The 2022 season is in the books for the Ole Miss Rebels.

It didn’t exactly end the way head coach Lane Kiffin and company wanted it to, as Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach and the Bulldogs brought the Golden Egg back to Starkville in a 24-22 victory on Thanksgiving night. Despite some of the turnovers their rival gave up, it was ultimately the Bulldogs defense that secured the closely contested game.

But there were still several highlights to Ole Miss’ season. There’s a foundation to build on, as Kiffin continues to take this program to new heights despite some areas that need fixing.

Here’s a look into 10 things to take away from an 8-4 finish to the regular season (4-4 in the SEC) after an offseason that saw some new faces after some players departed for the NFL or graduated and several names were brought in via the transfer portal.

1. Quinshon Judkins’ ceiling is sky-high

There was talk of Ole Miss potentially having one of the best backfields in the nation ahead of the 2022 season, and that held true. But the freshman standout Judkins went above and beyond, garnering Heisman Trophy attention in the midst of his 1st college football season while breaking multiple records.

He finished the year with 1,476 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on 251 carries, with a single-game high of 214 yards in the loss to Arkansas that propelled him to break the program single-season rushing record. He ranks 10th in rushing yards per game (123), 5th in total rushing yards (1,476) and 6th in total rushing touchdowns (16).

Judkins’ name is on the table for multiple awards, as he’s a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award, a semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award and is also a finalist for the C Spire Conerly Trophy.

2. The Rebels’ rushing attack was what we thought it was

There was some skepticism surrounding just how “for real” the Rebels’ ground game was at the beginning of the season because of the easy schedule the team opened the season with. There’s nothing particularly impressive about rolling over 4 nonconference opponents at the start of the season, regardless of the fashion you do it in.

Ole Miss held strong as it entered conference play and faced more substantial competition, ending the season with the best rushing offense in the SEC, and ranking 3rd in the nation with an average of 261.6 rushing yards per game, 5.50 yards per attempt and 31 rushing touchdowns while never taking a tumble in the rankings in that category. The Rebels trailed only Air Force and Army, 2 heavily run-centric teams.

3. Lane Kiffin’s got a long-term home in Oxford

Plenty of rumors swirled about Kiffin potentially departing from Ole Miss for a “better” job, but he looks to be staying for now and there’s no question the program is willing to do its most to keep him around. Known for his recruiting tactics, Kiffin is rivaled by few in the transfer portal and took on a team that needed a rebuild, more so fast-tracking it instead.

While Kiffin has said that staying at Ole Miss is not about the money, the school is set to pay him the big bucks. According to a report from Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated, Kiffin’s new contract will be for at least 6 years at an average of $9 million per season. Mississippi state law prevents contracts longer than 4 years for public employees but, to work around that, Kiffin’s new deal will be through Ole Miss’ private foundation, according to the report.

4. Complementary football is what’s needed to take the next step

It sounds like a broken record at this point to keep talking about just how much success Ole Miss has had on the ground, but as has been shown that alone is not going to win the Rebels every game.

The defense has played above average at times and has shone in certain contests like the narrow win over Kentucky in which the Rebels forced 2 fumbles and recovered them in the final minutes. It also forced some key turnovers that helped bring the game down to the wire in the loss to Mississippi State. But the consistency is lacking, and there have been too many times where it feels like the offense is having to make up for it.

Kiffin has been vocal about issues with the run defense and tackling within the secondary, 2 things that hurt the Rebels on more than 1 occasion. The team finished the season with the No. 72-ranked total defense in the country, allowing an average of 379.8 yards per game, 5.31 yards per play and 36 opposing touchdowns.

5. Jaxson Dart needs development, but he’s on the rise

Small sample size where experience is concerned tends to equal some up-and-down play and “rookie mistakes,” if you will. While some have gotten frustrated with some of Dart’s decision-making at times throughout the season, things take time, and in an era where people want instant gratification it’s important to remember just how rare that actually is with quarterbacks. He’s shown plenty of flashes of his high ceiling, though, and has some traits reminiscent of Matt Corral, even though he’s not at that level right now. Dart seems to be getting steadier and more decisive, as does happen when the game begins to slow down over time.

In the Egg Bowl loss, going up against a formidable Bulldogs defense, Dart completed 30-of-38 passes for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns. He finished the season with a 62.6% completion rate, throwing for 2,613 yards with 18 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. How well he carries over moving forward will be something to watch.

6. The passing game hasn’t been a major highlight, but there’s lots of optimism

It’s obvious that Ole Miss has leaned into its rushing attack in most games — and why wouldn’t it, considering that it has ranked among the nation’s best for the entire season? That’s helpful when a team has a largely inexperienced quarterback who is still developing and making the transition to another program.

But, as previously mentioned, Dart has gotten better with time and there are emerging passing targets. Mississippi State transfer wideout Malik Heath has been among those, meeting or crossing the century mark 4 times this season in receiving yards (against Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky and LSU), and coming close again in the Egg Bowl with 5 receptions for 80 yards. Jonathan Mingo totaled 48 receptions for 808 yards and 5 touchdowns this season, highlighted by a monster 247-yard performance in the 52-28 win over Vanderbilt.

It will be interesting to watch how this all evolves as Dart continues to develop and the Rebels have shown the potential to let it fly in the 2021 “score from far” offense that we saw some elements on occasion this season.

7. Cutting down on penalties continues to be an area of improvement

While simple, 1 of the most important elements of football is to not beat yourself before your opponent does. Penalties were a problem area for Ole Miss at several points, as is reflected by the fact that the Rebels rank No. 93 in the nation in fewest penalties per game. The team averaged 6.75 penalties per contest and totaled 81 penalties on the season.

8. Good things are on the horizon for Ole Miss, and it’s taken shape quickly

It was not long ago that Ole Miss was one of the lowlier teams in the SEC, but that’s turned around in Kiffin’s tenure. The Rebels had not won more than 6 games in a season since 2015 before Kiffin took over in 2020. In only his 2nd season, the team went 10-2 and earned an appearance in the Sugar Bowl in what could really only be described as a team-wide meteoric rise.

While the 8-4 record with a 3-game losing streak to finish the regular season could be seen as a step back, there’s no denying how this program has taken a step forward, and it’s important to note who was lost to graduation and the NFL Draft between 2021 and ’22, including Corral. Considering how hard Ole Miss hit the transfer portal, a number of players were also in their 1st season in Oxford in 2022.

9. Any given Saturday

Kiffin made a point of not jumping the gun when this team started to get attention as a potential early contender to land in the College Football Playoff and perhaps make its way to a national championship. There was a time when the Rebels looked completely unbeatable toward the beginning of the season and had several high points as one of the last undefeated teams in the nation with 7 consecutive wins. They performed well against some quality teams, including giving Alabama a run for its money in a 30-24 home loss.

But things were not perfect. There was a 45-20 loss at LSU, a game in which the Rebels were favored in that became much more lopsided than anticipated. And hardly anyone drew up the 42-27 loss to an unranked Arkansas team that just achieved bowl eligibility afterward or the 24-22 Egg Bowl loss to Mississippi State in Oxford.

This team is on the right trajectory, but it’s evident that there is still work to do.

10. Rebels have a knack for moving the chains on 3rd down

Ole Miss was one of the best teams in the nation in terms of 3rd-down conversion percentage, ranking 14th in that category. The Rebels registered 174 3rd-down attempts in 2022, converting on 84 of those for a .447 success rate. That was also good for 3rd-best in the SEC, behind only Georgia (.519) and LSU (.497).