Ole Miss Rebels look to join ranks of SEC elite

ATLANTA -- Long an also-ran in the mighty Southeastern Conference, Mississippi is looking like a school no longer content with the status quo.

First, the No. 18 Rebels must get by a team that knows a thing or two about busting up the establishment.

Ole Miss opens the season tonight against Boise State, which earned its chops on the national stage as a BCS Buster. This is the first of two Chick-fil-A Kickoff Games at the Georgia Dome, followed Saturday by No. 2 Alabama vs. West Virginia.

The Rebels are a team on the rise under coach Hugh Freeze, who has been able to land big-time recruits and guided his team to wins over Texas and LSU last season.

"Our kids are hungry," said Freeze, coming off an 8-5 season that culminated with a victory over Georgia Tech in the Music City Bowl. "We're excited about our plans. We like what we do. We like our kids."

Ole Miss still must prove it can compete on a regular basis with SEC division foes such as Alabama and Auburn, both of whom come into the season ranked in the top 10.

Only four SEC schools have never played in the league-championship game, which has been around since 1992. Ole Miss is one of them, joined by conference newcomer Texas A&M and traditional bottom-feeders Kentucky and Vanderbilt.

Freeze is eager to change that. Even though this is a nonconference game, he knows the importance of getting off to a good start against a program that is still nationally recognized despite slipping to 8-5 a year ago, its worst record since 1998.

"Opening up with a team like Boise in the Georgia Dome on national TV is a great opportunity for both teams," Freeze said.

The Broncos twice reached the Fiesta Bowl under former coach Chris Petersen, becoming known as the best program outside the major conferences. They had seven straight seasons with at least 10 wins and were in contention for a BCS bid pretty much every year during that stretch.

Now, Boise State is going through a bit of a transition. Petersen was hired by Washington, bolting just when it looked as though the Broncos might be slipping. He was replaced by Bryan Harsin, whose head coaching resume is comprised of one season at Arkansas State.

Harsin, a former quarterback and assistant coach for the Broncos, acknowledged that the program he inherited isn't as talented as the one he left in 2010.

"We probably had about 12 guys 14 guys that were NFL players," he said. "I think we have those type of players (now), but I don't know if we have as many at one time as we did for those couple years. That was a good run for any team to have that type of talent. But as far as the mentality of the team, it's very similar."

That's got Freeze concerned. He knows this the sort of upset special that has long been Boise State's trademark.

"Their teams have embraced this type of atmosphere in the past," he said. "They understand winning. They have for many years."

Temple-Vanderbilt

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Vanderbilt Commodores have a new coach and are ready to start proving that their winning ways didn't leave when their last one departed.

Derek Mason makes his coaching debut against Temple tonight in the nightcap game on the new SEC Network

With James Franklin leading them, the Commodores went 9-4 and finished in the Top 25 rankings each of the past two seasons. They are 16-4 over their past 20 games, tied with South Carolina for the second-best record in the Southeastern Conference in that span.

Franklin now is coaching Penn State, but he brought plenty of talent to Vanderbilt that's still on campus. The Commodores feel like they've been overlooked in all the success of the past two seasons.

"We as players feel that was us," quarterback Patton Robinette said. "That was what we did, and I feel like we're ready to show that, indeed, was us and we're going to keep climbing."

Guard Spencer Pulley said the Commodores know it's very important to come out strong and play fast.

"Everyone on the team is confident in how we're playing and how confident in how good a camp we had," Pulley said.

This will be the third straight season the Commodores have opened the season on a Thursday night, but they get a break in opponent. They lost by four points both to South Carolina in 2012 and to Mississippi in 2013, and now they start against a nonconference opponent facing Temple from the American Athletic Conference.

The Owls are in their second season with coach Matt Rhule after going 2-10 last year playing 13 freshmen. Rhule took them to Notre Dame to open the 2013 season, an experience he thinks helped them not be intimidated the rest of the year. He's hoping for a similar effect in 2014.

"I'm sure some of our freshmen will be scared we're in a different place now," Rhule said. "We're trying to challenge our guys to face their fears. It's OK. ... What better way to start than against an SEC team?"

Sports on 08/28/2014

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