Ten Ole Miss observations as Rebels move to 2-0

some thoughts on Saturday's win, the state of the team through two weeks and more

photo credit: Ole Miss Athletics

Ole Miss is now 2-0 after demolishing Middle Tennessee State, 52-3. Here are ten observations about the team from this win and the first two weeks of the season.

1. Jackson Dart was absurdly good, again

Jaxson Dart finished 25-27 for 377 yards, a touchdown and one rushing touchdown. He completed his first 24 passes, which is a wildly impressive feat. Lane Kiffin was asked about it after the game and expounded well beyond the stat line itself.

“Jaxson is up here (at the facility) all the time. When that happens, it’s good to see someone who has put in so much work to build this team, recruiting it, then putting in his own work on himself and to see him play perfect until the end, it’s awesome… It’s hard to go 24-24 against air because people drop balls,” Kiffin said.

He was asked about the performance again a few minutes later.

“When something happens, everyone wants to talk about that moment, but it is really all the things you did to get you there,” Kiffin said. “What he does all off-season and he’s up here all week long in every area. I love it. He prepares for every single game like it is the national championship. It’s just awesome to see.”

Performance aside, Kiffin words regarding Dart on Saturday were similar to how he’s spoken about his quarterback all offseason. The evolution of Kiffin and Dart’s relationship has been fascinating to watch unfold. It’s a relationship that has had some rocky moments, but is now evolving into a genuinely strong one rooted respect. Dart arrived in Oxford in 2022 looking for stability. He won the starting job over Luke Altmyer, played well in spurts but lacked consistency and endured a brutal end to that season as the Rebels lost five of their last six games. Kiffin, who seemingly didn’t fully trust Dart, brought in two more portal quarterbacks (Spencer Sanders and Walker Howard) to push him for the starting job. Dart won it again and has now blossomed into a star and the indisputable heart and soul of this football team.

In the era of NIL and the transfer portal, stories like this that begin down a similar path don’t always end well. This particular story is still being written, but the way the relationship between these two has evolved is admirable.

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2. Ole Miss found success running the football early

Last week, Ole Miss didn’t run the ball particularly well in the first half (when the starters were in) against Furman. Ole Miss was much better in this game and clearly put more of an emphasis on running the ball early in the game. Middle Tennessee State head coach Derek Mason offered a simple but interesting note after the game regarding the Ole Miss offense finding success on the ground and why that makes them so much tougher to defend.

“I thought they came in with a mindset centered on running the football,” Mason said. “They found balance early in the game that kept us off-schedule by them staying on-schedule. I think, because of that, (Dart) was able to trick us a little bit with some run-pass options. He found opportunities to find targets and he remained really efficient. You see why they score the way they do. They have enough weapons to spread you out, take the football and run inside between the tackles. It’s just a really good football team.”

Yes, of course, it’s expected that Ole Miss will succeed in running the ball against a Conference USA opponent, but Mason’s quote is interesting because it speaks to how the Rebels stress opposing defenses when they are able to run the ball. It makes the RPO game more effective. It makes opposing defensive coordinators debate whether or not to add additional defenders into the box — which stresses the secondary more and forces more one-on-one match ups for a stable of talented Ole Miss receivers.

Last week’s sluggish start running the ball wasn’t a real concern. It’s simply something Kiffin talked about wanting to do more of in this game and I thought Mason articulated well why it’s important from an opponent’s perspective.

3. Where is Ulysses Bentley IV?

We just talked about how the Rebels ran the ball better in this game. Who they used to do it was interesting. Henry Parrish started for the second game in a row. He rushed 14 times for 165 yards, four touchdowns and at a clip of 11.8 yards per carry. That’s one hell of a stat line. Walk-on Matt Jones, a week after breaking off two long touchdowns runs, was featured earlier and more often than in the season opener. Jones tallied 11 carries for 32 yards. Miami (Ohio) transfer Rashad Amos barely played for the second week in a row and appears to not be much of a factor in this team’s running back rotation to this point. What’s missing from this picture? Ulysses Bentley IV.

Bentley did not enter the game until the second half and did not touch the football until seven minutes into the third quarter. His usage in the season opener was similar. After two years serving as a strong compliment to Quinshon Judkins, I just assumed Bentley would be the starting running back this year and was curious how the staff would build a competent running back room around him. Through two games, that does not appear to be the case. Kiffin was asked about Bentley’s usage, or lack thereof, after the game.

“I think that we have a lot of good running backs,” Kiffin said. “I thought Parrish played well and practiced well, so he started. It’s hard to beat 11.8 yards per carry and four touchdowns. We wanted to get Matt more involved. It wasn’t really anything that Bentley did wrong.”

I think there are a couple of possible factors that have contributed to Bentley not playing much through two games. He could be dealing with some sort of injury, though Kiffin’s answer on Saturday didn’t not seem to insinuate that. There’s no real way to know definitively (for now, at least, until injury reports are implemented in a couple of weeks). Bentley missed seven games in 2022 with a wrist injury and played in all 13 games in 2023 despite being nicked up for parts of the year.

Another factor is remembering who the running backs coach is. Kevin Smith was a vital component to the Rebels landing Parrish in Kiffin’s initial 2020 class. Parrish then followed Smith to Miami when Smith left Oxford to be the Hurricanes’ running back coach after the 2021 season. Last offseason, Smith rejoined Kiffin’s staff, and, you guessed it, Parrish transferred back to Ole Miss with him. There’s clearly a strong bond between the two. That’s not to insinuate that Smith is playing favorites. I have no clue what goes into the decision-making process. I just think that’s needed context.

As Kiffin alluded to, Parrish has been great through two games. This isn’t some head-scratching miscarriage of unjust playing time. It’s just odd that Bentley has played so few snaps.

What I do know is this: Ole Miss is thin in the running back room. I find it nearly impossible to believe that the Rebels will be able to successfully navigate an SEC schedule without Bentley being a prominent factor in the offense. The Rebels can’t make it through the year riding Parrish and Jones alone. It just doesn’t seem sustainable. This team is already lacking a bigger running back tailor-made for short-yardage situations. Bentley is about 15 pounds heavier than Parrish, not that that makes a ton of difference, but it’s worth noting.

What happens if Parrish or Jones (or whomever else you want to include) misses time with an injury? Running back depth becomes a dire issue in that scenario. Bentley will be a factor and will be needed, even if deciphering his current role seems a bit muddy.

4. Jordan played and is seemingly healthy

Jordan Watkins didn’t play in the Rebels’ season opener due to an injury, but played in the win and looked healthy. Watkins caught one ball for 28 yards in what was his only target. I don’t think his stat line matters at all. The fact that he was out there playing is great news for Ole Miss. Watkins is one of several veteran leaders on this team that the coaching staff raves out and is seemingly beloved by his teammates.

“After me, I think he’s the next smartest guy out there,” Dart said. “He’s like having another quarterback out there. He knows everyone’s alignment and assignment. I have been waiting for him to get back. It’s great to have him out there.”

Watkins also made one hell of a block on Parrish’s touchdown run to make it 17-0 late in the first quarter.

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5. Walter Nolen left the game with an injury

Nolen was injured on the play that John Saunders intercepted a pass in the end zone in the third quarter. He was helped off the field and did not return. Kiffin noted after the game that while he doesn’t discuss injuries, the decision for Nolen not to return was Kiffin’s decision and not a medical one. Kiffin told the fan base to rest easy knowing that. That sound you hear is a collective exhale and a bullet dodged.

6. The pass coverage defense was shaky

It’s hard to nitpick Ole Miss after two performances and the opponents it’s played. One area that looked a little shaky on Saturday was pass coverage, particularly over the middle of the field. MTSU completed 26 passes for 251 yards. That’s hardly an earth-shattering number but the Blue Raiders were able to find short spurts of success throwing the ball. If there is a potential weakness on this defense, it’s perhaps length and athleticism at the safety spots, but again, this is pretty nitpicky.

“I think there were too many loose screws and too many people uncovered,” safety Trey Washington said. “We are going to get that fixed in practice.”

I have to wonder how much boredom factored in. It’s nearly impossible to play with the same level of intensity on every single snap when the game is not in question and the opponent is inferior. That’s sort of just human nature. I think Ole Miss as a team has handled that pretty well. so far. This was just one negative note that stuck out from Saturday.

7. Chris ‘Pooh’ Paul earned a start

Last week in this column, I wrote about Paul waiting until the second half to get his chance, playing well, and wondered if that would lead to more opportunities this week. Paul started the game for the Rebels. He looked really sharp again. He met the MTSU running back at the line of scrimmage multiple times and stopped the guy in his tracks. He seems like a very instinctual player. Whatever his shortcomings might be, they likely won’t be tested against opponents like this, but Ole Miss looks fast and physical at linebacker with Paul, Khari Coleman and T.J. Dottery.

Depth might be a bit of a concern. An injury to any of these three could shake up the rotation and bring someone like Suntarine Perkins into a more traditional linebacking role (just a hypothetical and a guess), but this group looks good through two weeks.

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8. The offensive line held up fine

Last week, I wrote in detail about the injury concerns on the offensive line, So I won’t continue to repeat myself and go through it again, but I thought this unit held up well — as expected against a C-USA opponent. But that’s not always a given for any offensive line unit down three starters, no matter the opponent. Julius Buelow replaced the injured Jeremy James at guard.

In his postgame press conference, Kiffin made a general reference to getting “a guy or two back this week.” I have no clue which guys or position group(s) he was referencing, but made note of it. The health of this offensive line is at the top of the list when it comes to storylines I am following in the coming weeks.

9. Kiffin on crowd noise crusade again

In a Sunday media opportunity, Lane Kiffin decided to broach the crowd subject yet again. Differing from the melodramatic crowd crusade he went on a few years ago, this version is about fans not staying until the end of the game.

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I really think this is much ado about nothing. I don’t think we’d be discussing it if Ole Miss hadn’t demolished FCS and C-USA opponents in the first two weeks. I think some of this stems from the boredom of a soft first-month schedule. I don’t have some incredibly nuanced opinion on this matter. I don’t blame college students or casual fans for not sticking around for the final two quarters in a complete blowout. In an era where good attendance is harder to maintain due to rising costs and a much more desirable at-home watching experience, I would commend them for showing up in droves against two bad opponents if I were in charge, but to each their own.

I get why Kiffin is frustrated to come out of halftime to a half-empty stadium and a lethargic environment, but this is simply an unavoidable reality given the way this schedule was set up. I actually understood Kiffin’s gripe more the first time around when he implored fans to come to games like these and fill up the stadium at the start of the game. As far as fans sticking around, it’s difficult to convince people to watch a snooze fest any longer than they have to.

Also, Nick Saban used to do this and I wonder if Kiffin is doing his best impression of his mentor.

10. The cannon remains very loud

No further comment.

We’ll have more on Wake Forest later this week. Thanks for reading.