Ole Miss Mid-Season Evaluations

The Ole Miss Rebels are 6-0 at the mid-point, with victories over Georgia Southern, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tulane, LSU, and Washington State. The last game against Washington State demonstrated a few things about this team, and none of them are particularly good, as far as I can tell. The Rebels came out with a drive that took them to the three yard line, then it stalled out, and Kiffin chose to go for it instead of kicking the field goal. Why? Why not take the points, get an early lead, and go from there? I just don’t understand it. From there, Ole Miss never really got itself on track, and eeked out a 24-21 win, but it did give Wazzou the ball with about a minute left on the clock. Things just weren’t syncing. Were the Rebels looking ahead to Georgia? Did the Rebels believe their own hype and #4 AP ranking? I think yes and yes.

Ole Miss dropped a spot to #5 in the newest poll, leapfrogged by Texas A&M as the highest-ranked SEC team, and I agree, except I’d put both Alabama and Georgia ahead of Ole Miss. I will believe Ole Miss is a top-tier team in the league when it goes to Athens and defeats Georgia at home, but not before then. Can Ole Miss win that game? I don’t think so. Of course, anything is possible, but Georgia is difficult to defeat in their home stadium; it just rarely happens unless that team is Alabama. If you know me, you know I despise the Georgia Bulldogs, but I’m trying to be real here. Georgia has a balanced offense. It can run and pass. In the Rebels’ biggest win to this point over LSU, it was able to drop 8 into pass protection and dare the Tigers to beat them with the run, and it worked. LSU couldn’t run the ball at all. Georgia can beat you with the pass or the run, so Ole Miss is going to have to play its best game on defense to have a shot. On offense, Trinidad Chambliss is a good quarterback, but he always has two or three tipped passes in a game, and those can lead to interceptions. If I was the Georgia defensive coach, I’d be getting my players to put their hands up on every passing down. I’m not even sure at this point that Simmons woudln’t be the better choice to start this game.

Moving on from there, the Rebs will travel to Oklahoma, which I think is a win. Then the Citadel, which is a win. Then South Carolina, which is a win. Then Florida, which is a toss-up. Flordia has the players on the lines and should match up well against the Rebels, and finally the Egg Bowl, which is always a toss-up, and it is played at Mississippi State, and if you know this rivalry, you know MSU will get up for that game. It always does.

If things break well, this team could be finish 11-1, and that’s certainly going to get it into the playoffs. Worst case, I think, is 8-4. A lot depends on Kiffin and if he can get the team motivated, which he has struggle with in the past. That would be a disappointing season, at least to me, because in the preseason I certainly predicted this team to be better than last years squad.

Hotty Toddy.