Ole Miss Rebels Football: Season Preview

Houston Nutt is looking to get to that six-win plateau in Oxford and the Rebels must step it up a notch on defense to do so. A season ago they gave up 35.2 points per game, allowing a total of 399 yards per game. They were torched for 246 passing yards per game as SEC signal callers had career games against the putrid Rebel secondary.

Defensive Pop Is Gone?

The defensive line does not have the horses it had just a few years ago, though Kentrell Lockett has an NFL body at 6’5” and 248 pounds. Starting all 12 games last year for the Rebels, he totaled 39 tackles, five tackle for loss and five sacks. The Rebels' front four still needs more interior help and push up front at the end of the day. 

The hope at linebacker is that recruiting three highly touted players will help carry this unit sooner rather than later.

The Rebels also return two players in the secondary. Damien Jackson and Marcus Temple are solid players that should help avoid last season's failures. Wesley Pendleton is an incoming junior college recruit who is looking forward to help contribute in his first year under defensive guru Tyrone Nix (’05-’07 South Carolina and ’01-’04 Southern Mississippi).

Nix better will try to bring his magic with him because the Rebels have one of the worst defenses in the SEC and there is no chance they go bowling if they cannot pull off an upset against teams like Georgia, Arkansas or Mississippi State. 

Best OL in SEC?

One of the premier offensive lines not only in the SEC, but in the nation should make the Rebels improve offensively.

Bradley Sowell and Bobby Massie form arguably the best duo of tackles in the entire nation. Last year the Arkansas Razorbacks had a few studs protecting Ryan Mallett, and now the Rebels hope they have their way with whoever is starting under center.

Randall Mackey was expected to become the starter for the opener but following a recent arrest now  has landed Barry Brunetti the job for the time being. 

The skill position players have not been a glaring weakness, though there could be a bit more of a spark made. They are loaded in the backfield, but they do not have a true All-SEC performer in production. Brandon Bolden makes my third-team All-SEC team and is now a senior.

Jeff Scott (5’7”, 175-pound speedster) and Enrique Davis (5’11”, 226-pound transfer from Auburn) will be backing up Bolden.

With a new quarterback under center and one of the better running games in the SEC, this has the looks of run-oriented offense.

Stretching the field when they do throw the bacon will be Ja-Mes Logan and Melvin Harris under newly hired offensive coordinator David Lee.

Drama's Forecast

Since 2000, the Rebels have made five bowl appearances and Nutt will do everything in his power to make it a sixth.

As far as the schedule goes, there were no favors done to help get back to the bowl season. Going up against nine bowl opponents from a season ago will be no easy task, especially right out of the gates at home against BYU. If the game were in Provo, it would spell disaster.

Luckily, Ole Miss is 12-4 in home openers, though it has won just three of the past seven. The turning point of the season might come in late September when it hosts a top 25-ranked team in Mark Richt’s Georgia Bulldogs. A victory there would almost lock up a bowl bid.

The following games will be against Fresno State on the road as well as home games against Alabama and Arkansas. This is clearly a bit more talented of a team than last season, but the schedule may prevent this team from winning six to seven games. I still point to that game against Georgia as the point they could see a bowl trip slipping right by them once again.

Predicted Finish: 5-7, 1-7

Predicted Bowl: None

Predicted order of finish in SEC: Sixth in West, 11th Overall