Are You Ready??

Alrighty sports fans, I hope it didn’t sneak up on you, because opening kickoff for the 2023 football season is here, and it’s time to start acting like it. I need to know that you’re ready. Are you ready to hear the pads collide and the crowds roar? Are you ready to start drinking at 9am with all your people for an 11am kickoff? Are you ready for the leaves to start changing and the temperatures to start dropping? Are you ready to throw on your lucky underwear, maybe even your lucky gameday polo, look in the mirror and say to yourself, “Today is the day”. I’m not sure you’re ready for it. Is there really any way to truly prepare for 4th and goal on the road when you KNOW Lane is going for it? It’s kind of like parenting, I imagine, you’ll never quite be ready for the moment until you’re there, and then you just have to do the best you can and pray. I'm counting down the minutes to kickoff the way Buddy the Elf counts down to Christmas. I’m not as interested in who’s been naughty or nice, but rather, who’s been quietly preparing in their respective practice facilities when nobody’s watching. Who’s put in the blood, sweat, and tears? I’m interested in what transfers will have the biggest impact? What coaching hires pan out? Who’s on the hot seat? Is Texas back? Who the hell is playing quarterback at Alabama? Who's overrated? Who's underrated? And, what can I expect out of a Pete Golding Rebel defense in year 1?? We don’t have to wait too much longer, because soon enough, our happiness will be decided by 18-22 year old kids, and I for one, can’t wait. We’re going to have the moments where we’re jumping up and down punching each other in the chest after a game winning touchdown. And, unfortunately we’re probably going to have the moments where we’re the last ones left in the stadium, blankly staring at the field thinking of all that could’ve gone differently. This game comes with a full spectrum of emotions, and as the Southeastern Conference simply puts it, it just means more!

We're obviously excited about football season being back, and all that comes with it. The real questions are: What’s to love about the Rebs this year? What should we be worried about, and where can we put our delicate hopes and expectations? Well, let’s talk about it.

It’s hard to tell the story of this year, without backing up to last year. Bear with me here, because this might sting. Remember when we were 7-0, ranked #7 in the country, and heading to Baton Rouge? We took a 17-3 lead in the 2nd quarter of that game. Everything was great! **Record Scratch** We went on to fall to LSU, squeak out a win at Texas A&M, lose in heartbreaking fashion to Alabama at home, get absolutely steamrolled by Arkansas, lose the Egg Bowl at home, and finally get embarrassed by Texas Tech in a lifeless effort losing 5 of our final 6 games. We nearly lost our coach to Auburn. Morale was plummeting like a sinking rock. You can point fingers at whomever you’d like, but what happened last year is last year. We’ve had since December to get back in the lab and do some soul searching. We went out and got some transfer players, some new coaches, but other than that you haven’t heard much noise from the Rebels this offseason. So what can we expect?

For the readers who have been busy, and maybe aren’t fully up to speed, let me hit some big bullet points. The starting quarterback for YOUR Ole Miss Rebels is….. no surprise, Jaxson Dart. The once Gatorade National Player of the Year will lead the team this year again with a lot to prove. Dart threw for almost 3,000 yards last year and ran for another 600. He had 20 passing touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Pretty good, but not overly special. Let’s not forget though Jaxson went from Utah, to Southern California, to Oxford, Mississippi last April. Talk about culture shock. He had about 4 months to adjust to everything. He had to learn the offense, get to know his teammates, his coaches, oh, and prepare for a full SEC schedule with a couple weeks notice. He showed flashes of potential, as well as made some sure-to-happen mistakes. He comes back with a full year in the offense under his belt. He is now the clear leader of this team, and is set up with all the opportunity in the world. Can you think of any transfers that had a pretty good first year, to then go on and win the Heisman trophy and a national championship in their second year? I know, I know, there’s only one Joe Burrow, but I think that familiarity with the playbook, coaches, and teammates matters a lot. Nobody in the national media talks about Jaxson, even when they talk about Ole Miss. They simply mention running back, Quinshon Judkins, with good reason, and then move on. I think he's set for a big year. What people do talk about however, is that Lane made the head scratching move this offseason to bring in Spencer Sanders, who has started a million games at Oklahoma State, been very successful, and only has one year of eligibility left. AND he brought in former 5 star recruit Walker Howard, who transferred from LSU. These don’t seem like the guys that transferred to be backup quarterbacks, but here we are.

I know this is a crazy hot take, but I think offense will be the strength to this Lane Kiffin led team. The difference in this team being good vs. great will come down to the defensive side of the ball. We brought in Pete Golding from Alabama to whip this defense into shape. No more bend, don’t break, sit back and keep everything in front of you, soft ass defense. Golding has said we’re going to get aggressive and get after the quarterback. I love it! It’s easier said than done however, so we'll see if the boys can execute.

So what is our record going to be this year? You can find “experts” that predict this team to go 6-6 and others that say 10-2. With our gauntlet of a schedule, reality is probably somewhere in the middle, but let’s do an exercise I'm sure we've all done about1000 times this summer and take a deeper look at the schedule.

VS. MERCER (WIN)

AT TULANE (PESKY, BUT WIN)

VS. GEORGIA TECH (WIN)

AT ALABAMA (OBVIOUSLY NOT GREAT) (GLAD WE HAVE THEM EARLY)

VS. LSU (IN OXFORD) (TOUGH, BUT DOABLE) (WOULD BE SO BIG)

VS. ARKANSAS (PLEASE GOD, WE NEED THIS)

BYE (WHEW)

AT AUBURN (STORYLINES EVERYWHERE) (JORDAN-HARE IS NEVER FUN) (I LIKE US)

VS. VANDY (WIN)

VS. TEXAS A&M (HIGH UPSIDE TEAM, BUT THEY ALWAYS ARE) (GLAD WE’RE AT HOME)

AT. GEORGIA (BRUTAL… BUT HEY, CRAZIER THINGS!)

VS. ULM (WIN)

AT. MISS STATE (YOU KNOW HOW THIS ONE CAN BE)

There’s 5 wins I’m ready to write down with a pen, which leaves us with 7 absolute dog fights.

Here’s how I like to break it down:

Tier 1:

Alabama, Georgia, and LSU.

You’d like to steal one here. LSU at home would be the one I think is most getable. Bama and Georgia have talent everywhere on their roster and both of these games are on the road, but we really don’t know what we’re getting at quarterback from either of them, so whose to say? Do any of these teams really want anything to do with a shootout? Maybe we make things a little uncomfortable and give ourselves a chance at the end. Dare I say, we steal two of these? Whewwww baby! Alright, alright, settle down.

Tier 2:

Arkansas, Auburn, Texas A&M, and Miss State.

These are the swing games. These will be tight point spread games that could absolutely go either way. Can we go 3-1 here? It won't be easy, but I think we can.

When you look at it like that, 9-3 looks optimistic, but it has less to do with what I think about our team, and more to do with what I think about our competition. We are going to be a really good football team that nobody wants to play. The problem is we play 7-8 teams that are also going to be really good football teams, the ball is shaped like an oval, and even though they look like grown men, they're just kids. Buckle up, please keep your hands, feet and/or objects inside the vehicle. It’s going to be another stressful, emotional roller coaster of a season, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Kick your feet back and enjoy this weekend. Get some yard work done, because come this time next week, it’s off to the races.