The Ole Miss Rebels are going to miss Laquon Treadwell as they play out the rest of their 2014 season, but the season is far from lost without him.

Treadwell broke his leg and dislocated his ankle when he was pulled down from behind by Auburn’s Kris Frost in Saturday night’s 35-31 loss, ending his 2014 season with three games still to play. Treadwell leads Ole Miss in catches, yards and touchdowns this season, and was far and away the most productive member of the offense prior to his injuries.

Take away any offense’s best player, and the unit is bound to struggle — that’s pretty simple logic to digest. Without Treadwell, the Ole Miss offense is going to take a big step back; there’s just no way around it.

But in the wake of Treadwell’s season-ending injuries, Ole Miss still has plenty to play for, and still has a chance to run the table to close out one of the school’s best regular seasons in history.

The Rebels’ potential to succeed without Treadwell will be decided during the next two weeks. Funny enough, amid all the ranked opponents Ole Miss has faced on its brutal SEC West schedule, the next two weeks contain zero games against FBS opponents yet are now the most important two weeks on the schedule this season.

The Rebels are fortunate to take on Presbyterian this week, an FCS program with 16 wins in its last 57 games since the start of the 2010 season. In that time, the Blue Hose (yes, that’s Presbyterian’s mascot and no, I have no idea what that means), is 0-7 against teams from the FBS’ power five conferences.

Can you think of a better tune-up game for the Ole Miss offense to reestablish its identity without Treadwell? The Rebels will win this game by however many points Hugh Freeze wants to, improving their record to 8-2 in the process.

Ole Miss follows its game against Presbyterian with a bye, giving it two weeks to adjust to life without Treadwell before ending the season with back to back SEC West showdowns. The next two weeks are critical to the rest of the Rebels’ season, and judging by how Freeze has run the program since his arrival in Oxford prior to the 2012 season, Ole Miss should make tremendous strides without Treadwell in the lineup.

The Rebels have plenty of other productive pass-catchers who could combine to fill the void Treadwell has left in the offense. Cody Core, Vince Sanders, Quincy Adeboyejo and Evan Engram have combined to catch 102 passes for 1,551 yards and 13 touchdowns so far this season, an average of 11 catches for 172 yards and more than a touchdown per game.

None of those players has had to be the guy at the college level, and all have benefitted from the extra attention Treadwell has attracted from opposing secondaries this season. The talent and potential are there, and these next two weeks should allow at least one of those players to step up as the team’s top option in the passing game.

Ole Miss returns to action on Nov. 22 for a road showdown with the Arkansas Razorbacks, a team that lost two games to Alabama and Mississippi State by a combined eight points. The Hogs may be winless in the SEC, but that doesn’t mean they’re not good enough to win against a top-flight team like Ole Miss, especially at home in Fayetteville.

Ole Miss follows that game with a showdown with Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl on the final day of the regular season. Do I need to explain why this game is so meaningful to Ole Miss? Here’a quick rundown: No. 1 team in America, in-state rival, revenge for last year’s game.

Lucky for Ole Miss, neither the Razorbacks nor the Bulldogs are built to exploit Treadwell’s absence. Arkansas is a low-scoring team averaging barely 20 points per game in SEC play. In facing the Rebels’ top-ranked scoring defense, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to score enough points to put pressure on the Ole Miss offense. The Rebels will be able to attack on offense however they see fit, and even if they struggle for most of the game, they really only need three touchdowns (maybe less) to win this game.

When Mississippi State comes to town one week later, it’ll bring the SEC’s worst secondary when it comes to defending the deep pass. Treadwell was the Rebels’ best wideout, but Ole Miss is loaded with explosive deep threats like Core and Sanders. Those players aren’t nearly as dominant as Treadwell on a down by down basis, but they could strike for a long touchdown at any time, especially against MSU’s secondary.

Will Ole Miss win its final two games? It remains to be seen; after all, that’s why they play the games. But cliches aside, the Rebels have a great chance to win out this season, reaching the 10-win mark for the first time in more than a decade even without its best player on offense. It has two weeks to adjust to life without Treadwell, and two games against division foes unable to take advantage of the offense’s missing piece.

Times are bleak right now for the Ole Miss program, but the future is bright. The Rebels are still one of America’s best teams, and they can still keep themselves afloat even without Treadwell on the field.