Friday Five: Rebels host Middle Tennessee State
five storylines to monitor as Ole Miss hosts the Blue Raiders
The month of September is a weird time for Ole Miss. As we’ve discussed at length, anticipation leading into this season was fairly unprecedented. But a benign non-conference slate, coupled with the fact that the Rebels don’t have a conference game scheduled until September 28 (Kentucky), leaves us all in this strange purgatory period for at least the next three weeks.
I am not sure we will learn a whole hell of a lot about Ole Miss against Middle Tennessee State, Wake Forest and Georgia Southern. I am not sure we learned much about the Rebels against Furman, but there was at least the optical element of seeing this upgraded roster on the field together for the first time.
When will this Ole Miss team finally be tested? Many point to an October 12 road trip at LSU in Baton Rouge. I think that’s a little ambitious. Kentucky has arguably the best overall roster its had in the Mark Stoops era, and if it gets above average quarterback play from Brock Vandagriff, could be much better than projected. The Rebels travel to South Carolina the next week. The Gamecocks are devoid of talent on the defensive side of the football, have a young quarterback and unproven weapons on the perimeter, but Williams-Brice Stadium is a tough place to play and that crowd will be hostile due to the Juice Wells subplot alone.
Point being, wherever you’ve penciled in Ole Miss’ first real test, it’s not for several more weeks. What can be learned, if anything, about this team in the meantime? Here are five things I’ll be thinking going into Saturday’s game against Middle Tennessee State.
1. Jeremy James out with hand injury
The Ole Miss 247 site reported on Tuesday that senior guard Jeremy James will miss at least five weeks with a broken hand that requires a procedure to repair.
Ole Miss is only four quarters into its season and is already in a somewhat precarious place when it comes to the offensive line. On the surface, is losing Jeremy James a catastrophic blow to this unit? Not at all, but the wound deepens when you consider current state of the Ole Miss offensive line.
The Rebels were without two starters on opening weekend: Gerquan Scott and Caleb Warren. I do not know the significance of Scott’s injury, but I have heard that it is not major, that he could likely play this weekend if needed and will be available for the team’s first road game at Wake Forest. If this name is unfamiliar to you, you’re forgiven. Scott is a Southern Miss transfer who started 41 games in four seasons for the Golden Eagles. He shined in preseason camp, and, just sheerly by reading the tea leaves, I figure Scott is the starting center when healthy.
On the other hand, a source informed Rippee Writes that Warren had some sort of knee procedure one week prior to the season opener. I am told it is not season ending, but will be a 6-8 week recovery timeline.
So, let’s just do some simple math here: James had a hand procedure that will allegedly sideline him for at least five weeks. Based off that prognosis, his window to getting back on the field will open roughly between the South Carolina game and the LSU game. Now, let’s do Warren. If his alleged prognosis is accurate, he could return somewhere between the South Carolina game and the LSU game.
Ole Miss spent much of its offseason trying to both improve its top end talent and depth on the offensive line. I believe it was wildly successful in accomplishing both. At the same time, being down 3 starting offensive linemen (I think James is a borderline starter at best when the unit is healthy, but one hell of a 6th man option), is — to borrow a word from my radio days — suboptimal.
But this is also what that added depth is there for and why it is so valuable. Ole Miss still has plenty of capable options on the offensive line. Eli Acker, a guy who’s been pushed down the depth chart a bit due to this influx of talent, started five games in 2021, four games in 2022 and played sparingly in 2023. Julius Buelow started nine games last year for a Washington team that played for a national championship. After that, as you look down the roster, there isn’t as much experience, which is only natural when three top-end linemen are not available.
I am curious to see what the starting five looks like on Saturday and how the Rebels rotate in James’ absence. Ole Miss is still fine on the offensive line, for the time being, but another injury could change things significantly. The depth will be tested, and how quickly the trio of injured linemen can return to the field as the Rebels inch toward the teeth of their schedule, will be an important subplot to follow.
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2. Will the Rebels show more in the running game?
Ole Miss wasn’t particularly dynamic in the running game against Furman. That sounds like a weird statement given that the Rebels totaled 243 yards on the ground at 6.6 yards per carry, but they only netted 84 yards on 18 rushes in the first half when the starters were in the game. I think this is less of a concern and more about the rushing attack not being an emphasis in the game plan against an opponent Ole Miss could’ve beaten running the Wing-T.
“It’s more of a challenge this week,” Kiffin said. “We really want to establish the run in this game. We were really pass-oriented as that game went on.”
I am also curious as to whether we will learn more about the running back rotation. Henry Parrish started last week’s game. I don’t think that really means anything. Parrish had eight carries and Ulysses Bentley IV had six. Rashad Amos only recorded three touches. I don’t know what to make of walk-on Matt Jones leading the team in rushing on only three carries and ripping off touchdown runs of 17 and 46 yards.
It’s far too early to make any sort of concrete judgement on the state of the running back room and the Ole Miss rushing attack as a whole. I am simply interested in how it plays out this week, particularly since Kiffin admitted it would be more of a focus against Middle Tennessee State.
3. What does the back end of the receiving corps look like?
Ole Miss was touted in the preseason as being primed to have one of the most dynamic offenses in college football, and for good reason. A lot of that praise was generated by having guys like Juice Wells, Tre Harris, Jordan Watkins and Caden Prieskorn as pass-catching options. I’m curious to see how a couple of the other guys develop and what roles they might have this season. Cayden Lee played well in the season opener and looked like an SEC receiver. Ayden Williams caught a couple of passes and was targeted three times. Virginia Tech transfer tight end Dae’Quan Wright was targeted three times. He played 44 snaps in the opener, which surprised me a little.
If the Rebels are going to be a dynamic passing offense, they need players that create match-up issues. I think they have that in droves. They also need depth. I think they are quickly developing that and I am curious to see how many different receivers and tight ends play over the next couple of weeks before Ole Miss is tested in SEC play. — because that is truly when we will find out who the coaching staff trusts.
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4. Linebacker rotation
No Ole Miss defender played more than 38 snaps on Saturday night, which is certainly a good thing. It’s expected against an opponent like Furman, but the Rebels consistently rotated more guys on defense last year under first-year defensive coordinator Pete Golding than any other defense in the Kiffin era. A lot of that is due to the program not having much defensive depth during Kiffin’s first three years. As we’ve discussed often, that’s beginning to change.
Arkansas transfer linebacker Chris ‘Pooh’ Paul Jr. is an example of this increased depth. Ole Miss started Khari Coleman and T.J. Dottery at the interior linebacker spots. Paul didn’t enter the game until the third quarter but ended up leading the team in tackles (8.5) and recorded 2.5 tackles for loss and half a sack. Paul was a transfer portal addition that made headlines in the offseason. He didn’t win a starting job out of camp and it was a little puzzling to see him not enter the game at all until the third quarter in a blow-out, particularly given how well he played when given the opportunity.
“There's no reason to sit back and pout about anything,” Paul said. “It's a blessing to be here. It's a blessing to watch those guys work. Those guys have put in major work, and just trusting the coaches and things like that."
I am curious to see if Paul is rotated in earlier in the game and if he earns more snaps with the starters this week.
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5. Does Ole Miss come out of the game as healthy as it entered?
This might seem like a throw-away note, as it is abundantly obvious that Ole Miss, like every other team in America, hopes to make it through every game without an injury. but I think it’s a storyline of significance. We discussed the injury issues on the offensive line. Watkins was unavailable due to a hamstring injury. Brandon Turnage was injured in the win over Furman.
In reality, we won’t learn a lot about this team’s ceiling over the next three games. Ole Miss won’t be tested until Kentucky comes to Oxford on September 28. The most important thing for the Rebels between now and then is to remain healthy. A rash of injuries entering the SEC opener could prove to be costly, particularly given the stretch of games that loom after Kentucky.
As is the case with all of these buy games that devolve into glorified scrimmages, coming out of it healthy is of the utmost importance, particularly for a team with college football playoff aspirations that has already had a few injuries at important spots on the depth chart.
We’ll have more after the game on Saturday.