Ole Miss vs Kentucky: Rebels Seek Revenge For Last Year’s Mess

Week two of the college football season won’t feature as many big games as the first weekend, but there are still some noteworthy matchups. Among those is the Ole Miss vs. Kentucky matchup. First off, it’s the first SEC conference game of the season. Then, there’s what happened between the two teams last season.

A year ago, these two met in Oxford in what most expected to be a relatively easy win for the Rebels. Instead, Kentucky shocked Ole Miss with a three-point win. It ultimately became the main reason Ole Miss missed out on the College Football Playoff.

So now the Rebels head up to Lexington, looking for revenge and a way to return the favor.

For Kentucky, the key is going to largely revolve around the defense. Last year in their upset of Ole Miss, they managed to get pressure on Jaxson Dart for virtually four quarters. They also did a good job of stopping the run. This year, the plan has to remain the same. Can they keep Austin Simmons under constant pressure? With a new look Rebel offensive line, they should be hopeful.

As for the secondary, simply keep the Ole Miss receivers in front. Avoid giving up big plays. We’ve all seen that Lane Kiffin’s offense oftentimes relies on big plays. If the Wildcats can avoid giving up those big plays, they should be able to keep the Rebel offense in check.

On offense, things are probably going to be more challenging. Under offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan, who is now in his second year in Lexington, the offense has been a tale of two teams. Against non-power conference competition, they’re extremely solid. Against that lesser competition, they’re averaging 36 points per game, as well as 423 yards per game. When competition stiffens against power conference teams, they virtually disappear. Those numbers shrink to 14 points and only 286 yards per game. Needless to say, facing an Ole Miss team has improved greatly on defense over the past two seasons, and that simply has to improve. Especially if they want to pull off another upset of the Rebels.

For Kiffin and company, everything is going to start up front with the offensive line. Last week, against a middling Georgia State squad, they struggled early on. While they played well as the game progressed, being pushed around in the trenches by the Panthers is a bad sign, especially as they enter SEC play. If they can win the battle up front on offense, they’ll likely be fine. The running game, led by Kewan Lacy, would open up. And Simmons has shown his accuracy from the pocket. So if he can stay upright, the Rebel offense should produce the way they’re used to.

Similarly, with the Ole Miss defense, it starts with the defensive line. Kentucky is likely to set the tone early with its running game. If the Rebel front seven can create problems, everything then falls on the new Wildcat quarterback, Zach Calzada, to make plays with his arm. Despite a lengthy college career, with numerous stops along the way, he has struggled to do just that. Last week in the opener against Toledo, he completed only 10 of 23 passes for 85 yards. Against the Rebel defense, that won’t get the job done. If the Ole Miss defensive front can stop the run, they’ll be in tremendous shape to pick up a big conference win on the road.

This is an early-season conference matchup. That means there will likely be plenty of chaos and surprises. However, from a talent standpoint, this should be a relatively easy win for the Rebels. That being said, the same thing was said last year in this meeting.

This year, though, expect Kiffin and the Rebels to pack a little extra punch for this one. They won’t be overlooking the Wildcats here. With the talent discrepancy, especially on the offensive side, Ole Miss likely puts up too many points for Kentucky to hang around. Expect this one to stay close for a while, as the Wildcats use their physicality to stay in the game. However, in the end, the Rebels’ up-tempo offense simply wears down the Kentucky defense, leading to a high-scoring affair. By the fourth quarter, this one should just about be out of hand.