Ole Miss College Football Preview 2024: Key Players, Game Schedule, Season Predictions

Ole Miss College Football Preview 2024

Lane Kiffin might be the best football coach in college football - or close to it.

Kirby Smart is on top of the heap right now with what he has done at Georgia, and despite what Buckeye fans might think, Ryan Day has been amazing at Ohio State, but that’s Georgia and Ohio State.

Everyone assumes Ole Miss is at that level because it’s a big name school in the SEC with a ton of football tradition, but it’s not what you think it is.

It hasn't always be easy to win lots of football games at Ole Miss.

John Vaught might be the best coach in the program’s history, with a 25-year run of occasional dominance in the 1950s and early 1960s. But in the three best seasons - 1959, 1960, and 1962 - did the Rebels have to deal with five teams that finished with ten wins or more like the 2023 team did?

In the four year run under Kiffin, the team played 13 teams that finished with nine wins or more. Obviously there were fewer games, but when Vaught was rolling from 1955 to 1962 - four ten-win seasons and four more with nine victories - the program played just 16 teams that finished with eight wins or more in twice the time Kiffin has had to work.

In that 1960 season that has a claimed national title - the FWAA, and not an AP or Coaches one - 8-2 Memphis and 8-3 Arkansas were the two big wins.

Last year’s team had to deal with a monster of a Georgia team on the road, went to Alabama, faced Penn State in the Chick-fil-A Peach, got by LSU and Jayden Daniels, and it ended up with the first 11-win season in school history.

And now there’s a real chance that for just the second time since 1970, Ole Miss will be a preseason top ten team. It’ll likely be ranked 7ish and just ahead of where the preseason 2009 team was ranked (8).

The offense continues to be a problem for the rest of the world, the transfer portal is working well enough to bring in talent like the program never had, and Ole Miss is winning.

Kiffin is still the head football coach in Oxford - and not in Tuscaloosa - he has his best team yet, and the schedule is about as soft as could reasonably be asked for.

You think Kiffin is fun now? Wait and see when he’s like when his Ole Miss team is pushing for an expanded College Football Playoff spot.

Ole Miss Football Preview 2024: Offense

- It goes 100 miles per hour, it doesn’t screw up, it’s ultra-efficient, and sometimes defenses can’t figure it out - cough, Penn State.

There are times when it’s off - the two losses came to Georgia and Alabama - but if you’re not walking into the stadium with a bag of 450 yards of total offense and at least 35 points, forget it. Best of all, the attack is loaded with parts to keep it all going and do even more.

- Former USC transfer Jaxson Dart worked out just fine. There were several options in the quarterback mix, and Dart busted through throwing for close to 3,400 yards with 23 touchdowns and just five picks with eight rushing scores.

It’s his show to run, and he has an NFL receiving corps to throw to with the return of Tre Harris on the outside and South Carolina transfer Antwane Wells coming in to do a little of everything. TE Caden Prieskorn will be an All-SEC selection of some sort.

- The running game is hardly ignored with 150 yards or more seven times and 200 or more in four games. The line allowed WAY too many plays behind the line, but it’s effective enough on the move. Three transfers are stepping in to take over - Wayne Kalepo (Washington) should be good right away at right guard - around veteran C Caleb Warren.

Losing RB Quinshon Judkins to Ohio State is a problem. Veteran Ulysses Bentley is a decent veteran, and he’ll be in a rotation with Henry Parrish (Miami) and Rashad Amos (Miami University).

Ole Miss Football Preview 2024: Defense

- The defense isn’t just along for the ride. Everyone remembers getting dropkicked by Jayden Daniels and LSU for a gazillion yards, and we all saw Georgia do whatever it wanted, but overall this bunch wasn’t awful. The transfer portal is going to make everything better. It starts with …

- Walter Nolen. If you believe that star defensive tackles are everything to a defense, Ole Miss has one. The Texas A&M transfer is special, and 315-pound JJ Pegues will get plenty of room to move with the star on his side taking up all the attention.

The pass rush that was so strong last year should be every bit as good with Florida transfer Princely Umanmielen coming in on one side and leading sacker Jared Ivey - 5.5 sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss - on the other.

The linebacking corps is loaded with options. Khari Coleman has been a solid part of the rotation, Suntarine Perkins is a factor on the outside, and coming in is Arkansas transfer Chris Paul for the middle - be stunned if he’s not in the top three in tackles.

- The secondary had an up-and-down year, but that’s the norm considering how teams had to throw to keep up. S Trey Washington led the team with 83 tackles and John Saunders checked in with 65, but the corners are brand new. Trey Amos (Alabama) and Isaiah Hamilton (Houston) are taking over, and there’s enough depth to play around a bit.

Key To The Ole Miss Football Season

Keep offenses from hitting passes
That might sound easier said than done, but the defense struggled last year against quarterbacks who completed lots of passes and was fine when keeping offenses from finding a groove.

Ole Miss was 8-0 when allowing quarterbacks to hit fewer than 70% of their throws, and all except the 27-20 victory over Arkansas was a blowout. Out of the five games against teams that hit the 70% mark, there were two losses and the other three games were decided by a touchdown or less.

Ole Miss Key Player

Jared Ivey, DE Sr.
Can he crank up the pass rush even more? The former Georgia Tech transfer has been great over the last two years with nine sacks, 15.5 tackles for loss, and 83 tackles. With Princely Umanmielen now on the other side, if Ivey can be more of a terror the rest of the defense will have it easy.

Ole Miss Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Walter Nolen, DT Sr.
A great defensive tackle might be the toughest position to find. It takes a special blend of size, quickness, toughness, and pure power. Nolen has it all as a future first round draft pick and current anchor for the Ole Miss D. He was a massive get for Texas A&M, and now the Rebels have him.

Top Transfer Out: Quinshon Judkins, RB Sr.
Ole Miss won its share of battles in the transfer portal, so losing a few good players is the cost of doing business in the modern era. Losing a back who ran for 2,725 yards and 31 touchdowns - and caught 37 passes with three scores - hurts. Ohio State will find a use for his skills.

Ole Miss Key Game

at LSU, Oct. 12
It’s not fair or right to assume that anyone in the SEC will roll over anyone else, but … yeah.

Ole Miss will have to biff hard to not be 6-0 to start the season. Hope and pray we get another game as fun as last year’s insane 55-49 Rebel win over LSU. Win, and there’s a week off to deal with Oklahoma in what should be a whale of a start to 2024.

10 Best Ole Miss Football Players

1. Walter Nolen, DT Jr.
2. Tre Harris, WR Sr.
3. Jaxson Dart, QB Sr.
4. Princely Umanmielen, EDGE Sr.
5. Caden Prieskorn, TE Sr.
6. Jared Ivey, DE Sr.
7. Antwane Wells, WR Sr.
8. Trey Amos, CB Sr.
9. Chris Paul Jr., LB Sr.
10. Trey Washington, S Sr.

Ole Miss 2023 Fun Stats

- 1st Quarter Scoring: Ole Miss 141, Opponents 55

- Fumbles: Opponents 16 (lost 5), Ole Miss 11 (lost 1)

- Penalties: Ole Miss 94 for 768 yards, Opponents 73 for 621 yards

Ole Miss Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

If last year’s team could get to 11 wins - 10-2 in the regular season - this one should be able to do the same with a stronger bunch playing a potentially easier schedule.

Yeah, the expanded College Football Playoff is the goal, and anything less will be a massive disappointment.

Four of the five road games are against teams that didn’t go bowling, and almost all of the tough games are in Vaught-Hemingway.

Last year’s team had to go to Alabama in late September and travel to Georgia in mid-November. This year’s team has Georgia Southern in that September slot, and hosts Georgia this time around.

But there’s no Alabama. There’s no Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, or Auburn - so there’s no complaining about not getting the Vanderbilt free space.

It’ll take a few massive biffs and something amazing from an underdog for the Rebels to not be at least 5-1 - more like 6-0 - going into the road game at LSU. Again, Georgia is a home game, and so is the date with Oklahoma.

Set The Ole Miss Win Total At … 9.5

Likely Wins: Furman, Georgia Southern, Middle Tennessee, at Wake Forest,

50/50 Games: at Arkansas, at Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, at LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, at South Carolina

Likely Losses: No projected sure-thing losses

2024 Ole Miss Football Schedule

Aug 31 Furman
Sept 7 Middle Tennessee
Sept 14 at Wake Forest
Sept 21 Georgia Southern
Sept 28 Kentucky
Oct 5 at South Carolina
Oct 12 at LSU
Oct 19 OPEN DATE
Oct 26 Oklahoma
Nov 2 at Arkansas
Nov 9 Georgia
Nov 16 OPEN DATE
Nov 23 at Florida
Nov 30 Mississippi State

Missing: Alabama, Auburn, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt