next week, the No. 6 Crimson Tide hopes to avoid a letdown Saturday against struggling Mississippi. ``Ole Miss is a team that whipped us a couple of times,'' safety Roman Harper said. Alabama (5-0, 3-0 SEC) is back on the national landscape for the first time in years after routing Florida 31-3 two weeks ago. Now the challenge is to stay there. For Alabama, this game in Oxford comes at a troublesome point between the Florida victory and next week's meeting with Tennessee. ``The win is behind us,'' linebacker DeMeco Ryans said. ``Our focus is all the way on Ole Miss.'' Coach Mike Shula need only mention the Tide's last visit to Ole Miss, a 43-28 loss in 2003 to the Eli Manning-led Rebels, to capture his players' attention. Shula ripped into his team at halftime of that game after Manning threw three long touchdown passes in building a 31-10 lead. ``It was probably one of the first times we saw the bad side of him,'' offensive lineman Kyle Tatum said. ``That's behind us. That's two years ago, but I think that's something we need to keep in our minds because you know how it can slip away from you at any time in the SEC.'' The Rebels (2-3, 0-2) have won the last two meetings in Oxford. But Alabama has dominated the century-old series. The Crimson Tide overwhelmed Ole Miss last year in Tuscaloosa, rushing for 221 yards and forcing numerous mistakes in a 28-7 rout. ``I just remember they pounded the ball on us the whole game,'' Rebels defensive back Trumaine McBride said. The Tide has rolled into national prominence behind quarterback Brodie Croyle, running back Kenneth Darby and one of the nation's top defenses. Croyle is coming off a 14-of-17 passing, 283-yard, three-touchdown dissection of Florida, which had the SEC's best defense at the time. That was Alabama's most significant victory since it won the SEC title game in 1999. Darby averages a league-best 102.6 yards. And the Crimson Tide has the nation's sixth-best total defense, allowing 251 yards and 11.6 points a game and totaling 17 sacks. That could mean trouble for a stagnating Ole Miss offense, which ranks among the SEC's worst. The Rebels' offensive line hasn't started the same five players in consecutive games all season. ``I look at it as a challenge, not as a bad matchup,'' Rebels coach Ed Orgeron said. ``It will challenge the offensive line and our coaches to be able to get us there to protect against their blitzes.'' Alabama's biggest hole is at wide receiver, where Tyrone Prothro will miss the rest of the season after breaking his left leg while trying to catch a pass against Florida. DJ Hall has moved back into the starting lineup, and he and Keith Brown must fill the void. ``It's still going to be a challenge anyway because they have three other good wide receivers,'' McBride said. (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)