What to watch for as Ole miss faces Georgia Tech
Running game woes, an improved opponent and the chronicles of a new kicker
Ole Miss welcomes Georgia Tech to Oxford on Saturday, a week after surviving its first road test of the year at a ranked Tulane team. The Rebels are three-score favorites, justifiably so, and I think the game will be less about the outcome being in serious doubt and more so about the strengths and weaknesses of this team that were on display last weekend in New Orleans — and how well they’ve improved in those areas — before things get real schedule-wise, beginning in Tuscaloosa next weekend.
Let’s dive into some storylines.
What to know about the Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech is 1-1. It lost a 39-34 shootout opening weekend to Louisville inside Mercedes Benz Stadium, and then blew the doors off South Carolina State last weekend.
The Yellow Jackets are in year one of the Brent Key era. A disastrous 2022 season saw former head coach Geoff Collins fired and Key in his role as interim head coach. The Georgia Tech administration made overtures to other candidates, and was extremely close to hiring Tulane coach Willie Fritz, but ultimately landed on ripping the interim tag off Key and made him the program’s permanent head coach. He certainly earned the job. After a 1-3 start to last season, Georgia Tech looked like one of the worst teams in the power five. Key led a 4-4 finish and nearly reached bowl eligibility.
Texas A&M transfer Haynes King is the Yellow Jackets’ quarterback. While the name may sound familiar, Ole Miss has never actually faced King. In 2021, King won the starting job over Zach Calzada, but injured his ankle in the second game of the season and missed the rest of the year. King retained the starting role in 2022, but after a 30-24 road loss at South Carolina, King was benched in favor of freshman Conner Weigman — who made his first career start the next week against Ole Miss.
King finished his A&M career with a 57 percent completion percentage with 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. In an eight-quarter sample size at Georgia Tech, King has been statistically better than he was in College Station. He’s 40-61 (65 percent completion percentage) on the year with seven touchdowns and interception. Now, there is some context that needs to be added. Georgia Tech runs a screen-heavy offense, meaning King has completed a lot of short passes in terms of how far the ball travels in the air, and of course the competition has not been very difficult so far. King is also a mobile threat and will be a component of the Yellow Jacket running game. He’s tallied 11 carries for 53 yards. King is certainly mobile enough to hurt Ole Miss scrambling if the Rebels are not disciplined with their containment assignments.
Vanderbilt weekend is STILL available at RentTheSip Oxford. Finding a place to stay on big Oxford weekends can be difficult. RentTheSipOxford.com has you covered. Their Turnberry unit is located less than a mile from campus on Old Taylor Road, sleeps 8 people comfortably and has - tremendous amenities like a tennis court, pool and a sauna -- and it's all gated. They still have availability for the Mercer, Vandy and ULM football weekends as well as Bid Day. Use the promocode "RippeeWrites" and that'll knock $100 bucks off your overall rate. It's a great place run by great people. Stay at RentTheSipOxford and thank me later.
Through two games, Georgia Tech has been a top-3 passing offense in the ACC and a top-5 rushing offense. Does that really mean much of anything this early in the year? Not really, but it’s all we have to go off stats-wise. It’s at least somewhat relevant considering Georgia Tech was one of the worst passing offenses in its conference last year and very mediocre running the football. Key’s biggest initial challenge has been revamping a putrid offense. He hired former Georgia quality control guy Buster Faulkner to be his offensive coordinator. The Yellow Jackets hit the portal hard, acquiring King, Louisville transfer running back Trey Cooley and Alabama transfer receiver Christian Leary. Offensively, you won’t really recognize much from the 2022 beating Ole Miss delivered in Atlanta, as this roster and staff are completely different
Defensively, Georgia Tech’s rush defense was horrible last year. The Jackets allowed 189 yards per game. They allowed 227 yards on the ground to Louisville in the loss. I figure that the defense as a whole will probably look improved, but that this coaching staff is still in the phase of trying to improve the quality of the roster and that it currently does not have the talent or depth to show significant improvement on the defensive side of the football. One of the few staffers Key retained was defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker, who has held the position since 2019.
Georgia Tech lacked talent in 2022, but one outlier was in the secondary. The Yellow Jackets were in the top half of the ACC in pass defense last year and return a handful of players on the back end. I watched most of their game against Louisville, and it seemed like the secondary held up decently well and that most of Georgia Tech’s pass defense issues were on short passes and due to poor tackling. I think this will be a pretty fair test for an Ole Miss passing game that will likely be without Tre Harris and Caden Prieskorn.
As I mentioned at the top, I don’t think this game will be in doubt for too terribly long. I do think Georgia Tech is a much more formidable opponent than it was in 2022 and are absolutely capable of giving Ole Miss a game if the Rebels do not play well. But for likely the last time (outside of maybe Vanderbilt and ULM), I think this game will be one in which the focus and discussion will be on Ole Miss and how it fares in certain areas, versus what this win “means” and other storylines like that.
So, with that being the thought process, what am I keeping my eye on in this one?
We are thrilled to welcome C-Spire as a sponsor of the Rippee Writes Newsletter and Podcast. It’s to upgrade your home internet to the best service in the market with C Spire Home Fiber. C Spire Home provides the most reliable internet service with 99.99% uptime. C Spire provides 1 Gigabit and 300 Megabit internet packages to homes across Mississippi, Birmingham, and southern Alabama regions. C Spire is also proud to announce the release of their brand new 2 Gigabit and 8 Gigabit home internet plans. Save yourself the hassle by not waiting for your internet connection to drop with the other guys. Call or go online to cspire.com/home today and use promo code “RIPPEE” at checkout for 1 month free service.
Does the running game look any different?
Will this be a proverbial “get-right” week for an Ole Miss running game that sputtered badly at Tulane? Quinshon Judkins seemingly voiced his frustrations on social media via some since-removed retweets and is clearly unhappy with the state of the running game (god, that sentence sounded so lame to type but it’s a legitimate thing in 2023). He’s the anchor of the running game and it makes sense as to why he’s frustrated through two games, even if you don’t agree with the concept of him voicing that through social media after a win.
This offensive is still clearly an unfinished product that will absolutely need to be finished seven days after this game when the Rebels head to Tuscaloosa. Can a game against one of the worst power five rushing defenses a year ago serve as a confidence booster? I am not sure how much I buy into that theory. If Ole Miss runs for a ton of yards against a bad rush and talent-deficient rush defense, I don’t think that means the running game will be fine against Alabama.
I suppose judgement will be cast in how it looks though. Does the rushing offense look any different schematically? Or does Ole Miss remain vanilla from a play-calling standpoint in a game it knows it will win regardless before squaring off against Alabama? Does Ole Miss run more on the perimeter to compensate for their woes on the interior? Can the short passing game form a supplementary version of the running game? We may not know anything more at all about this rushing attack at the conclusion of Saturday night’s game, but given how badly Ole Miss struggled last week, I am obviously curious about how it looks.
Has your child been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder or another developmental disorder? MC's Speech Therapy offers private speech therapy from the comfort of your own home. Other centers may leave you as the parent sitting in the waiting room, MC Speech Therapy enables parents to make every moment with their child therapeutic. Using a relationship-based framework, MC's Speech Therapy can help your child engage, relate and communicate.
Mary Claire Boudreaux's doctorate-level expertise and passion in helping children with communication difficulties, offer: articulation and language therapy, Parent Training and is licensed to do virtual therapy across the state of Mississippi.
With MC's Speech therapy, you and your family will gain a better understanding ofg your child while cultivating stronger relationships. Call: 903-824-8575 or email: maryclaire@mcspeechtherapy.net.
Who becomes the replacement No. 1 pass catcher?
I don’t anticipate either Prieskorn or Harris in this game. According to people with knowledge of the situation, Prieskorn is still on track to return at Alabama. I do not feel confident enough in the information I have heard concerning Harris to make a concrete timeline proclamation yet. And I have absolutely no clue what Zakhari Franklin’s timeline is as far as returning from an offseason knee issue.
So, with that being the case, will we leave this game feeling any differently about Ole Miss’ receiving corps as far as a number one option? Dayton Wade and Jordan Watkins performed admirably in the win at Tulane in Harris’ absence. I think both are good No. 2 and No. 3 options. I have justifiable doubts about their ability to be legitimate, top-end No.1 pass-catching threats against SEC competition. That isn’t a slight on either of them, it’s just the reality of things as they currently stand. Will my mind be changed after this game? Michael Trigg’s career at Ole Miss thus far has been a mostly disappointing saga, but a positive chapter was written last week as Trigg was on the field for 42 snaps and caught the most important touchdown of the game. Rational expectations for Trigg are so low that his snap count increasing is a legitimate positive development, particularly with Prieskorn out. Does his upward trend continue?
As we discussed earlier this week, Ole Miss simply needs to get healthy at receiver and tight end. But with one of the most consequential games of the season just seven days away, it begs the question of how big of an issue, if it becomes one at all, are its pass-catching options if the aforementioned injured players do not return next week.
Football season will be here before we know it. If you’re a wagering man and aren’t using SkyBox, you will likely lose money and have no one else to blame but yourself. Sign up for a picks package now and ensure you profit next football season. They’re the best in the business. And while you wait, build up your bank roll by using their SKYBOX NASCAR PICKS. They rack up units every single week. That’s all in addition to the promo code “RIPPEE” getting you 20 percent off any purchase. Buy it now, use their picks, make a profit and thank me (and SkyBox) later.
Do we see another bomb from our lord and savior Caden Davis
I ended Monday’s newsletter with a somewhat tongue-in-cheek segment about Ole Miss’ new kicker, and the humor in him replacing another guy named Caden (Costa) who was an All-American himself before a year-long PED suspension.
I wish I would’ve watched Davis’ Monday media opportunity before writing it, because the legend grew even more. I encourage you to watch this.
In a span of seven minutes, Davis very matter of factly, without sounding arrogant or conceited, dropped several gems.
Acknowledged there are far too many people named Caden on the team, correcting a reporter by stating that there are in fact four Cadens on the roster including Prieskorn and receiver Cayden Lee.
Said he made a 67-yarder in warm-ups.
Claimed he told Kiffin before the game that if they got “anywhere around midfield,” he was good to go as far as making a kick.
He told the other specialists, “I am feeling good. I feel like making a bomb today.”
Said his career long was a wind-aided 76-yard field goal in practice at Texas A&M. Then, also admitted his career long in a game with the Aggies was a mere 45 yards.
He was asked about kicking in away games in hostile environments: “I don’t really hear the noise when I get back there. I think it is fun to play away games and shut the crowd up like that last (kick at Tulane) did.”
For almost two long years, I have been searching for a replacement for the hole in my Ole Miss kicking/punting specialist-centric heart that Bad Boy Mac Brown left behind. For the first time in nearly a year, I feel alive again, as Davis is certainly a candidate to assume this new role. This guy can’t even feel enthused about practice unless he’s kicking on the wrong side of plus-territory. Even better, in an all-time veteran media move, he subtly dropped an incredible dig at the embattled, Jimbo-Fisher-led Texas A&M program. When asked a question about why he transferred to Ole Miss, part of Davis’ answer included this.
“I could tell how awesome the town and the culture is,” Davis said. “a complete 180 from where I a came before.”
We are not worthy. This man should be president.
We will have more on Sunday. Enjoy the game.
As a Rippee Writes subscriber, LB’s Meat Market will give you a three 6 oz. bacon wrapped filets for $20. Just stop by, show proof of subscription and they’ll get you set up. Then go find your own favorites. It’s the best butcher shop in the world.