Ole Miss: Pretender or Contender?

(Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

"Hotty Toddy, Gosh Almighty, Who in the hell are we? Hey, Flim-Flam, Bim-Bam, Ole Miss By Damn."

That little Ole Miss cheer is being sung throughout Mississippi as expectations for the 2009 version of Rebel football are higher than they have been in a good long time.

Ole Miss fans believe that they have good reason for such optimism. Last year, they were delivered from their usual place as SEC cellar-dwellers by the arrival of Houston Nutt as their new head coach.

Nutt's revival of competitive football in Oxford has Rebel fans believing that this is the year that they will contend for—and perhaps win—the SEC Championship.

Ole Miss does have returning starter Jevean Snead at quarterback, as well as several good receivers to include speedy Dexter McCluster. They return a solid nucleus on an offensive line that averages 322 pounds per man, though they must replace two starters in Michael Oher and Maurice Miller.

The backfield is also solid returning experienced performers like Cordera Eason, Brandon Bolden and Enrique Davis, all of whom have speed and exceed 220 pounds.

Defensively, Ole Miss will return eight starters and their front seven should again be solid, just as they were last year. Ole Miss was No. 4 in rush defense and sacks in the NCAA last year, led by Peria Jerry, whom they lost to the 2009 NFL Draft. This front seven helped Ole Miss to a No. 14 ranking in defending third-down conversions last season.

The Ole Miss secondary was their weak suit last year, ranking No. 81 in pass defense, though they did have a respectable ranking of No. 26 in INTs.

One of the biggest issues for the Ole Miss defense is the fact that they were soft in the red zone last year, where they ranked a very meager No. 73 in Division I. Being in a conference where teams live and die by their defense, this has to change if Ole Miss has any notion of making it to the conference championship.

Ole Miss, for all intents and purposes, should have a fine team that could contend for the SEC championship. They have one of the softest schedules in the country and their most difficult SEC games, against the likes of Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and LSU, are all at home.

They also have four rent-a-wins vs. teams like Memphis, Southeastern Louisiana, UAB and Northern Arizona. Looks like we might as well pick them for a BCS Bowl right now, right? 

As Lee Corso might say, "Not so fast, my friend."

As I pointed out earlier, the Ole Miss defensive secondary is soft. This will be their Achilles' heel. Let's look at which teams on their schedule present a threat to them in this regard.

While the SEC has traditionally embraced a "run-first" offensive concept for years, that may be changing. Teams appear to be transitioning to more "pro style" and "spread type" offenses.

I can assure you that Nick Saban at Alabama didn't recruit wide receiver Julio Jones to block down field, and his 15.93 yards per catch last year as a true freshman proves that out. Do you think they are going to throw more often or less often to him?

I'm thinking, more.

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