Ole Miss Wide Receiver Jonathan Mingo 'Excited' For Opportunity To Face Alabama

The Ole Miss wide receiver is sticking with the season-long game plan for the Rebels: go 1-0 this week.

OXFORD, Miss. -- On one hand, the bye week for the Ole Miss Rebels came at a bad time due to it being late in the season. On the other hand, it might have come at the perfect time, especially for wide receiver Jonathan Mingo.

Mingo's Rebels have been battling some injuries in recent weeks, but they sit at 8-1 on the year with a home date against the Alabama Crimson Tide set for Saturday afternoon. The leader in the Rebels' receiving room is ready for the opportunity that Saturday brings, even though his team no longer controls its own destiny in the SEC West.

"It's a very exciting feeling," Mingo said. "I try to look at every game as exciting because every game is important to me, but it's a good feeling to be able to play Alabama again. It's something I'm looking forward to."

Ole Miss is coming off of a bye week that followed a road win over the Texas A&M Aggies, but the Rebels got to work a little earlier than usual this week in preparation for the Crimson Tide.

"Everybody felt great," Mingo said. "We had a practice Sunday to get everybody's legs back under them. Everybody feels good."

The LSU Tigers defeated Alabama last Saturday, placing the Bayou Bengals in the driver's seat for an SEC West title. Had Alabama escaped Death Valley with the win, this week's matchup against Ole Miss would carry a lot more weight, giving the winner control of its own destiny moving forward.

Despite this development, the Rebels have one focus this week, and that is knocking off Alabama at home.

"We try to look at every game as important because it's the next one," Mingo said. "We try to go 1-0 each week, not looking forward. Just taking one week at a time.

"I feel like [the bye week] came at the right time. We had a lot of banged up people, and we had time for people to rest their bodies. At the end of the day, all the scenarios don't really matter. We can just go out there and go 1-0."

Along with having a little extra time to prep for Alabama, Mingo took the opportunity this weekend to do something he rarely gets to do: simply watch college football.

"It was weird just watching all the games," Mingo said, "but it was good to have some time to relax. It was kind of fun. We haven't had an off week since fall camp."

The Rebels and Crimson Tide are set to kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday. The game will be televised on CBS.

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You can follow John Macon on Twitter at @JMakeGillespie.

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