Behind Enemy Lines: Ole Miss Rebels

The 2024 Kentucky football season is right around the corner. You’ve kept close tabs on what’s happened around Mark Stoops’ program. Now KSR is speaking with folks who closely cover the opponents Kentucky will face this fall.

Ole Miss has steadily climbed up the SEC pecking order since Lane Kiffin‘s arrival in 2020. Following a Peach Bowl victory that capped off an 11-campaign, Ole Miss has the CFB Playoff in its sights. Can they crack into the Top 12? KSR is taking a closer look with OM Spirit insider Zach Berry.

For Ole Miss to get where it wants to go, who has to step up?

Like the NFL, CFB is still a quarterback league. Jaxson Dart needs to be efficient and make plays like he did last year. He was incredibly efficient down the stretch in 2023, protected the football and built quite the chemistry with Tre Harris, Jordan Watkins and Caden Prieskorn. All three are back for 2024 as well as marquee transfer wide receiver, Juice Wells. Dart is the easy choice.

Defensively, though, Ole Miss will need Chris Hardie, Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen to be dudes. The pass rush last season was exceptional (35 sacks, 82 tackles for loss), but for Ole Miss to get where it wants to go, those three need to make the front seven elite. Zxavian Harris, Jared Ivey and JJ Pegues also return, giving Ole Miss quite the front for a CFP Playoff run.

How big of a loss is Quinshon Judkins’ departure and does it put more pressure on Jaxson Dart?

The loss is huge. is arguably one of the most talented running backs in the country. But added pressure? I don’t think so. Lane Kiffin and running backs coach Kevin Smith love to utilize depth and rotate backs like hockey lines.

Ulysses Bentley IV is a burner who, when healthy, is one of the best in the SEC. And the Rebels added Rashad Amos, Henry Parrish and Logan Diggs through the portal. Amos and Parrish led their former teams in rushing and Diggs ran for 653 yards and seven touchdowns for LSU in 2023 despite injury. Those four along with a completely revamped offensive line should give the Rebels a ton of balance and options on offense.

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What’s the game on the schedule Rebel fans have circled?

Some might say LSU in Baton Rouge since Ole Miss has not won in Death Valley since 2008, but it’s Georgia. If Ole Miss is in fact on its way to where it wants to go, the Rebels will be undefeated when Georgia comes to Oxford. If the Bulldogs are also undefeated, you have to think College GameDay will be in town and who is going to say no to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce teaming up with Kiffin to be the guest pickers?

Ole Miss was whipped in Athens last year and essentially forced Kiffin to adapt how he approached recruiting in the front seven on both sides of the ball. November 9, Ole Miss fans get to see if the experiment worked.

Mark Stoops has lost all three games to Ole Miss by seven combined points. Why do you think these teams play each other so close and will there be another one this fall?

Stoops’ Kentucky teams are always well-coached, tough and run the football well. Kiffin is notorious for taking what the defense gives him and not pressing the issue. The last three games were tight and I think Kiffin is more than comfortable in those games. Kentucky has a new quarterback so there is always a rather large question mark when this is a conversation topic, but I have a difficult time thinking Kentucky won’t be competitive and prepared when this one kicks off September 28. How Ole Miss gets SEC play started against the Wildcats will be very telling for 2024, in my opinion. 

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