Merry Christmas Rebel Nation! A lot has happened since we last checked in. When I wrote the last blog, before the Egg Bowl, we were unsure if Lane Kiffin was going to remain the head ball coach. Mike Leach was still the head coach of Mississippi State and Hugh Freeze was still the coach at Liberty. Now, Lane has signed an extension, our old friend Hugh Freeze is back in the SEC, and we had to say goodbye to the legendary Mike Leach far too soon. Like I said, a lot has happened! It was an exhausting road of rumors and misleading message boards, but Lane Kiffin is going to continue to build in Oxford, and so the question now is, where does that leave us going forward?
All Aboard the Lane Train! Look, the process of, “Is he leaving or is he staying” wasn’t pretty, but at the end of the day, we’ve got our coach and it would appear that he’s here to stay for a while. We can put all that coaching talk in the rear view mirror, put our heads down, and get back to work right where we left off.
So, where did we leave off? Well, it wasn’t great. We lost our last 4 of 5 games including, most recently, a blowout loss to Arkansas, and a loss to our in state rival on our own home field. The season’s not over yet though! For any of you saying this bowl game doesn’t matter, I have to whole heartedly disagree. All the games matter. This game gives us a chance to get back to becoming the team that we ultimately want to become. It’s a chance to find out which players say they want it, and which ones mean it. It’s an opportunity for Jaxson Dart to get more live game reps. It’s an opportunity to compete on the national stage and show players in the transfer portal, where this team is heading into next season, and where they might can fit in to the puzzle. While Texas Tech might not be the sexiest opponent, a big win here would do a lot for morale heading into the Spring, while a loss would be down right demoralizing.
I do believe that Lane Kiffin is one of the best coaches in college football, and we’re going to need him to be, because the SEC just keeps getting tougher and tougher. Allow me to take just a minute, and let’s think about the state of the SEC right now. You have Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns, as well as the Boomer Sooners of Oklahoma joining the SEC in 2024. You’ve got Georgia and Alabama in a dominate league of their own, and they don’t appear to be going anywhere. Tennessee’s program has been a sleeping giant for years. It appears they have finally been awoken and should have some stability going forward. It’s scary to think that LSU has won national championships with bad coaches, (Les and Ed O.) now that they’ve got a good one, and they’re going to be a problem going forward. Texas ATM, I mean, A&M, continues to recruit at a high level, and one can only assume they’ll turn things around sooner rather than later. It can’t get must worse than this season was for the Aggies. The jury is still out on Billy Napier and the Florida Gators, but they have recruited well, and can only go up from where they finished this season as well. Did anyone have a more exciting finish to the season than Shane Beamer and South Carolina? They go into the offseason with tons of momentum after knocking off Tennessee and Clemson to finish their season. Say what you want about Hugh Freeze, but he knows how to win in this league, and one would expect him to get Auburn back on track for years to come. Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi State continue to be solid teams that you can never overlook. As for Missouri and Vanderbilt, well, their coaches seem to be really really nice guys. Last but not least, you have the Ole Miss Rebels. If I had to choose one word to describe the Rebels going forward, I’d have to steal the legendary quote from former Decatur Red Raider quarterback, Will Laughlin, when describing the 2011 Red Raiders team, “DANGEROUS”. Keep in mind that this time next year, all of these teams will be looking to find their way into a 12 team playoff, and whose to say there isn’t a world where as many as 6 could find their way in? I say all of this to say, in a league with so many good coaches, the best players in the country, money by the truckload, and unrivaled passion, everyone expects their program to win, including me. In the end, we all play 12 games, and somebody is going to end up going 6-6, but it couldn’t be us! Feelings will be hurt, jobs will be lost, and friendships outside of your fandom will be challenged. As the saying goes, IT JUST MEANS MORE.
I can’t imagine that Coach Kiffin has been sleeping a whole lot this holiday season. He has been preparing his team for a bowl game in Houston against Texas Tech, but that’s not where his sole focus is allowed to lie. He just recently had the early signing day in the smack dab middle of bowl prep, which is when 90% of the high schoolers sign these days. While trying to shape what his team will look like next year, he has to think, Which players are transferring out? Which players are transferring in? Is Zach Evans going to declare for the NFL draft? Based on the answers to those questions, which positions do I need to fill? Oh and how much do we pay these players, and who do we pay? If I pay them, how do I know they won’t leave in 12 months for another school? Did I mention we have a bowl game too. Some teams have playoff games. I mean, can you imagine? Is this state of college football even sustainable? I don’t know the answer to all these questions, but they don’t pay me to figure them out. What I do know is that the flood gates for the transfer portal and NIL have been opened, and it’s the wild wild west out there. Stay safe, kids.
So how is recruiting going? In the early signing period if you look at the rankings, you would see, as it sits right now, that the Rebels are currently ranked 25th in the country, and 10th in the SEC according to 247 Sports. 10th in the SEC is not great, right? Well, while that isn’t ideal, that doesn’t quite tell the whole story. Most teams signed as many as 20-30 high school players, while we only signed 12. Of those 12, we’ve signed very quality players, including the top two players in the state of Mississippi in Suntarie Perkins and Ayden Williams. We’ve gone to the transfer portal for another 6 players so far, including star receivers Tre Harris (Louisiana Tech) and Chris Marshall (Texas A&M), who was rated as a 5 star and the #3 receiver in his class last year. You start looking at our offense next year, plug in some of these guys and things start getting very exciting. I say this to say, don’t look at these ratings and panic, just know that we’re going about this process from a different angle than everyone else. While early singing day is over, portal season is just getting started, and I fully expect that Lane Kiffin and his staff have a few more tricks up their sleeves before it’s all said and done.
Back the bowl game. What do we know about the Texas Tech Raiders? The Red Raiders finished 7-5 for the season and 5-4 in the BIG 12. Their most notable wins were over Texas, Oklahoma, and Houston (ALL in Overtime). They had close losses to TCU, Kansas State, N.C. State, Oklahoma State, and then a blowout loss to Baylor. The Red Raiders started the year off with a 3 player quarterback battle that Tyler Shough, who would eventually go on to win the job. He then proceeded to get injured in Week one and not return to the starting lineup until November. Brehen Morton and Donovan Smith would both play during his absence, but it was a bit of a revolving door at the most important position for the Red Raiders. For the Texas Bowl however, we expect to see the original starter, Tyler Shough, as he has started his last 4 games. While they have struggled with quarterback stability this season, they’ve still managed to finish the regular season ranked 12th in the country in passing offense, 8th in red-zone offense, and 20th in total offense. We’ll see how Tyler manages in this one, but it would appear the Red Raiders are no strangers to offense. As for the Rebels, we should be pretty close to full strength in this one, for the first time in a while. Watch out!
KEYS TO VICTORY:
1.) Pressure the Quarterback
As mentioned, Texas Tech likes to sling it around, and they can do it at high level if you let them. We’ll need to cause some commotion up front and make ol' Tyler uncomfortable in the pocket. Getting after him on early downs, and forcing 3rd and long will help tremendously.
2.) Convert in the Red-zone
A common frustration this season has been moving the ball between the 20’s with no problem, only to get to the red-zone and stall. I am hoping for a quiet day from kicker, Johnathon Cruz, outside of a plethora of extra points.
3.) No stupid turnovers
You see this every year, you’re drinking with the guys, and watching a bowl game. One of your friends has his bet all but wrapped up, until, oh my gosh, he fumbled it, they picked it up, oh my gosh they’re gonna win!! Your buddy is on his knees with his hands on top of his head in disbelief that he just lost his bet in the roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl. Just don’t do that. Don’t be that team! Ball security is job security, we all know this. Holiday season can be stressful enough for all of us, don’t add anything like this to our plates. Take care of the ball.
SCORE PREDICTION:
I’ve been accused of being biased in my score predictions, and frankly I won’t stand for it. I give the most honest predictions that I can give, which is why I’ve got the Rebs winning this one, and winning it big.
OLE MISS 41
Texas Tech 20
I’d like to thank everyone who read the blog this season. What started as a rash idea, has turned into the greatest Ole Miss blog of all time, according to my loving grandparents. I look forward to continuing on in the future, and if you’ll stick with me, one day, we’ll be reading about a National Championship run in Oxford. Hotty Toddy, and GO Rebs!
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