What did we learn about Ole Miss in week one?
With a tougher test looming, what can be determined from the win over Mercer?
The result was never in doubt as Ole Miss cruised to a 73-7 win over Mercer on Saturday.
After getting our first real look at a team with a lot of new faces, a new coordinator, and (allegedly) a quarterback competition, what did we learn about the Rebels?
This is Jaxson Dart’s team
I don’t think anyone was surprised to see Dart trot onto the field for Ole Miss’ first offensive series. I doubt many people were surprised that he took nearly all of the first-team snaps, before being replaced midway through the third quarter, when his job was more than finished and the game was well in-hand.
As we discussed last week, the only illusion of uncertainty surrounding the quarterback position was being manufactured by Lane Kiffin refusing to publicly name a starter entering week one. A day after last week’s column on the matter was published, Dart and Sanders both spoke to the media. Dart seemed somewhat frustrated by the lack of public commitment.
Dart was asked the question directly and whether or not it put a chip on his shoulder.
“Yeah, I would say that’s the case,” Dart responded.
He was asked if he had expected the competition to have been resolved by now (the week of the game).
“I prepare the same way every day. I know everything is going to fall into place and that we will be in a good position as a team.”
Sanders, like Dart, claimed he had not been told what his role would be on Saturday. When asked what his relationship with Dart was like, Sanders’ answer was pretty blunt. He said they were “cordial” and their relationship was “pretty good,” before expanding on it further.
“I wouldn't say it's bad,” Sanders said. “You know, I wouldn't say we go out and get ice cream together when we're at home, but we're cordial. You know, we're mutual. We talk to each other. We help each other. He's helped me quite a bit. So you know, obviously he's been here. He knows the offense. You know, you want to be the best at the offense. You know, you at least got to know the person who was the best here before you got here so you learn things.”
You might have noticed that quote was edited out of the video of Sanders’ media availability that the school released on its YouTube page. I found that to be peculiar. I don’t think Sanders intended to take a shot at Dart nor do I think their relationship is sour. I think Sanders is just pretty blunt with the media in general and answered the question honestly. It still made for an intriguing (and arguably unnecessary) storyline entering the game.
Fast forward to Saturday. After Dart shined in the win, as he went 18-23 for 334 yards and four touchdowns, the subject was brought up to both Dart and Kiffin once again.
“I felt that was going to be the case since the season ended last year,” Dart said. “I feel like I earned it. It went like I expected.”
He was again asked if not being publicly named the starter bothered him at all.
“I think it comes back to controlling what I can control,” Dart said. “There may be times where I disagree with something here or there. At the end of the day, (Kiffin) makes the calls and is going to put us in the best position to succeed. That is all you can really ask for as a player. Going forward, I am confident in my role and know what is expected of me. I am going to do my job each and every week.”
The start of that answer was similar to one he gave last November after the Rebels were blown out at Arkansas. Dart was asked if Kiffin’s name being connected to the Auburn job was a distraction. Dart answered by stating that he is going to focus on the things he can control and finish the year out as best he can.
Kiffin, when asked about his approach to naming a starter after Saturday’s win, seemingly acknowledged the confusion and skepticism amongst the fanbase and defended his strategy.
"Now we'll go back and go to work this week and get all our players better," Kiffin said. "That was really good to see and I know there are people out there who say, 'People need to be named starters to play well.' Well, he wasn't named starter and he went 11-for-11 to start, so I don't think that theory works very much or that keeping competition open is a bad thing."
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On Monday, Kiffin sang a bit of a different tune.
“Jaxson played really well,” Kiffin said. “He had a really good camp. He had a really good spring. He is the starting quarterback.”
For the first time since the end of the 2022 season, Kiffin publicly declared a starting quarterback, putting the manufactured uncertainty to rest. Was it necessary? Probably not. It clearly frustrated his newly-named starting quarterback. Of course, Kiffin’s rebuttal is simple: it worked. Jaxson Dart played well and looked like a vastly improved player. Would that have still been the case had he been named the starter at any point leading up to the game? Of course it would have, which makes the whole thing so puzzling.
Kiffin often talks about “pro mindset” being the program’s motto. He’s talked about the importance of building chemistry with so many new players on the roster each year, primarily acquired through the transfer portal. Certainty at the quarterback position would seem like a fairly crucial element to building chemistry, but Kiffin obviously has a different view. And I very seriously doubt the players genuinely had no clue who would start Saturday’s game. They’re at the practices and play alongside both guys. They likely knew how this would play out.
Maybe Kiffin truly believes the natural uncertainty that comes with a position battle brings out the best in the individuals, which is ultimately best for the team. Maybe it was simply Kiffin being Kiffin. Two days before the game, he went on RebTalk and basically alluded to both guys being the starter in a span of about 20 seconds.
It was a confusing answer, particularly when you consider that, as I understand it, at that point in the week, the two quarterbacks had since been briefed on what their respective roles would be for Saturday’s game.
Kiffin isn’t required to explain his reasoning on anything to fans, the media, and I suppose in some respects, his players. It’s his program to run as he sees fit. He’s been pretty successful to this point, too. I just didn’t understand the purpose of this self-manufactured quarterback controversy when it clearly frustrated one if not both players, and also because of how abundantly obvious it became who the starter would be as preseason camp unfolded.
I suppose none of it matters now. Kiffin finally put it to rest on Monday. Dart is the starter and looked like a more seasoned quarterback, and Rebels have one hell of an option at back quarterback. That’s a scarcely-afforded luxury in major college football, and is one that Ole Miss hopes to never need, but is better for having.
Dart looked sharp
As pretty much every item in this column should be prefaced with, it’s Mercer. It is foolish to draw strong conclusions from games like this against inferior competition. With that said, Jaxson Dart certainly looked more comfortable, more confident and more accurate than he did last season. He completed his first 11 passes and pushed the ball down the field successfully. He made good decisions and appeared more willing to look past his initial read and successfully find open receivers down the field that weren’t the play’s primary option. He threw three touchdowns to Tre Harris in the game’s first three minutes.
“We spent a lot of extra time together,” Dart said of Harris. “He came to California this summer and worked with me. We put a lot of extra work in together.”
Ten of the remaining 11 games will feature much more difficult challenges to Dart and this offense, but the initial sample size we saw on Saturday was certainly a positive one as the Rebels’ signal caller looked like a more confident version of himself.
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Tre Harris certainly looked the part
Receiver was the biggest question mark for this offense entering the year. Ever since Elijah Moore’s remarkable 2020 season in Kiffin’s first year, Ole Miss hasn’t really had a clear-cut, match-up nightmare No. 1 receiver. Jonathan Mingo was a good player in his time at Ole Miss and would probably qualify for this category if not for the injuries that sidelined him prior to the 2022 campaign. Harris certainly looked the part of a potential, clear-cut, No. 1 receiving threat in his Ole Miss debut.
Mingo and Malik Heath were significant losses and left large voids to fill. With UTSA transfer Zakhari Franklin injured, Michael Trigg’s status with the team being unclear and Caden Prieskorn out for the first couple of games with an injury, Ole Miss’ options for reliable pass-catching options have quickly dwindled, which made Harris’ performance all the more encouraging.
“I really thought he played like that throughout camp and looked like a dominant SEC receiver,” Kiffin said. “He’s got a little bit of Mingo to him in the way he approaches the game. He doesn’t say a whole lot, he just shows up and works.”
True freshman Ayden Williams played a lot and flashed the athleticism that has so many people excited about his ability to make an immediate impact. Jordan Watkins is an experienced, serviceable option and Dayton Wade is now in his second year as a regular contributor. Ole Miss has some intriguing pieces. How many of those emerge as consistent threats will play a significant role in determining just how explosive this offense can be. Fourteen players caught passes on Saturday. That is obviously not a sustainable number. But how many of those 14 can emerge was reliable receivers in the SEC? And do any of them emerge as strong enough threat to constantly force defenses to mold a game plan around them? What are reasonable expectations for Bralon Brown, Jalen Knox and J.J. Henry at this point in their careers?
Harris’ debut called for optimism in that regard.
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I don’t know how much more educated I feel about the defense
Ole Miss has a new defensive coordinator in Pete Golding and has implemented a new scheme. Outside of the first defensive snap of the season resulting in an assignment bust and a 75-yard touchdown run, the rest was pretty good.
Given the strength of the opponent and the fact that Mercer ran a tricky offense with a lot of pre-snap window dressing, I really have no clue how much we learned about the defense. I’ve listed a few observations that came to mind.
Ole Miss looks like it has more defensive line depth than last year. A lot of guys rotated in-and-out, and the Rebels have some big bodies on the interior with Zxavian Harris, Josh Harris, and Stephon Wynn. Jared Ivey, Jamond Gordon, J.J. Pegues and Akelo Stone offer the same at the two end slots in what is going to be predominantly a three-man front.
It looked like Cedric Johnson was used in a lot of different ways on Saturday, both at the traditional end spot and as an edge rusher. He even appeared to have some coverage responsibilities. As the most surefire pass rusher on the team, I am intrigued by how he will be used this year. It would be of great benefit to find a Robin to Johnson’s Batman — similar to the role Johnson played next to Sam Williams in 2021 — and is something I would keep an eye on.
Zxavian Harris was a one-man wrecking crew at various points in the game. For a couple of years now, Ole Miss has lacked difference makers on the defensive line, particularly on the interior. He looks like a potential difference maker.
I have no clue what to make of the linebackers. Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste and Monty Montgomery are very large humans. I am curious as to how they’ll mix in with Ashanti Cistrunk and Khari Coleman. The first two are different body types than the latter two, and how Golding manages those four to suit their strengths will be fun to watch.
The secondary’s performance was similar to the prior two notes above. It’s where Ole Miss hit the portal the hardest in the offseason. Zamari Walton made a nice play on a pass breakup and seems like a long, rangy corner to compliment Deantre Prince. Safety, and more particularly, speed at safety, will likely be where the Rebels’ most pressing issues arise. But again, I can’t pretend to act like I learned anything definitive there on Saturday.
Suntarine Perkins is going to be a special player. He showed flashes of that on Saturday and is ready to play right now. This team needs him to play right now. How much responsibility can Ole Miss place on him as a true freshman? I think that remains an unanswered question.
With depth up front presumably in a better place, how Ole Miss fares in the second halves of its upcoming games will be worth watching. Lack of depth was an issue last year and resulted in the Rebels looking gassed toward the end of games. Go back and look at snap counts from last year. The same collection of guys played a lot of snaps. That’s not a good thing in this era of tempo-based offenses in college football. Will this newfound depth up front in this new scheme help alleviate being fatigued at the end of games? The way Golding rotated early in Saturday’s games at least hints that this may be the case. That’s another good thing for Ole Miss.
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Ole Miss will be tested quicker than it was in 2022
Last year was a uniquely puzzling season because of the way the schedule shook out. Remember when Ole Miss went to Baton Rouge in late October and we still weren’t sure how good the Rebels were? We only had the Kentucky game, as well as whatever bits and pieces of observations you could gather from games against two terrible teams in Auburn and Georgia Tech, to form an opinion. The truth about the 2022 team wasn’t settled until late in the second month of the season.
That won’t be the case this year. We will know a lot about Ole Miss before SEC play begins at Alabama on September 23. That begins this weekend with a road test at a ranked Tulane team, followed by a home game against a Georgia Tech squad that looked vastly improved in a season-opening loss to Louisville. I read somewhere that Ole Miss opened as a 3.5-point favorite at Tulane. The Green Wave throttled a South Alabama team that won ten games a year ago. Tulane has a veteran quarterback who runs an explosive offense very efficiently. This will be a tough test for the Rebels and is absolutely a losable game. I think Georgia Tech will be, too. I think this is a good thing for both the team and spectators. They’ll face real adversity against good competition before conference play begins.
Saturday was an initial look at a team with a lot of new faces, a new defensive scheme and a potentially-high ceiling. The next two weeks will be a much more detailed and telling examination of just how good Ole Miss is.
We’ll have more on Tulane tomorrow.