Not Using McCluster A Major McBlunder For Ole Miss

 Send This Story To A Friend

Before the season, the nation’s media tabbed Ole Miss as a Top 10 team.

Like many others, I thought the Southern media who picked the Rebels for third place in the SEC West were closer to the mark.

Ole Miss might be good, but they wouldn’t be a Top 10 team.  I predicted a 9-3 record for Houston Nutt’s team on this site.

Even so, for much of the season, I felt that I’d actually OVERRATED the Rebels.  I’m now starting the think the national media had things right all along…

If only Houston Nutt had decided to make Dexter McCluster his offense’s centerpiece sooner.

Below are the number of touches (combined rushes, catches) and yards for McCluster this season:


McCluster’s Touches and Yards

As you can see, when McCluster has touched the ball 15 times or fewer, his best performance was a 115-yard effort against Memphis in the season opener.

But when he’s gotten more than 15 touches, he’s racked up 260, 203 and 324 yards.  All against SEC defenses.

I can understand Nutt’s oft-stated worries about keeping McCluster healthy.  The Rebels’ do-everything man is just 5-9, 170 pounds, after all.  But if he’s not going to be featured in SEC games, when is he going to be used?

Look at the Rebels’ first three SEC games as compared to their last three conference games.  McCluster has gone from an afterthought to a workhorse:

Going back to those first three games, the Rebels knocked off Vanderbilt and were whipped rather easily by Alabama.  More McCluster might not have made much difference in either game. 

But the South Carolina game stands out to me.

McCluster had 15 touches for 85 yards in that contest, but 11 of those touches and 69 of those yards came in the 4th quarter when the Rebs were already down 16-3. 

Had Nutt and Kent Austin found more ways to get McCluster the ball earlier in the game, there’s a good chance Mississippi might have avoided a 16-10 loss that dropped them far out of the Top 10.

Avoiding that loss, UM would be 8-2 right now with LSU and Mississippi State left on the schedule.  With wins over those two teams (no guarantee, but…) Ole Miss would most certainly be ranked in or near the Top 10 heading into their bowl game.

McCluster is the most dynamic weapon the Rebels have had in their arsenal all year.  And his success has improved the play of quarterback Jevan Snead by taking the pressure off of UM’s signal-caller.

Check out the stats for Snead in the Rebels’ first three SEC games (when McCluster topped out at 15 touches) as compared to his numbers in Mississippi’s last three league games (when McCluster touched the ball no less than 22 times):



Snead Vs The SEC

There is no question that from Day One of the SEC season, McCluster should have been Ole Miss’ top option on offense and Snead the supporting player.

Unfortunately, Nutt and Austin didn’t realize that fact soon enough.  And it might have cost Mississippi a shot at their first Top 10 finish in decades.