The Ole Miss football team’s odds of making an inaugural appearance in the College Football Playoff this year took a hit on Saturday when the Rebels were upset at home by Kentucky. Now, Lane Kiffin’s group has their backs against the wall and a razor-thin margin for error with a gauntlet of matchups against conference foes forthcoming.
Looking back at the most recent contest, Ole Miss entered its first Southeastern Conference matchup of the year clicking on all cylinders. However, Kiffin’s typically high-powered offense was severely handicapped by a ferocious Kentucky defensive line and linebacker corps.
“They never got on schedule on offense. When that offense is rolling, as we all know, they are ahead of the sticks. It’s second and short. You’re able to take shots and go for it on fourth down when you need to because you’ve stayed ahead of the chains the whole time,” Taylor McHargue, a college football analyst for CBS and ESPN, said on SportsTalk Mississippi. “Kentucky didn’t really let them do that.”
A unit that had averaged 55 points and 670 yards per game through four contests was held to just 17 points and 353 total yards this past weekend. Mark Stoops’ defense, led by Deone Walker and Jamon Dumas-Johnson, sacked Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart four times and recorded seven tackles for loss, keeping the Rebels’ offense at bay for a majority of the ballgame.
Ole Miss’ scoring came on two scripted drives — a touchdown in the first six plays from scrimmage and a field goal on the Rebels’ first possession after halftime — as well as a heroic 48-yard receiving touchdown from Tre Harris on fourth and long. Two other potential scoring opportunities were railroaded by an uncharacteristic fumble by Harris deep in Kentucky territory and a missed field goal that would have likely sent the contest to overtime.
Otherwise, Ole Miss was overwhelmed and oftentimes overmatched with the ball in its offensive playmakers’ hands. Aside from Harris’ impressive outing featuring 11 receptions for 176 yards and a touchdown, the rest of the Rebels’ supporting cast was only able to piece together 85 yards receiving. Dart was also not his sharpest.
Defensively, Pete Golding’s unit outperformed its opponent in sacks and tackles for loss, mounting five and 10, respectively, while also holding Kentucky to fewer total yards than Ole Miss. However, the Wildcats’ methodic offense paired with a miraculous late fourth-quarter scoring was just enough to overcome a rather valiant, though penalty-ridden at times, effort by the Rebels’ defense.
But one thing that stood out to college football spectators and analysts alike was that Kentucky, overall, was the more physical team on Saturday. McHargue argues that if Ole Miss does not improve from a physicality standpoint, the road ahead may be a daunting one for Kiffin and company.
“Kentucky went into Ole Miss and played bully ball in a way that was pretty surprising to me,” McHargue said, later pointing to the Rebels’ seemingly weak opening slate of opponents. “Sometimes the schedule lays out where you don’t really play anybody. Ole Miss didn’t know that Wake Forest was going to be one of the worst power four teams in the country when they scheduled them.”
“I don’t have as much of a problem with the schedule. I do have a problem with not being able to flip that switch from a physicality standpoint in the SEC because Kentucky brought the fight to Ole Miss and that was the part in the trenches that was a little bit surprising to me.”
Ole Miss dropped from No. 6 to No. 12 in the latest Associated Press top 25. The Rebels will have the chance to boost its perception among pollsters on Saturday at South Carolina. The game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. central and will be broadcast on ESPN and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
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