CFB AM: Ole Miss made sure it utterly hated Texas A&M before beatdown

Published Oct. 13, 2014 9:00 a.m. ET

Teddy Mitrosilis

After Ole Miss beat Alabama in an emotional game at home in Week 6, the following week was immediately circled as a “trap game.”

A night game against Texas A&M in Kyle Field, one of the most hostile places to play in all of college football. That definitely appeared to have the makings of a loss for the Rebels.

Instead, Ole Miss beat down the Aggies, 35-20, and the game wasn’t even that close.

How did Hugh Freeze’s team do it? As it turns out, with the help of a perfectly crafted hate message.

Before playing A&M, Ole Miss’ video team put together a video that would make sure the Rebels completely despised their opponent when they took the field. It showed the Aggies celebrating in Oxford, with Johnny Manziel doing his money hand gesture thing and Kevin Sumlin running through the locker room after a victory.

It pushed a message of disrespect. Hell, it was executed so perfectly even I felt disrespected, and I don’t have even a distant connection to Ole Miss or the state of Mississippi (unless there’s a family fact my parents have yet to reveal).

Here’s the video Ole Miss used to make the Aggies seem like the Axis. I can’t imagine what they’ll come up with for the Egg Bowl.

Ole Miss vs Texas A&M Official Team Motivational '14 from Ole Miss Rebels on Vimeo.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. On Sunday evening we rolled out our second edition of the “FOX Four,” our top-10 poll – highlighting the first four teams as our current playoff picks – from FOX’s own 13-member panel. Like everyone else in the college football world, after Week 7 we collectively believe Mississippi State has been the best team in the country. I was a little surprised that it wasn’t even close – figured there’d be some more love for Ole Miss than there was. That’ll come soon if the Rebs keep winning.

2. The latest AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll are out, and both have Miss. State at the top. Soak it in Bulldogs! It still feels a little weird, almost dream-like, to see MSU and Ole Miss together near the top of the polls. I hope the run continues – it’s been a blast.

3. We knew Clemson freshman QB Deshaun Watson broke his finger on Saturday and would be out a while, but coach Dabo Swinney confirmed it on Sunday. Watson will have a procedure today that will insert four screws into a finger on his throwing hand, and he will miss a month. Swinney said the initial target return date for Watson is Nov. 15 against Georgia Tech. Senior Cole Stoudt, who was the starter before Watson replaced him, will return to his old job.

THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

1. Bruce Feldman had his Week 7 Big Picture column on Sunday night with the usual good stuff in it. He leads with a look at the nasty Ole Miss defense and specifically emerging star Robert Nkemdiche, who’s reminding D-line coach Chris Kiffin of Ndamukong Suh. Also, Oregon OC Scott Frost, who was teammates with Brett Favre in Green Bay, said Marcus Mariota has the best arm outside of Favre he’s ever seen.

2. Some potentially good news for Georgia: Coach Mark Richt is holding out hope that running back Keith Marshall, who’s missed three games with a bruised ankle and leg, can return this week against Arkansas. That would help take some of the load off freshman Nick Chubb, who carried the Bulldogs to victory against Missouri, running 38 times for 143 yards and a TD. Freshman RB Sony Michel broke a bone in his shoulder two weeks ago and likely won’t be back until the Florida game on Nov. 1, and of course star RB Todd Gurley remains suspended indefinitely as UGA investigates whether he took money from an autograph broker or not.

3. The biggest game of Week 8 is unquestionably No. 5 Notre Dame and No. 2 Florida State, so it’s time for a little vintage Bob Costas on the NBC intro for the 1993 game between Florida State and Notre Dame. There are so many amazing things about this video, beginning with the sepia-toned Notre Dame theme that feels so out of touch with the current world of sports, and the three-minute intro. Can any of you remember the last time a TV broadcast had a three-minute intro leading into a game? It would seem hard to have the patience for that now.

There is some chatter around the Web about that video being among the best intros ever. OK, maybe among the best ever.

But here’s the best ever for my money – 1986 Oklahoma vs. Miami. You guys can try to make a counter-argument, and I’ll listen with an open mind, but you better bring something SPECTACULAR to the table to knock off The Boz.

THREE THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO KNOW

1. Paul Finebaum did quite possibly the most pitiful Gator chomp the world has ever seen, and thankfully Tim Tebow was around to ridicule him about it.

2. Michigan’s band performed a light show on Saturday at the Big House. Pretty cool – and the Wolverines even won the football game. Must have felt like New Year’s Eve in Ann Arbor.

3. Lou Holtz presents, “The Cowbell Jig.” I love this so much.

LASTLY

I hope you all had a great weekend and your Monday goes a bit better than this.

Teddy Mitrosilis is an editor and writer for FOXSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TMitrosilis and email him at tmitrosilis@gmail.com.