By the Numbers: Ole Miss vs. Florida
For the third straight year, Lane Kiffin will be opening the season against a team ranked either No. 4 or No. 5 in the nation.
Rebel fans are hopeful that this opener will look a little prettier than his Florida Atlantic 45-21 (to Ohio State in 2019) and 63-14 (to Oklahoma in 2018) openers. That said, scoring 21 on the Buckeyes as FAU... not too shabby?
It's just one of a handful of fun nuggets we dug up researching the Ole Miss season opener against No. 5 Florida on Saturday morning. See below for more of my weird, often nerdy and maybe sometimes irrelevant, facts and numbers for this weekend's game.
The 'Generic Records' Category:
- Ole Miss holds a 12-11-1 lead in the series against Florida, while the Gators sport a 5-2 edge in Oxford
- The longest win streak in the series goes to Ole Miss with 4 straight form 1946 to 1958
- Ole Miss has nine players from the state of Florida on roster
- Ole Miss is 64-164-2 all-time versus ranked opponents. The last such win was a 31-28 win over No. 17 Mississippi State in 2017.
- Ole Miss is 154-91-7 (.625-percent) all-time during the month of September after vacated wins
The Returning Production (Or Lack Thereof) Category:
- 100-percent of Ole Miss' passing production and 82-percent of their rushing production from 2019 are back
- 85-percent of last year's production from wide receiver return in 2020
- The top-two Rebels in tackles last season – Lakia Henry (87) and Jacquez Jones (71) both return. Oh yeah, and MoMo Sanogo, who had 112 tackles in 2018, is healthy and ready to join up with them in the linebacker room
- Sam Williams, who led the team in sacks and quarterback hurries in 2019, and also was second on the team by 0.5 in tackles per loss, is back
The Advanced Numbers:
Get used to these numbers, we're going to be referring to them a lot here at The Grove Report. Both SP+, formerly S&P+, and FEI (Fremeau Efficiency Index) are essentially forms of football efficiency metrics.
FEI focus' on possession efficiency, a "per possession scoring advantage a team would be expected to have on a neutral field against an average opponent." Bill Connelly's SP+ focus' on four factors: efficiency, explosiveness, field position and finishing drives.
FEI Preseason Predictions and Rankings:
- Florida: No. 12 (No. 21 in offense, No. 13 in defense)
- Ole Miss: No. 32 (No. 28 in offense, No. 45 in defense)
SP+ Preseason Predictions and Rankings:
- Florida: No. 5 (No. 11 in offense, No. 3 in defense)
- Ole Miss: No. 38 (No. 38 in offense, No. 41 in defense)
More From The Grove Report:
Everything Dan Mullen Said About His Return to Oxford for First Time Since 2016
Q & A With Florida Beat Writer Zach Goodall: Slowing Down Kyle Trask, Predictions and More
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