Mississippi Football: 5 Toughest QBs Rebels Will Face in 2015
The Mississippi Rebels face the most challenging array of quarterbacks this upcoming season of any team in the SEC West.
Coming off a breakthrough season for head coach Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss returns seven starters from a vaunted defense that finished first nationally in fewest points allowed with 13.8 per game.
This should allow the Rebels to be up for the task against some of the conference’s best signal-callers in Arkansas’ Brandon Allen, Auburn’s Jeremy Johnson and Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott.
A road game at Memphis also means a matchup with Paxton Lynch, arguably the best quarterback nobody is talking about right now.
Let us take a look at the five best quarterbacks Mississippi will face based on what each player has already proved on the field, his individual skills and his supporting cast.
5. Paxton Lynch, Memphis
1 of 5The Memphis Tigers broke out in 2014 and finished 10-3 thanks in large part to Lynch.
As a sophomore, Lynch threw for 3,031 yards and 22 touchdowns in his first year as the starter. He also displayed tremendous versatility as he led the Tigers with 13 scores on the ground as well. All of these skills are very prevalent in his highlight reel.
Standing at 6’7” and 245 pounds, Lynch possesses an ideal NFL frame as well as a pro-caliber arm. He should expect an even better junior season as Memphis returns sophomore running back Jarvis Cooper as well as all but one of its top receivers.
Leading receiver Keiwone Malone is gone following graduation, but Lynch’s ability to spread the ball around will definitely make up for the loss. Last season, nine different Tigers recorded at least 15 receptions, and five players had at least three receiving touchdowns.
With his impressive resume, Lynch could certainly be near the top of this list, so what is holding him back?
Against Mississippi, his only game against SEC competition last season, Lynch went 13-of-31 passing for 81 yards and an interception in a 24-3 loss. This poor showing is what negatively separates him from the rest of this group since he floundered against tougher competition.
Lynch will have a chance to prove himself again when the Rebels visit the Tigers Oct. 17. He will definitely have a better outing with an extra year of experience in addition to playing at home. However, Memphis is going to struggle on defense this season, and assuming Ole Miss has its quarterback situation settled by its seventh game, the offense should be able to score enough to earn the win.
4. Jeremy Johnson, Auburn
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There is plenty of hype surrounding Johnson as he steps into the starting position for Auburn after two years behind Nick Marshall.
Johnson, at 6’5” and 240 pounds, is a big, strong quarterback who can make every throw necessary in Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn’s powerful high-tempo offense.
The Alabama native has also shined when he found the field the last two years. In two seasons, Johnson has 858 yards and nine touchdowns while sporting a completion percentage of 73.
His most impressive outing came in the 2014 opener, when he went 12-of-16 for 243 yards and two touchdowns in the first half against Arkansas while filling in for the suspended Marshall.
Although a new starter, Johnson has already displayed great leadership skills, which has caught the eye of his coach, according to Bleacher Report’s Justin Ferguson.
"Our quarterback, Jeremy Johnson, a guy that's been a backup for two years, handled himself extremely well,” Malzahn said. “Now he's in the starting role. We feel very good about where he's at, and [he's] really a leader of our team."
It also helps that Johnson will have one of the country’s best receivers in D’haquille Williams to throw to. He also has receiver Ricardo Louis, running backs Jovon Robinson and Roc Thomas, and an established offensive line to round out a significant supporting cast.
Of all the quarterbacks on this list, Johnson is the least proven. However, his short but impressive body of work along with his outstanding skills and supporting cast land him in this spot.
Mississippi will have to travel to Auburn Oct. 31, and it will likely have some trouble against an offense expected to be better than the one that hung 35 on the Rebels in Oxford last season. It would be a major accomplishment if Ole Miss can pull out a win, but it's unlikely to happen.
3. Kyle Allen, Texas A&M
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With Kenny Hill a shell of his former self and the Aggies’ season hanging in the balance, Kyle Allen stepped in and saved Texas A&M in 2014.
After a 59-0 drubbing from Alabama, head coach Kevin Sumlin turned to Allen, then a true freshman, to salvage the Aggies' season after three straight losses. Two weeks later, the Arizona native made his career SEC start on the road at Auburn.
Allen was sensational, throwing for 277 yards and four touchdowns in an upset win. Although Texas A&M only won one more game after that, Allen was still a force. In SEC play, he finished with 661 yards with eight scores and three picks while completing 65 percent of his throws.
Even with highly touted freshman Kyler Murray joining the Aggies this season, Allen should definitely retain his starting spot. In fact, Bleacher Report’s Barrett Sallee believes the competition will not even be close.
Allen’s smart decision-making skills and consistent accuracy place him on the list along with his strong history against SEC opponents. Add in another year of acclimation with Sumlin’s system, and Allen will be one of the conference’s top quarterbacks in 2015.
In addition, Texas A&M boasts arguably the SEC’s best receiving group with the return of leading receiver Josh Reynolds and Speedy Noil along with newcomer Christian Kirk.
Fortunately for the Rebels, they get the Aggies at home this season on Oct. 24. This should give them a slight advantage, as Mississippi’s stout defense should neutralize A&M’s strong offense, while both teams may struggle on the other side of the ball. Look for Ole Miss to earn a win here.
2. Brandon Allen, Arkansas
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Head coach Bret Bielema’s Arkansas Razorbacks are creating plenty of buzz as a sleeper team in the SEC West this season, and Allen is a key reason why.
In his second full season as a starter, Allen greatly improved as he threw for 2,285 yards and 20 touchdowns with only five picks. His 25 career starts give him the most of any active quarterback in the SEC.
He also played an important role in Arkansas’ two biggest wins over LSU and a 30-0 rout of Mississippi.
He should only improve this season as Arkansas returns four starters on the offensive line along with running backs Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams. Each rushed for over 1,100 yards and recorded 12 scores in 2014.
A fitting comparison for Allen is Alex Smith of the Kansas City Chiefs. He excels at not turning the ball over, and he can make the necessary throws to move the ball at key times while allowing a powerful running game to dictate the game’s tempo.
This, along with his experience, continuing progress and the returning starters mentioned, is why Allen is featured so high on this list. He and the Razorbacks also gave the Rebels a very hard time last year as they dominated the ball game.
Ole Miss will host Arkansas this year, which should help Freeze’s team. The Rebels also return most of their starters from a defense that ranked 29th nationally against the run in 2014. Arkansas was still able to rupture that run defense last year and should have similar success the second time around. Especially with Allen being an experienced senior, the road environment will not be enough as Arkansas walks out of Oxford victorious.
1. Dak Prescott, Mississippi State
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No surprises here as Prescott is the obvious choice to top this list.
Prescott established himself as an elite SEC quarterback in 2014 while leading a Mississippi State team that was ranked atop the country for much of the year.
He racked up 3,449 yards passing and 27 touchdowns in his second year as the Bulldogs’ starter while also pitching in 986 yards and 13 scores on the ground.
The senior enters this season as a bona fide Heisman candidate and arguably the nation’s best dual-threat quarterback. Yet, Prescott is not feeling any pressure as he leads a team trying to replace a bulk of experience from last year, per SI.com’s Zac Ellis:
"We lost, what, 21 seniors? But we have 14 guys who have started and plenty more who have played in big-time games. There’s not any pressure. We just take last year and use it as motivation from becoming the No. 1 team in the country and seeing how we got that done all the way to seeing how we lost the last three of four. We just use all of that as motivation.
"
As far as the supporting cast is concerned, Prescott may rank at the bottom of this list. However, his experience and status as a dynamite dual-threat option who has proved himself in the SEC make him an easy choice to stand at the top.
In addition, he also has a legitimate No. 1 receiver in De’Runnya Wilson, so the support is definitely not barren.
The Rebels were able to win the Egg Bowl last season, and they should be able to repeat this season as the Bulldogs have lost too much to match up with Ole Miss. A win is certainly not a given as Prescott has the ability to win games himself, but the Mississippi defense will get the job done.
All statistics are courtesy of ESPN.com.
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