Behind Enemy Lines: Five Questions for Red Cup Rebellion's Ruby Draayer

ATLANTA - Another long offseason is in the books, and the Louisville Cardinals (0-0, 0-0 ACC) are set to kick off the season under the lights and in primetime, heading on down to Atlanta, Ga. to square off with the Ole Miss Rebels (0-0, 0-0 SEC) in the annual Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game. Kickoff is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 6 at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Ahead of the Labor Day matchup, Louisville Report sat down with Red Cup Rebellion's Ruby Draayer to find out more about Ole Miss:

1. Ole Miss went 5-5 last season, but had an impressive bowl win against a good Indiana squad. What is their ceiling heading into year two of the Lane Kiffin era?

Honestly, the sky is the limit for this Ole Miss squad. I think that there are really high expectations that may or may not be met. When looking at our record from last year (5-5), it doesn’t look that impressive. It’s hard to explain what the 2020 season was to the program and the university but it just changed everything. Fans all over are looking forward to this year being an exciting one. At this point, people are expecting at least nine wins this season. Competing in the SEC West is no joke, but winning is doable, especially this year. There is kind of this running joke (it’s not a joke) about Ole Miss having a curse on our sports team. They call it “WAOM” because it stands for “We Are Ole Miss.” It doesn’t really make sense, but somehow it works. If we have a bad season, I think it will be best to just blame it on that. I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle it.

2. Quarterback Matt Corral put up video game type numbers last season, but the Rebels do lose Elijah Moore and Kenny Yeboah. How does the passing attack adapt and improve for 2021? How are wideouts to look out for?

Losing a player like Elijah Moore is going to be a tough pill to swallow. He is one of the best players to come from Ole Miss, and our offense is going to miss him. I don’t want to call it lucky, but when he declared for the draft early, it kind of was. The 2020 Ole Miss team won an Outback Bowl against a very good top-20 team in Indiana. Without our biggest offensive production in that game, they were still able to get it done. Going into this year, that will be huge. There won’t be a fear of getting through a game without Elijah Moore and Kenny Yeboah, because we already did it.

Quarterback Matt Corral is in the discussion for the Heisman, and he’s returning. That will be huge for the Rebels this fall. I don’t think the passing attack will really change a lot this year. One of the best things about Kiffin is that the only thing you can predict about him is that it will be unpredictable. The name on the back of the jersey is going to be the main change this year, and hopefully, it will be multiple guys that step up. I would keep an eye out for Braylon Sanders in Atlanta. He has a tendency to make big plays, and punish a defense. He really stretches the field and has no problem coming up in huge games, and has a lot riding on this year..

3. Someone who doesn’t get enough love on Ole Miss is running back Jerrion Ealy. In such a high flying offense, what is his role on this team?

Man, Ealy can play and do just about anything. He will most likely stay in his traditional back-field role but will go out wide if they need him to. Luckily, we have so much depth and talent in the running back room this year, which is really reassuring. Obviously, Ealy will be the go-to guy, but you’re going to want to pay attention to Snoop Conner and Henry Parrish Jr. I think because of his athleticism and the creativeness of Lane Kiffin’s offense, you’re going to see a lot of different things from him this year. Honestly, just good luck to the Cardinals defense.

4. Much has been said about how bad the Rebels defense was last year. How has the coaching staff gone about fixing it, and what should they look like in 2021?

I hate to try and make excuses for a defense that was really just atrocious for most of the season in all categories, but a lot of people forget that it was Ole Miss’ first year under a new coaching staff. They missed out on spring ball and didn’t have a lot of time to work out the kinks before being thrown into a 10-game all-SEC schedule. The biggest thing about the off-season is that our defensive coordinators came in and simplified things. They recruited well with the 2021 class, and this year they had the time to do it. Ole Miss brought in 15 defensive players over the course of the last year. In 2020, they were moving people around and at one point we had walk-ons in the game at defensive back. Players were taking 90+ snaps, and it showed. This year, there are a significant number of veterans as well as plenty of underclassmen ready to compete. I think that if you want to be a great team, you have to have depth on all sides of the ball. Now that the Rebel defense has it again, there are no excuses. I’m hoping that they will show a lot of improvement, especially with stopping the run game. It was so tough to watch last year.

5. Louisville will come away with a victory if Ole Miss does what?

I always tell people that Ole Miss has a tendency to lose games they should win, and win games they’re supposed to lose. This game is really going to come down to the defensive side of the ball. If Louisville is able to expose the defense and put points up early, the Cardinals could get the upset in Atlanta. I doubt that the offense struggles at all for Ole Miss, but it’s going to be a really fun (and stressful) shootout. Hotty Toddy!

(Photo of Malik Cunningham: Christopher Hanewinckel - USA TODAY Sports)

You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter - @LouisvilleOnSI
Instagram - @louisville_report

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @GeneralWasp on Twitter