The first game of the year for Memphis Football will see them facing off against Ole Miss a pre season favorite from the SEC on September 6th. This game is not only the kickoff to the season as well as your first chance to embrace tailgating, freshly painted end zones, nachos, and large men trying to tear off each other's head after a summer at the pool but you will also be able to watch one of the best young quarterbacks in SEC which makes him one of the best in the nation for that matter.

It isn't very often that you are able to see a first round quarterback play with your own eyes. I know this is supposed to be a Memphis post but Jevan Snead is a talent that I would like to watch once before I had to drive to St. Louis or Nashville to watch him on Sundays. Snead has a chance to be one of the top quarterbacks taken in this year's NFL draft and a lock for the number one pick in 2011 if he chooses to come back for a senior season in addition to that he is a pre season Heisman candidate. No matter the outcome of the game on September 6th you are guaranteed to see a player that the rest of the nation will be talking about in the years to come. In my opinion if you are going to go to one and only one Memphis football game this year the Ole Miss game is the game to attend.

This game will be a true trial by fire for the defense as they face Snead's aerial assault. The home opener will show us all just where this year's Memphis team stands in comparison to the rest of the national powerhouse programs. In my mind Ole Miss is a lock to be a bowl team this year and has a chance to win the SEC if they can catch a break here in there. On the other hand if Memphis can come out and shock the nation with a win over Ole Miss it will catapult the Tigers in to the hunt for a top 25 rating and a bowl berth close to new years. Even a close defeat will open eyes around the country to what is happening here in Memphis.

The real match up in this meeting will rest on two players Snead the star quarterback of Ole Miss and Steele the Tigers talented young running back. This game will come down to which defense can stop the other teams star first. Memphis will have to press Snead from the first snap putting pressure on the QB in hopes of getting him to continue his 2 for 1 ratio of touchdowns to interceptions from last season.

On the Memphis side of the ball Steele will need solid blocking and running lanes to burst through early in the game so that the Tigers are not forced into long passing downs that will take Steele out of the play. A game of over a hundred rushing for Steele will give the Tigers the chance they need to take down the pre season favorite Mississippi. Large numbers in the rushing game will truly show that Memphis is on track for a great season as Ole Miss ranked as the number one overall defense in the SEC last season for points allowed and fourth in the nation as well as 19th in the nation in total defense. The Tigers ranked 57th in total defense and 178th in points allowed last season.


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