Ole Miss moves up in ESPN Power Rankings following Week 4 win
By Jacob Moss
Published:
The No. 13 Ole Miss Rebels moved to 4-0 on the season this past weekend with a dominant 45-10 performance against their traditional rivals, the Tulane Green Wave.
The Rebs skillfully dispatched the Green Wave at home in this matchup, with the offense carving through Tulane’s defense with ease as Trinidad Chambliss went for 300+ yards through the air and 100+ yards on the ground.
This dominant victory from Lane Kiffin‘s squad didn’t lead to any movement in the AP Poll, but Ole Miss did receive a small bump in this week’s ESPN College Football Power Rankings, moving up from No. 12 to No. 11.
The staff over at ESPN is clearly very high on the Rebels, and much of this enthusiasm is directly related to the elite pairing they have in their quarterback room. Here’s some analysis from Mark Schlabach:
After four games, Rebels coach Lane Kiffin has a good problem on his hands. Ole Miss has two quarterbacks who are more than capable of running the offense. Starter Austin Simmons won the job in camp and has thrown for 580 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions. Simmons injured his ankle in the fourth quarter of a 30-23 win at Kentucky on Sept. 6, and backup Trinidad Chambliss has played even better in his absence. In Saturday’s 45-10 rout of Tulane, Chambliss passed for 307 yards with two touchdowns and ran for 112 yards on 14 attempts.
The Rebels definitely have a very enviable position in the QB department, but they’ll need either Simmons or Chambliss to continue stepping up as the season rolls along if they want to make their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance come December.
Ole Miss will host LSU on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
