Clark Brooks explains what makes the Ole Miss offense so dynamic
On3’s college football analyst Clark Brooks joins the Talk of Champions podcast network for an exclusive interview to discuss the Ole Miss offense. The founder of SEC Stat Cat breaks down why he thinks Lane Kiffin‘s unit has been so consistently dynamic the last four years and how it can improve in 2023.
On Saturday, No. 22 Ole Miss picked up right where it left off offensively in 2022, dominating Mercer to the tune of 73-7. The offense went over 600 yards of total offense and Tre Harris broke a single game program record with four receiving touchdowns. Jaxson Dart was tremendous in his 2023 debut as returning starter and Quinshon Judkins added two touchdowns.
Brooks takes us into the minutiae of analytics and how he assesses offenses. Primarily, Kiffin’s favorite weapon: the run-pass option.
In a primal sense, RPOs lean into the fundamentals of the game much like their multi-headed predecessors by focusing on blocking and tackling. But thanks to the pass element, more areas of the field can be tested as well as opposing DB’s brawn in space. Since the ball is designed to go where the defense presents the most vulnerabilities, these plays should inherently skew towards being more efficient down-to-down than other avenues.
RPOs can pester and prod. But even with their overall acceptance, are they worth it? In the constant discussion of maximizing consistency against potency, where do they fall? Do they help raise a scheme’s floor and ceiling? Are they overrated?
We also talk about the growth of Dart as a starter, Judkins’ encore and the tight end turnstile.
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Since Lane Kiffin took over Ole Miss in 2020, his offenses have averaged 511.3 yards per game.
This statistic is second only to Ohio State among Football Bowl Subdivision programs. The wide receiver room has a real chance to be special. I’m talking best in the Southeastern Conference special. Not to mention the perceived best of the bunch, Zakhari Franklin, has yet to suit up. True freshman Ayden Williams has a ton of buzz and players like Bralon Brown and Jalen Knox appear ready to take another step.
We get into this and much, much more below.
