10 thoughts from Ole Miss' blowout win of Furman

ten thoughts about this Ole Miss football team one week into the season.

Ole Miss opened a much-anticipated season with a completely dominant showing against an inferior opponent as the Rebels put up 76 points on offense and pitched a shutout on the defensive side.

This postgame column will likely take on different forms throughout the season due to differences in opponents. Obviously, there aren't a ton of concrete conclusions to be drawn from Ole Miss dismantling an FCS school — and this entire column should be read with the blanket caveat of “yes, but it’s Furman…” — but here are ten observations after one week.

1. Ole Miss finally has a defensive line that looks the part

Last November’s 55-17 road loss at Georgia has been well-documented in terms of it being a telling moment for Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss program. The Rebels could not match up with Georgia in the trenches and were blown out because of it. After the game, Kiffin declared that they had to recruit better and land elite talent up front to close the gap. He went as far as to say that there was only one playoff-worthy team on the field that night. And that’s exactly what this coaching staff did in the offseason bringing in Walter Nolan from Texas A&M, Princely Umanmielen from Florida and also adding four 4-star defensive linemen in the Rebels’ 2024 high school recruiting class.

Last night was the first time we saw this unit in action and they certainly looked the part in a literal sense. The defensive line was expected to dominate an FCS offensive line. It’s the sheer size, speed and athleticism that was plainly visible last night, opponent aside, that was eye-opening. If you don’t want to take my word for it, take Kiffin’s.

“It was a feeling we have never had here,” Kiffin said. “I haven’t had it as a head coach. You just look at the four guys we have going out there, and then there are three or so guys that can rotate in with them, and it’s elite. It is elite size and length players that present major problems when doing the right thing and playing hard. It is very intimidating to play against.”

Kiffin is not someone who usually is that direct in praising a specific player or unit unless he genuinely believes it to be true. Kiffin’s tone about this defensive line (and really his team as a whole) has been the most optimistic he’s sounded than at any point since he’s been at Ole Miss.

It appears he has good reason to do so when it comes to the defensive line. Nolan and Umanmielen looked the part. Jared Ivey and J.J. Pegues looked like veteran SEC defensive linemen. The jury is still out on the young newcomers as I wonder what this rotation looks like when the schedule stiffens, but the sheer fact that Ole Miss had the ability to rotate in guys like Akelo Stone, Jamarious Brown, Kam Franklin and even Suntarine Perkins to some extent, is a luxury that past Kiffin teams haven’t had.

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2. Kiffin continues blanket high-praise of this team.

Lane Kiffin was asked a question specifically about the defensive line when he produced the quote in the above note. Unprompted, he continued his answer and began to heap praise on the offensive line, citing the incredible amount of experience this unit has with nine guys having multiple college starts under their belt and how great he feels about the group as a whole. In the same extended answer, he pointed out that Arkansas transfer linebacker Chris Paul Jr. didn’t start this game but came in later and played great.

At other points in the postgame press conference, he used words like unique and selfless to describe his team and lauded their commitment to one common goal.

“I just really like them,” Kiffin said. “I like how selfless they are in different situations. This is one of those games where guys can mope about not getting the stats they want. It’s early. It’s only week one. But this is just a very unique group of guys. They are very focused on a common thing.”

Again, every 1-0 coach in the country likes their team right now, and there’s very little to criticize in a 76-0 victory against Furman. But it has less to do with when Kiffin is praising them and who the opponent is and is more about the stark contrast of how he talks about this team compared to past teams. Ole Miss hung 70 in last year’s season opener, but if you go back and watch that postgame press conference, Kiffin isn’t gushing about the talent and character of his team — and certainly not doing it unprompted.

A long season remains ahead and none of Kiffin’s words after a week one blowout will ultimately matter in terms of win totals and this team accomplishing its goals. It just remains interesting to me to see this candid side of Kiffin in terms of how he speaks about this team in comparison to past years.

3. How will the offensive line evolve?

Though it’s clearly not a worry for Kiffin and this staff from a talent and depth perspective, it’s clear this offensive line is not a finished product after one week. Ole Miss ran out this starting five: Jaylin Williams (LT), Nate Kalepo (LG), Reese McIntyre (C), Jeremy James (RG), Micah Pettus (RT). The Rebels were without veteran interior lineman Caleb Warren and Southern Miss transfer Gerquan Scott due to injuries.

As previously discussed, this staff set out to get better on both lines. Ole Miss brought in Kalepo and Julius Below from Washington, Diego Pounds from North Carolina and Scott from Southern Miss. None of the listed names were unproven players hoping to finally get playing time at a new program. Every single one came to Ole Miss with at least 799 snaps of experience and three of the four had at least 1000 or more. This is in addition to the Rebels being a fairly experienced offensive line in 2023 and bringing most everyone back outside of Victor Curne. According to Pro Football Focus, the Ole Miss offensive line boasts a total of 16,716 snaps of college experience. That is a number so remarkable that it is hard to wrap my head around. I don’t know this for 100 percent fact, but I have a nearly impossible time believing that the Rebels’ don’t lead the country in that category by several thousand snaps. That’s a rare level of experience.

Depth is obviously a great thing, but finding a consistent starting five before SEC play is also important for chemistry purposes. How does that ultimately shake out? From reading the tea leaves during preseason camp, I sort of lean toward Scott being the team’s starting center when healthy. I have a hard time believing Caleb Warren (no clue how long he’s out. I heard he had a knee procedure that is not season-ending) isn’t one of the team’s two starting guards. It would surprise me if Pettus isn’t pretty firmly cemented as the right tackle and Jaylin Williams is now entering his third year of playing tackle at the SEC level but did rotate with Pounds early on in the game. So how does the other guard spot shake out, does Warren play at guard instead of center (in my opinion, that would work to his personal advantage as well as the team’s) and how many guys can play multiple spots?

It’s a good problem to have. It’s really not a “problem” at all and more so just an interesting subplot to watch unfold while Ole Miss presumably obliterates its next three weak opponents before Kentucky comes to Oxford on September 28.

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4. Austin Simmons appears to be the backup quarterback

Ole Miss was so dominant in the first half that Jaxson Dart didn’t enter the game in the final two quarters. Austin Simmons, instead of Walker Howard, was the first one to replace Dart and got most of the playing time in the second half. On his first snap of the year, the southpaw threw a beautiful 35-yard touchdown strike to Cayden Lee. Simmons finished 7-16 for 111 yards and the one touchdown. It’s foolish to draw major conclusions (as it relates to Simmons) from two quarters of mop-up duty in a blowout win. But it is interesting (though not surprising) to me that Simmons has seemingly won the back-up quarterback job over the highly-rated LSU transfer Howard.

When asked about it after the game, Kiffin said that both players had good camps, but that he felt Simmons earned the nod due to how well he performed in the final practices and scrimmage of preseason camp.

If you need a refresher on the background of this battle, Howard is a former 4-star prospect who spent a year at LSU before transferring to Ole Miss, when Kiffin brought in Howard and veteran Oklahoma State transfer Spencer Sanders. The general consensus at that time was that Sanders was more primed to push for the starting job while Howard gained reps and prepared to be Dart’s (or Sanders’, I guess) potential successor.

Enter Austin Simmons

In August of 2023, as the Rebels were in preseason camp. a 17-year-old Simmons elected to skip his final two years of high school and enrolled at Ole Miss. If you’re trying to wrap your head around that and do some mental math on his age, high school credits and eligibility, the short version of the context needed is that Simmons was homeschooled but was eligible to play sports at Pahokee High School in South Florida. Simmons is also a two-sport phenom who was a legitimate contributor as a relief pitcher on a bad Ole Miss Baseball team last spring before he suffered an elbow injury. I had Simmons on my podcast in February of this year. He is an incredibly bright and mature kid who is also an excellent student. His father told me that Simmons is on track to complete his undergraduate degree at Ole Miss in December of this year at the ripe age of 19 years old.

Simmons’ arm talent was on display in the second half on Saturday. He is a gifted athlete and has a smooth throwing motion and seemingly above average arm strength. It’s apparently been on display for some time in spring practice and preseason camp.

There had been rumblings that Simmons was emerging as the clear No. 2 quarterback option, but it interested me that we seemingly got clear confirmation of that on Saturday. Ole Miss having three talented quarterbacks on its roster is a great luxury. It makes me wonder what the future holds for Howard, who has had a peculiar career path to this point, but that is likely a conversation for another day. Simmons is impressive and the staff clearly trusts him to do the job should Dart ever get injured.

5. Henry Parrish started at running back

This is likely an insignificant note but it was interesting to me that Henry Parrish was the starting running back. He has a close relationship with running backs coach Kevin Smith. He came to Ole Miss in 2020 because of Smith, left Ole Miss to follow Smith to Miami in 2022 and again followed Smith back to Ole Miss this year. He’s a perfectly competent back. In the limited sample we saw on Saturday, he looked like the same guy I watched in 2020 and 2021 at Ole Miss (not an insult). I just assumed Ulysses Bentley IV would be the starting running back for the season opener. But again, this is likely nothing of significance.

After Quinshon Judkins left Ole Miss for Ohio State, it became clear that the Rebels weren’t going to replace a talent like that with one guy but rather attempt to do so in the aggregate. I figure this is nothing more than trying to keep Bentley fresh and healthy for as long as possible. I think the Rebels will be fine at running back and subscribe to the theory that Kiffin’s system produces productive running backs rather than the inverse.

Miami (Ohio) transfer Rashad Amos played sparingly in last night’s win. Walk-on (and Jackson Prep alum and MAIS scholar superstar) Matt Jones actually looked fairly explosive on Saturday. He made the most of his three carries as he totaled 68 yards and broke off a pair of touchdowns runs (17 yards and 46 yards). I legitimately have no idea what to make of that but will at least file it away in the metaphorical memory bank.

Another side note before we move on: Judkins totaled 13 carries for 55 yards in his debut with the Buckeyes in a blowout win over Akron. He had just seven rushes for 25 yards in the first half (I am sure that will go over well with any overzealous parents with a vested interest in the situation).

Ole Miss is fine in the running back room. I am just curious to see what the combination to achieve adequate production ends up looking like.

6. Trey Amos played a fine game

Cornerback Trey Amos was tested a couple of times early in the game and looked really good. He had a pass break-up and an interception. Amos played three seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette before transferring to Alabama last year. He and former Alabama — and most recently Tennessee — corner Brandon Turnage (and Oxford native) were the team’s two starting corners. I don’t know what that ultimately means for the overall strength of the position. I’d like to see them play a few more games.

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7. Chris ‘Pooh’ Paul Jr. was productive

The Arkansas transfer waited patiently for his opportunity, but once Paul got onto the field later in the game, he was productive. He led Ole Miss in tackles on the night with eight tackles, notched a half sack, a pass break up and one quarterback hurry. Paul was one of the headline transfers in this touted portal class. There seemed to be murmurs about his speed, or lack thereof, in preseason camp that might have hindered him from being a starter, but he was productive when he got his opportunity. Kiffin praised him after the game. Furman isn’t a team that’s going to test his speed so I want to see what he looks like and how much playing time he gets in SEC play.

I don’t know much about Paul outside of stat lines at Arkansas and his limited playing time on Saturday, but he spoke to the media after the game and seems like a nice kid. He explained how disappointed he was that the Walk of Champions was canceled due to rain because his well-thought-out outfit was sure to impress. When asked if Paul will save the outfit for next week, he shook his head. “I have to come up with something different. My teammates have already seen it,” he quipped with a smile.

8. Dart was nearly perfect

Jaxson Dart went 22-27 for 418 yards, five passing touchdowns and six total touchdowns in two quarters. He pushed the ball down the field with great accuracy. Of the five incompletions he had, a couple were batted at the line of scrimmage and he missed one easy throw on a crossing route to Micah Davis. Outside of that, he was pretty flawless. I would be curious to see what his completion percentage was on throws that traveled 20 or more yards down the field. Without knowing off the top of my head, I would be confident in thinking that it’s pretty high. That is a great sign regardless of the opponent.

9. Dart is apparently a visor and skullcap guy now

Dart rocked a visor and skullcap in the season opener. I have no further analysis of this because I am no longer young enough, and certainly not cool enough, to keep up with football style trends. The skullcap was an interesting move to me. I feel like the skullcap peaked in the early 2000s and went away for a while. Perhaps they are back in a big way thanks to Dart? Add fashion trendsetter to his long list of accolades.

10. I finally realized that I’ve been traumatized by the cannon

I have been attending Ole Miss football games for basically the entirety of my 29 years of life. For essentially all of those years, the ROTC cannon has been placed just beyond one of the corners of the north end zone in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The cannon has been detonated after every single Ole Miss touchdown for at least the last 25 years, if my memory serves me well. You would think that at this point, I would anticipate it and get used to it. Nope. Somehow, I jump and feel the urge to screech like an elementary school kid every single time it is shot. Seriously, it scares the living shit out of me every single time. It’s an enemy I cannot conquer. That cannon lives rent-free inside my head, gunpowder and all. No matter how many thousands of times it has been fired over the last two decades, I cannot convince my brain that it is fake. Part of me instinctually wants to duck to avoid the non-existent cannonball as if I am a Spanish pirate in the 16th century.

I am as pro military and ROTC as anyone you will talk to. I am in no way calling for the end of the cannon ritual nor complaining about it. I am simply letting you know that I am in a battle with the cannon that is nearing three decades in length — and I am firmly losing that battle.

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