College Football 2015 Preview No. 9: Ole Miss Rebels
By Ty Duffy
Regular Season Records: 9-3, 7-5, 6-6, 2-10
SRS Rankings: 6, 23, 32, 95
Talking Point: The 2013 recruiting class. Hugh Freeze brought in four five-star recruits: DT Robert Nkemdiche, WR Laquon Treadwell, OT Laremy Tunsil and DB Tony Conner. This is the year Ole Miss has been building toward, with all four players as upper classmen before entering the NFL Draft. It’s possible all go off the board in the first round in 2016. The question: are they all healthy? Nkemdiche has been limited by injuries. Tunsil had a broken leg and an odd off-field incident. Treadwell is also coming off a serious leg injury.
Why To Like Them: Last year’s “Landshark” defense was nasty (No. 3 overall in FEI). Most of it is coming back. The Rebels can line up with anyone in the conference in the trenches and in the secondary in their 4-2-5. On offense, they return all five offensive line starters and should have a solid receiver corps.
Why Not To Like Them: Freeze is an offensive guy. That’s where Ole Miss hasn’t clicked yet. Quarterback play has been mediocre at best. They have not been able to run the ball. Chad Kelly’s off-the-field track record has been a concern. But, on the field, he has shown upside. If he pans out and the offensive line coalesces, this team could win the SEC. But that’s quite the if right now.
Schedule: The schedule lines up well, to a point. The Rebels play four non-Power 5 teams out of conference. They get Florida and Vanderbilt from the East. They get pivotal games against Texas A&M, Arkansas and LSU at home. But, if Ole Miss is in the SEC title race, traveling to both Bama and Auburn could be a problem.
Throwing Darts: We’ll presume Kelly is an upgrade over Bo Wallace, with Eli Manning’s advice. The Rebels put up a strong challenge for the SEC West, finish in the 9-10 win range. Maybe more, with some good fortune.
Random Alum: John Grisham