Ole Miss has four games remaining to complete the 2019 season. The good news is that, with the Rebels sitting at 3-5 overall and  2-3 in the SEC, head coach Matt Luke has an opportunity to get the team to six wins and get it to the postseason for the first time since 2015.

The bad news?

The games remaining are against Auburn, LSU, New Mexico State and Mississippi State.

If Ole Miss wins three of four with this schedule, it might be its best finish to a season in recent history. Odds are, the Rebels will have a hard time beating Auburn and LSU and will finish a season full of head-scratching decisions at 4-8 or 5-7. The lone question mark will come at season’s end against the Bulldogs in Starkville, as the in-state rival has had its own struggles of late.

Ole Miss will end the season with a few glaring questions

Here are the most obvious questions Ole Miss fans have. How would this team have finished had it won the games it was in late? How about if it had finished off wins against Memphis, California and Missouri?

Can you imagine the enthusiasm at the Manning Center for a team that was 5-3 heading into a game against Auburn, with a freshman quarterback in John Rhys Plumlee or Matt Corral? Add in freshman lineman Nick Broeker, freshman running back Jerrion Ealy and freshman wide receiver Jonathan Mingo.

Mississippi freshman running back Jerrion Ealy has 384 yards and 8.0 yards per carry this season. Photo by: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

You can see the direction I am going: There is a lot of youth on this team that the staff has depended on. Should the season include wins over the aforementioned, the direction of the program and the fan temperature are totally different.

Luke isn’t coaching for his job, but it is really close

The Gulfport, Miss., native could have helped his job security by finding a way to win the close games. He hasn’t done that, and many Ole Miss fans are done with him. The angst of the fan base stems from the fact that the university as a whole is in complete disarray, with no full-time athletic director and a new chancellor who was hired under tremendous scrutiny.

Interim athletic director Keith Carter has done a tremendous job in the short term, but he doesn’t appear to be the long-term solution to new chancellor Glenn Boyce.

The die has been cast for Luke, and I believe he needs another season. He inherited a mess left by head coach Hugh Freeze, who was fired after leaving the program, once on a Sugar Bowl pedestal, a shell of itself.

Luke has recruited well and developed a great staff of recruiters and coaches. All but one facet of being a head coach has improved during Luke’s tenure.

That one is on the scoreboard, and that is the one of utmost importance.

The Egg Bowl

Luke could quell a lot of uncertainty by winning the final game of the season against Mississippi State. That could give the Rebels a little momentum heading into the recruiting season, and possibly get some fans back that have fallen off along the way.

The Bulldogs could be in the same boat if they cannot turn their season around. Head coach Joe Moorhead might need an Egg Bowl win more than his Ole Miss counterpart for his job security.

This game is one in which you can throw out the record books. Many times over the past 20 years, the less talented team has won. It is up to you to decide which team that is this season.