Chad Kelly's Fearless Swagger Makes Ole Miss Legit Title Contender

A few years ago—well before he landed in Oxford—Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly wrote and recorded a self-titled rap song.

The 2012 track made the rounds again this week during the buildup to No. 15 Ole Miss' road matchup with No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa. AL.com made a music video for it. 

Rece Davis even recited some lines from it Saturday morning on ESPN's College GameDay.

And those lines came to life later that night in Ole Miss' 43-37 upset in Bryant-Denny Stadium:

"Defense can't see me—Chad Kelly. Nobody's gonna stop me—Chad Kelly. Watch my touchdowns—Chad Kelly. Hit the field, it's going down—Chad Kelly."

In his first SEC start, Kelly recorded 362 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns Saturday night against the vaunted Crimson Tide defense. 

While his own defense and special teams had some letdowns in the second half, Kelly delivered on a pair of fourth-quarter drives to help prevent an Alabama comeback.

Two of those touchdowns were quite fortunate, like his high snap-to-deflected pass that landed in the hands of a streaking Quincy Adeboyejo early in the third quarter.

"[Kelly] has a lot of praying to do," Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze said, per Dylan James Rubino of the Daily Mississippian. 

After Alabama's defensive line rattled Kelly for sacks and big-time hurries, he came through with a controversial pop-pass touchdown to Cody Core in the fourth quarter.

Following a quick Alabama interception, Kelly then hit Laquon Treadwell with a beautiful touchdown toss.

Alabama rallied once for back-to-back touchdowns, but Kelly's touchdowns earlier in the quarter turned out to be just enough, as Ole Miss hung on to record consecutive wins over Alabama for the first time in program history.

Kelly showed Saturday night in Tuscaloosa that he gives the Rebels something they didn't quite have with former starter Bo Wallace—the same playmaking swagger as the one it has with its trademark Landshark defense.

The new starting quarterback already cemented himself as a big-time playmaker for Ole Miss in the first two games of the season, when he led the offense to its best-ever start in a pair of nonconference blowouts.

And on Saturday, in a wild game that featured five Alabama turnovers, Kelly didn't throw a single interception and averaged more than 10 yards per attempt.

That's a noticeable change from Wallace, who developed a reputation for backbreaking picks.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

He also showed he could hold his own on the ground. Kelly scored on a four-yard touchdown run to give Ole Miss a 17-3 lead in the second quarter, and he had an important first down run on what turned out to be the Rebels' final offensive drive of the night.

Alabama's fourth-quarter flurry made Ole Miss wobble toward the canvas, but some haymakers of Kelly's own were enough to give the Rebels the huge decision.

The victory over the defending SEC champions wasn't the prettiest or the most even performance for Kelly and Ole Miss, but it was the most impressive of the young college football season.

Keep in mind that this was Kelly's first start away from home and his first crack at a Power Five opponent since arriving at Ole Miss earlier this year.

And the JUCO transfer delivered for the historic victory—one that he and the rest of the Rebels thought they could win heading into Saturday night.

"We've recruited well," Freeze told ESPN after the win. "We've built a program, hopefully, that is now relevant in the SEC. ... I believe in what we do and how we do it."

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

And now Freeze has an ace quarterback who can help bring out the best in all the talent Ole Miss has stockpiled in Oxford. 

By going into hostile territory and knocking off the nation's No. 2 team, the Rebels showed they have the firepower with Kelly at the helm to be considered a legitimate national championship contender.

While last year's Ole Miss team sputtered down the stretch with inconsistent offensive play, all signs are pointing toward a phenomenal season of swagger for the Rebels and their new quarterback. 

All game stats courtesy of ESPN.

Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.