Ole Miss is trying to avoid looking ahead to Lane Kiffin and LSU, and the Rebels are doing their best not to peek back at the walk-off field goal to beat Louisville last week when Charlotte limps into Oxford, Miss., on Saturday night.
Ole Miss had to fight to the final second to win its opener.
Charlotte scrapped for three overtimes before losing its opener.
The ninth-ranked Rebels play their home opener when they meet the 49ers on Saturday night when most of the stadium will be buzzing about last week or next.
Ole Miss scored 31 points in the second half, the last three on Lucas Carneiro’s 48-yard field goal as time expired, to hold off then-No. 24 Louisville 41-38 on Sunday night in Nashville, Tenn.
Rebels head coach Pete Golding was pleased with his team’s “resiliency.” Ole Miss won a game in which it trailed twice and the score also was tied twice.
Golding sees a lot of room for improvement but was fixed on the first step forward after taking a proverbial jab in the jaw.
“I think it is a super blessing to get punched in the face in game one by a really good football team,” Golding said, “to be able to see it on tape and see how we responded.”
Ole Miss’ high-powered offense struggled in the first half and went scoreless in the first quarter. Ole Miss was nursing a 10-6 halftime lead. But Trinidad Chambliss finished with three touchdown passes and a touchdown run and Deuce Alexander had five catches, a career-best 159 yards and two scores.
Golding invoked boxing comparisons in praising the offense, too. They took early punches then came out swinging in the second half while the defense was on the receiving end of hits in the second half after landing blows earlier in the game.
“The big thing this week,” he said, “is regardless of who we’re playing we’ve both got to swing at the same time to deliver that knockout punch.”
Golding said that “this is the best week” for Ole Miss to focus on itself after opening with a ranked opponent and with Kiffin’s hyped return to Oxford with No. 8 LSU looming next week.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re playing Louisville or Charlotte or Delta State,” Golding said. “We have to focus on us, on the attention to detail and executing on a consistent basis. Hopefully we’ll have a chip on our shoulder.”
Charlotte could have a chip on its shoulder after losing 43-41 at home to The Citadel last Saturday. Coach Tim Albin is trying to prevent the contrasting stature of The Citadel and Ole Miss programs to get in the way of the 49ers’ focusing internally.
“We’re looking to make that jump from the first game to the second game as far as consistency and the execution piece,” Albin said. “Moving forward we’re not going to let one game define us as people and we’re not going to let it define our program.
“We’re going to up our focus. I don’t want to panic (but) I want some urgency. Our guys are resilient.”
Charlotte (1-11 and 0-8 in the American last season) has lost 10 straight games since defeating FCS Monmouth last September.
“I think every Group of 6 school plays at least one Power 4 school,” Albin said. “Ole Miss is ours. I think it’s great exposure. We’ve got to get better. I want to see a lot of things cleaned up.”
