What's The Best-Case And Worst-Case Situation For Rebels In 2023?
What is the best-case scenario for Ole Miss football in 2023? Strike that; what's actually the worst thing that could happen on The Grove this fall?
ESPN recently cataloged every AP preseason top 25 team's best and worst-case situation heading into the new year. The No. 22 Rebels, a potential College Football Player sleeper, received about as high of an accolade one could get, and as sour of a situation on the opposing side.
Should everything go right for the Rebels on offense, including finding stabilization at quarterback and the offensive line, a couple of early season upsets should emerge. In Week 4, Ole Miss travels to Tuscaloosa to take on No. 4 Alabama. A week later, No. 5 LSU rolls into Vaught-Hemingway for what could be a top-10 showdown.
Alabama and LSU have been the two favorites in the West this preseason, and Ole Miss will play both teams back-to-back at the end of September. Lane Kiffin's team started off 7-0 last season before dropping five of their past six games (including games against Alabama and LSU). An improvement at quarterback -- whether that's with Jaxson Dart or one of two transfers in Spencer Sanders or Walker Howard -- would go a long way, assuming Quinshon Judkins remains one of the best players in the conference and, most importantly, Pete Golding solves the defensive woes that plagued them at the end of 2022. If those things happen, maybe they surprise people and win the SEC West, or at least finish near the top. But if nothing else, we will know if they can touch that height by October. - ESPN
Rebels coach Lane Kiffin said during his weekly press conference that he isn't ready to name a starter because the level of consistency from Dart and Sanders has created an "awesome obstacle" in practice. Sanders started the previous four years at Oklahoma State before entering the transfer portal, while Dart impressed early in the season following a one-year stint at USC.
For every positive comes a negative. In the Rebels' case, any sense of regression from Judkins or the quarterbacks could lead to early struggles through September. Things won't improve as the season continues, especially in trips away from Oxford.
There's no such thing as an easy path in the SEC, but the Rebels certainly don't have a road game on their schedule that looks appetizing. They visit Alabama, Auburn, Georgia and rival Mississippi State, while also making a Sept. 9 trip to New Orleans to play Tulane in their nonconference slate. If improvements aren't made defensively and Arkansas, Auburn and Texas A&M all improve, it feels like despite any offensive prowess it has, Ole Miss could finish in the middle of the pack again in the SEC West, if not worse.
Adding Golding on paper should be an upgrade. Production-wise? That remains a mystery. Last season's 25.5 points allowed per game might not have been the No. 1 factor for regression, but it certainly played a role down in the stretch in losses to Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi State.
Ole Miss opens the season at home against Mercer on Sept. 2.
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