Florida Exposed One Ole Miss Offensive Mistake That Needs to Change

No. 9 Ole Miss lost a beatdown to No. 8 Florida this past weekend. With a bye week ahead, Pete Golding & Co. have been looking at this loss under a microscope. While the defense is the immediate cause for concern, there's one aspect to Saturday's matchup that seemingly has flown under the radar.

Wide receiver Traylon Ray exploded for 115 yards and a touchdown on seven catches against No. 7 LSU in the Magnolia Bowl. But against the Gators this past week, Ray hauled in just two catches for 17 yards. What happened between LSU and Florida that led to Ray getting considerably fewer touches?

Lack of Seperation, or Lack of Inclusion?

Sep 19, 2026; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels wide receiver Traylon Ray (7) runs after a catch during the third quarter against the LSU Tigers at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The drop-off in production is jarring, but it doesn't explain what exactly happened that led to Ray's targets being reduced. He was targeted in the first quarter just once, which was broken up by defensive back Laganza Hayward. Ray's two catches didn't come until the third quarter: a two-yard catch on second and seven and a 15-yard conversion on third and five.

Ray has very much established himself as a key piece of the Rebels' offense, which makes the reason for his sudden drop-off that much more confusing. But the answer doesn't really have anything to do with Ray at all; Ole Miss' offense simply struggled to get going in the first half. Deuce Alexander had just two catches for 28 yards, and Ole Miss had scored just six points, both field goals. In the second, Alexander hauled in five catches for 106 yards and a touchdown, and the Rebels scored 22 points.

Ray himself has stated that offensive coordinator John David Baker already tends to lean more on players that have already gotten hot. “If you're hot, he's gonna let you be hot,” Ray said in a postgame interview after LSU. The likely culprit for Ray's lackluster outing is simply that Deuce Alexander became the dominant receiver Saturday afternoon.

But that leaves another question: does that mean Ray's LSU performance was a fluke, and is he able to establish himself in the receiver room alongside Deuce Alexander? He absolutely can; he's already proven it. The key will be to find the middle ground between LSU and Florida. It's unreasonable to expect one single receiver to go over 100 yards every game. While Ray has the ability to do that some days, his most valuable trait needs to be consistency. Finding that middle ground will be what determines the kind of season Ray has this year.

Ole Miss and Vanderbilt are set to kick off on October 10th at 2:30 p.m. CDT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google