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It was not so long ago, Ole Miss resisted in Alabama, when the goals were eliminated, the games were decided in the last minutes and the supremacy of the Crimson Tide in the SEC was challenged.
For three years, the Rebels have been a thorn in the Alabama team, creating two twists in 2016.
At one point, they even pushed the media to speculate that Nick Saban's dynasty was over – that, in his words, Alabama was dead, buried, and gone.
It was an ephemeral period. Scandal shook Ole Miss. His innovative coach, Hugh Freeze, resigned in turmoil. And meanwhile, the mighty Tide continued to roll.
By the time the two teams met on Saturday, the gap between the two programs widened into a canyon so wide that it could have engulfed the city of Oxford – the site of the last defeat of Alabama, a victory of 62-7.
A year after Alabama showed no mercy in a 66-3 defeat of the rebels, it again devastated Ole Miss, clinically cutting off the rebels and making fun of them. using their "landshark" sign to celebrate the destruction.
As a result of the latest tidal frenzy, Saban did not want to make big statements about his team.
"It's a match," he said. "It's a match for us that builds trust with our players, and what I'm most proud of is that they came in a difficult atmosphere and responded well to the competition."
The Tide has even shown some resilience, facing an opening salvo delivered by the Rebels, which reminded everyone at the time when Ole Miss posed a threat to the ## 147 ## # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # 39; Alabama. Jordan Ta's 75-yard touchdown passes to D.K. Metcalf in the first offensive game of the match sent the crowd to Vaught-Hemingway in a stunned and stunned Alabama.
But in the shadow of the forest filled with alcoholic beverages, Ole Miss and her followers quickly faced a disappointing reality: a team filled with great games, defensive stops and touchdowns by an Alabama team that has come up the ground with little resistance.
The attack began when Damien Harris tied the score with a 43-yard run at 81 seconds of the match. He continued when the tide took the lead with a 79-yard take by Jerry Jeudy a few minutes later. And it snowballed from there, while Alabama continued to land haymakers in this one-sided fight.
At half-time, the Crimson Tide racked up 418 yards and led 49-7.
The two programs, separated by a small chain of motorways and a state line, distinguished themselves.
Before Saturday, Saban tried to sell the idea that Ole Miss would be up again. He congratulated the body of rebel receivers, nicknamed the "Nasty Wideouts". He complimented your friend. He congratulated coach Ole Miss Matt Luke.
But the rebels did not distinguish themselves from Louisville and Arkansas State – the two teams that Alabama beat in the first two weeks with a combined total of 87 points.
"We look at all opponents in the same way, the faceless opponent," said Irv Smith Jr. "We are really playing against ourselves – that's what we say." We wanted to go out and make a statement. on the road we are able to do it, the defense prevented them from having a single game and the attack put 60 points and we could have done better.
He does it in harsh terms. Smith arrived in Alabama in 2016, during the last quarrels of a rivalry at his peak. As a rookie, he saw the Tide return 21 points in that same stadium to steal a win.
Two years later, on the same pitch, he contributed to a thrashing.
Ole Miss could not compete with the firepower of Alabama, capitulating almost immediately in front of her superior enemy. Your 'amu' turned out to be a weaker version of Tua Tagovailoa, the Crimson Tide quarterback with whom he had been trained in Hawaii when they were kids.
While Tagovailoa sang Ole Miss with two touchdowns and made 73% of his throws for 191 yards, Ta'am's performance deteriorated quickly after throwing his only touchdown pass. He logged in for six of his next 21 attempts and launched two interceptions – the last of which was returned to 30 yards for a touchdown by Xavier McKinney.
It was the last big shot by Ole Miss, a team that had been bloodied and bruised on a night when Alabama had reaffirmed its dominance and made everyone forget that once upon a time these brave rebels were fighting.
Reflecting on the days that followed the conquest of 55 points, Saban became almost nostalgic.
"We won this match and we lost that match," Saban said. "And we lost that game and won championships, and we won this game and did nothing after that … it's a match."
It may be true. But he has once again illustrated that Alabama has climbed into a different stratosphere from that occupied by Ole Miss – showing that in the much more existential sense divides the two divisional foes than the 165 miles of terra firma between Tuscaloosa and Oxford .
Rainer Sabin is a writer beaten in Alabama for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin
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