‘I’ve had this game circled’: Ole Miss looking to maintain contender status against Alabama

Jordan Watkins received a hero’s welcome in his return to Louisville over the weekend.

No, not the college he left in the offseason to join Ole Miss football.

He was back at his old high school, Butler (Ky.) Traditional, for its playoff showdown with Bullitt East. The Bears, unfortunately, had their season come to an end, but Watkins, throughout, was swarmed by countless kids and other hometown well-wishers.

“That’s always nice,” Watkins said. “It lets me know I made somewhat of an impact while I was there and the home fanbase kind of roots for you a little bit.”

A day later, however, he was right back to work.

Ole Miss (8-1, 4-1 SEC) was off last week, but on Saturday hosts Alabama (7-2, 4-2) at 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS. The Crimson Tide is fresh off a loss at LSU (7-2, 5-1), meaning the Rebels are looking to keep pace in the SEC West chase rather than seize first-place control outright.

“We all know what’s at stake,” Watkins said. “We got a little bit of a race going on (but) we just want to go 1-0. ‘Bama just happens to be the next team on the schedule.

“Right now we’re playing some really good football. The team’s super focused and super excited to get out and get in this type of environment and go out and perform in front of our home crowd. It’s been about three weeks since we’ve played in front of our home crowd.”

Hear everything Watkins had to say, including the team’s response to recent outside noise, in this edition of Wat’s Life.

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