WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. _ Mike Wallace remembers the last time Ole Miss played Wake Forest.

More accurately stated, Wallace remembers parts of that rain-soaked day in north Mississippi back in September 2006. The start of that game was delayed because of powerful thunderstorms moving through Oxford for a little more than two hours before the two teams finally took the field at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

When the game started, it got ugly in a hurry for the home-standing Rebels. Wake Forest dominated every facet of the contest, winning a 27-3 decision that wasn't as close as the final score indicated.

"I just remember the delay," Wallace said. "We didn't know Wake Forest had a good football team. We were thinking we'd push them around when they came in here. We got embarrassed."

A bit of an urban legend grew out of that night in Oxford. According to some, while Wake Forest sat out the delay, Ole Miss _ in full uniform _ scrimmaged in the humid indoor practice facility. Others close to the program insist that there was no scrimmage, stating that then-coach Ed Orgeron had the Rebels run through plays with full-contact blocking but no tackling. Regardless, Ole Miss was sluggish when Wake Forest was sharp.

"Whatever we did, it was crazy," Wallace said. "I don't remember. That was two years ago. We're just ready for this one now. We're ready to get going with Coach (Houston) Nutt."

It is indeed a different era at Ole Miss, which travels to No. 20 Wake Forest Saturday for a 2:30 p.m. CDT kickoff. The game can be seen on ABC television. Both teams are 1-0, with Wake Forest beating Baylor, 41-13, on Aug. 29 and Ole Miss beating Memphis, 41-27, two nights later.

"Now it's time for payback," Wallace said. "We've been thinking about it for two years. Now everything's in place. We have new schemes and new coaches. We've gotten stronger and everything, so we're going to be ready."

Ole Miss might be motivated, but the Rebels won't surprise Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons expect a different Ole Miss team than the one they pushed around 24 months ago.

"They're a very talented football team," Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said. "They've had some great recruiting classes and they have an outstanding coach in Houston Nutt, who has brought in a really good staff. They're a typical SEC team. They have big, physical linemen and skill guys that can all run. They have a quarterback (Jevan Snead) who transferred from Texas that's really talented. They have a lot of ability on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game and they have a coaching staff that's doing really good things."

"I think we already know what they're going to bring in here," Wake Forest defensive tackle Boo Robinson said. "They're going to come in here really physical with their offensive line and run the ball on us a fair amount. We've got to put them in some tough positions so they have to pass a little bit on us. (Snead) is throwing the ball pretty well and they're running the offense pretty well. We've got to work on the penalties that we had, keep the same game plan and come back with a lot more mental focus than we had last week."

Both teams have spent time this week wondering what Mother Nature and Tropical Storm Hanna have in store for them Saturday. The storm is forecast to slam onshore between Wilmington, N.C., and Myrtle Beach, S.C., late tonight. Maximum sustained winds at 5 a.m. Friday were near 65 mph with higher gusts. Hanna will move over warm water and through an environment with little wind shear prior to landfall, allowing the storm to strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane.

Hanna is expected to speed through the Carolinas, up the eastern seaboard and into New England Saturday. The forecast for the Winston-Salem area calls for heavy rains overnight tonight and through the morning hours Saturday, slacking off to showers by game time and clearing out by Saturday evening.

The game has tremendous meaning for both teams. For Wake Forest, a loss to Ole Miss would not only cost the Demon Deacons their national ranking but it would also further damage the Atlantic Coast Conference's reputation on the heels of some embarrassing losses in Week One of the college football season. For the Rebels, meanwhile, a win would be cathartic for a program that hasn't won a road game against a team from a BCS-member conference since a victory at South Carolina in 2004.

"Naturally, it would do a lot," Nutt said. "But again, we have to have great focus. …We have to get ready to take a focus on the road like never before. It's their home opener, so it will take all three teams -- special teams, offense and defense. We have to be at our best."