Ole Miss football: Grading the Rebels' loss to Florida
Ole Miss lost to Florida, 51-35, on Saturday at Vaught–Hemingway Stadium in a game that featured more than 1,100 yards of offense. Not much was known about the Rebels, other than that this would be a difficult win to pull off in Lane Kiffin’s debut. Let’s take a look at how each position graded out.
Quarterback: A
The only way this could have gone better for Ole Miss is if they had won the game and played turnover-free. Make no mistake about it: The quarterback debate is over. Matt Corral is the future for the Rebels. He went 21-of-32 for 395 yards with 3 touchdowns and an interception that was hardly his fault. Corral showed the ability to extend plays with his feet, which deterred him from forcing the football into highly trafficked areas and coaxed better decisions. Corral was accurate and decisive. Who would have thought that the Rebels’ best offense was pushing the ball down the field in the vertical passing game? Result aside, this was a fantastic start for Corral.
The only thing left to be decided is how the team will use John Rhys Plumlee without stepping on Corral’s toes.
Running backs: B-
The running backs were fine. Jerrion Ealy settled in during the second half after running a bit too patiently in the first and finished with 79 yards and 1 score on 16 carries. Snoop Conner was marginally productive, and Tylan Knight got a surprising 4 carries. Ole Miss ran for 170 yards as a team, though no one really stood out. Truthfully, Ole Miss was playing from behind so often, there wasn’t much time to establish the run, particularly in the second half.
Wide receivers: B
The biggest offensive storyline this offseason was who would emerge as a reliable secondary option to Elijah Moore, who was predictably force-fed the football the entire 2019 season. Both of Dontario Drummond’s catches were for touchdowns, and for the sake of this exercise we will include tight end Kenny Yeboah in here as well. Yeboah had 5 catches for 91 yards and 1 score, though most of his work came when the outcome was no longer in question. Moore tallied 10 catches for 227 yards and was by far the Rebels’ most reliable option, but Drummond looked fine and had a presence over the middle of the field. Braylon Sanders and Jonathan Mingo not registering catches was less than ideal, but overall, the receiving corps was decent enough for Ole Miss to throw for more than 4oo yards.
Offensive line: B+
The line had the potential to be the offense’s Achilles’ heel, but it was quite good in this game. It helped the team compile more than 600 yards despite allowing 4 sacks. Corral masked some of the mistakes with his feet, but he generally had time to throw, and the running game was effective. This unit played well enough to win the game.
Defensive line: D
The defensive side is where the grades start to slip. Ole Miss was picked apart by Kyle Trask, Kyle Pitts and Trevon Grimes, and it is largely because there was virtually no pass rush, putting added stress on an already overmatched secondary. Sam Williams registered the team’s only sack. Ole Miss desperately needs him to be a more consistent pass rusher. Williams missed the bulk of camp with an off-the-field mishap. and he is still working his way back into shape, as is Tavius Robinson, another late arrival to camp.
This was the Rebels’ biggest area of concern going into the year, and this was not a great start. It will likely get better as the season goes on and Williams and Robinson get more acclimated, but Ole Miss boasts no depth here and will struggle mightily if injuries strike or this area doesn’t improve.
Linebackers: B+
Lakia Henry and MoMo Sanogo were Ole Miss’ best players on defense, other than corner Keidron Smith. The Rebels tackled poorly as a team, but the linebacking corps lived up to its billing as being arguably Ole Miss’ best position group. The linebackers were under immense pressure in both the run and passing game because of the struggles in front and behind them, but this unit was by far the best of what was a woeful day defensively.
Secondary: D
The pass rush and coverage woes are a two-pronged issue, so they should naturally get the same grade. This struggling group was picked apart by the SEC’s most accurate passer. There was some thought that this unit would be much improved from a pass defense that was the worst in the SEC last season, but Pitts and Grimes were a brutal initial test from a matchup standpoint, and they torched this secondary.
Ole Miss needs the secondary to be better because of its issues in the pass rush, but conversely, the pass rush put the secondary in some bad spots. This is where the game was won and lost, and this will have to improve if the Rebels want to compete.
Overall, there was both good and bad in this loss for an Ole Miss team that travels to Kentucky next week. Florida looked the part of an SEC East contender, and the Rebels looked like a team and staff in Year 1, still finding their identity.