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3 takeaways from Ole Miss’ strong win over No. 24 Tulane

Ethan Stone

By Ethan Stone

Published:

It was not a dominant as last week’s thumping of Mercer, but the Ole Miss Rebels used a strong 2nd half to down the Green Wave, 37-20 Saturday.

Tulane was without star quarterback Michael Pratt, but the Green Wave still rolled early to take a 17-10 lead at halftime. Tulane will later wish it was able to do more while the Rebels were faltering, because Lane Kiffin’s squad came out with a vengeance in the second half to secure the win and a 2-0 record on the season.

Here are 3 takeaways from the Rebels’ 2nd win of the year.

A Tale of 2 Halves

That first half was rough. The following takeaways will highlight that in further detail.

Here’s what’s important to know for now: Ole Miss rushed for just 30 yards in the first half, scored just 10 points and completely fell apart on offense when Tre Harris exited with an injury. The defense struggled in the first half against backup Tulane QB Kai Horton, but a big part of the reason they were able to come back was because of the defensive effort in the 2nd.

The Rebels held Tulane to just 3 points in the final 30 minutes as Jaxson Dart and the offense started to slowly gain confidence. The most important drive in the game was Ole Miss’ 2nd of the 3rd quarter, one that finished with Judkins standing in the end zone after a 9-yard rush:

Deantre Prince had a pretty huge play in the 2nd half as well. The Green Wave had the ball near midfield and Prince jumped in from of Horton’s pass, returning it deep into Green Wave territory.

The Rebels capitalized with a field goal.

Michael Trigg brought things home for the Rebels:

Tre Harris is not human; Ole Miss needs him healthy in a bad way

Ole Miss needed way more Tre Harris Saturday. Unfortunately, the Rebels didn’t have a say in the matter.

Harris hauled in an early touchdown exactly as he did last week against Mercer, lifting his TD total on the season to 5. Business as usual:

Harris exited the playing field in the first half and was taken to the locker room. It is currently unknown what type of injury is he is suffering from.

Harris’ absence jettisoned the Rebels’ offense back to the 1940s at first; That may be a little dramatic, but it gets the picture across. Ole Miss scored just 3 points in the first half after Harris’ departure, with the Rebels’ O-line struggling to protect Jaxson Dart or create holes for star RB Quinshon Judkins.

Harris finished with 2 receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown.

The offensive line is far from a finished product

Ole Miss’ offensive line needs some work moving forward.

The Rebels’ front was especially slow to start things off Saturday, but eventually their stamina overpowered a tired Green Wave squad. Regardless, Tulane was all over Dart in the first half. A big reason the Rebels fell behind early was because they failed to establish the run game. Heading into the halftime break the Rebels had only rushed for 30 yards.

Tulane got to Dart 4 times Saturday and finished with 8 tackles for loss.

And here’s the thing: Ranked or not, the Rebels are going to face defensive fronts better than that of the Green Wave this season. That level of play from the offensive line was rough in the first half against Tulane, what’s it going to do against Alabama in a few weeks or Georgie in mid-November?

The Rebels do get a buffer before facing the Crimson Tide. The Rebels face off against Georgia Tech next week at 7:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network.

Ethan Stone

Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.

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