Team preview: Mississippi

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(All information as of June 20, 2007)

A 7-16 record the last two seasons would suggest Ole Miss still has a long way to go to be competitive under head coach Ed Orgeron. As he enters his third year, Orgeron would insist the Re-bels are a lot further along than their record would suggest.

"We set a foundation for the way we're going to recruit, a foundation for the way we're going to practice," Orgeron said. "We really feel like we made up a lot of ground last year as far as be-ing competitive. Look at the difference between the way we played LSU our first year and the way we played last them last year. It was a tremendous difference."

The Rebels entered last year's game at LSU as 27-point underdogs and forced the game in to overtime before the ninth-ranked Tigers won, 23-20.

"We battled them and it came right down to the line," Orgeron said. "Now we're looking to make up that much ground and surpass where we were last year. I really believe that it's time for this team to take on a personality, compete to the very end and win those close games we lost last year."

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