The Ole Miss Rebels came out with a great start last season. They won their first seven games and then proceeded to lose five out of their last six games. Ole Miss’ head coach Lane Kiffin had a lot of rumors surrounding him about his departure from Ole Miss. Kiffin shot all of those rumors down and is back for his fourth season with the Ole Miss Rebels. Can they bounce back from their late season slide last season? Here is the preview for the Ole Miss football.
Offense
This Ole Miss offense started off scorching last year, led by now junior quarterback Jaxson Dart. Kiffin brought in some transfers to compete against Dart just in case the late season offensive rut happens again. They brought in Spencer Sanders from Oklahoma State and Walker Howard from LSU. So, with a quarterback battle brewing, what do the Rebels need to do to get the offense moving to start 2023? Well, they have sophomore running back Quinshon Judkins who was first team All-SEC as a freshman last season. Judkins rushed for 1,567 rushing yards to go along with 16 rushing touchdowns.
Judkins is a super important part for the Rebels offense, but they need to find another playmaker to help Judkins out. Ole Miss lost two of their top receivers from a season ago with Malik Heath and Jonathan Mingo. However, the Rebels used the transfer portal and got some talent to come in and help this Ole Miss offense. They brought in Tre Harris from Louisiana Tech who was an all C-USA player in 2022. Another transfer that is supposed to make an impact for Ole Miss is UTSA transfer Zakhari Franklin. Franklin had back to back 1,000+ yard receiving seasons for UTSA in the last two seasons. He comes in looking to add more depth to the wide receiver position. Ole Miss needs to replace their best offensive lineman in Nick Broeker, but they have a ton of lineman with starting experience. The Rebels need to figure some things out offensively if they want to compete in the SEC in 2023.
Defense
The Ole Miss defense really faltered once the SEC schedule hit last year. Ole Miss really needed a new defensive coordinator and Kiffin brought in Alabama’s defensive coordinator Pete Golding. Golding is looking to go to a 3-2-6 defensive formation which will be something new for the Rebels. On the defensive line they are bringing back senior defensive ends Jared Ivey and Cedric Johnson, as well as senior defensive tackle JJ Pegues. They also added some talent to come in and play nose tackle for them in 2023. Ole Miss brought in Joshua Harris from NC State and Stephon Wynn Jr. from Nebraska. At the linebacker position Louisville transfer Monty Montgomery is looking to be the voice of the defense. Montgomery and the linebacker core will need to be big time playmakers for this Rebels defense.
In the secondary, Ole Miss lost three key members (AJ Finley graduated, Davison Igbinosun and Tysheem Johnson transferred). Returning at the safety position is Isheem Young and Trey Washington, while at cornerback they are bringing back Deantre Prince. Ole Miss did get some more help in the transfer portal as they brought in cornerbacks Zamari Walton from Georgia Tech, Justin Hodges from Central Florida, Jadon Canady from Tulane, and John Saunders Jr from Miami (Ohio). These four are supposed to be playmakers for this secondary to help this defense. If Ole Miss wants to be a threat in the SEC, they are going to need this defense to be ten times better than they were towards the end of 2022.
Win Total Bet
The win total is set at 7.5 on the FanDuel sportsbook, with the over set at -124 odds and the under set at +102 odds. I think the Rebels are going to struggle once the SEC schedule opens up. However, this is a bowl team in my eyes but I don’t know if this team is going to get at least eight wins this season. I am going to take the under 7.5 win total at +102 odds for 2 units. Ole Miss is going to be a good offense and will win games, but they will not go over the 7.5 win mark. Ride the under on the Rebels win total for this season.
Schedule Predictions
Blowout Win vs Mercer (1-0)
Win at Tulane (2-0)
Win vs Georgia Tech (3-0)
Loss at Alabama (3-1)
Close Loss vs LSU (3-2)
Loss vs Arkansas (3-3)
Heartbreaking Loss at Auburn (3-4)
Win vs Vanderbilt (4-4)
Win vs Texas A&M (5-4)
Loss at Georgia (5-5)
Win vs Louisiana Monroe (6-5)
Loss at Mississippi State (6-6)