The Ole Miss Rebels have been well known for their high-octane offenses dating to 2012, when Hugh Freeze was hired. They’ve been able to develop quarterbacks and wide receivers as well as anyone and their production levels have been among the best nationally in that span.

Their great weakness on offense, however, was always the run game, and it always put them in a tough position because even when teams dropped everyone back into coverage the Rebels still couldn’t run the ball. Facing 6-, 5-, 4-, even 3-man fronts, they still couldn’t run the ball effectively.

The stats didn’t lie. In 2012, the Rebels finished fifth in the SEC in rushing at 174 yards per game. They finished 7th or worse in each of the past five seasons. Last season they averaged just 133 yards per game, 11th in the SEC.

Their inability to run made the offense remarkably unbalanced and forced the passing game to literally pick up all of the slack, which led to countless 3rd-and-long situations praying Bo Wallace or Chad Kelly would once again bail them out.

Freeze could recruit quarterbacks (JUCOs particularly), receivers and offensive linemen at a very high level, but for some reason he could never recruit running backs very well, nor could he develop those he did sign.

That’s not to say they failed to sign any highly rated RBs. From 2012-17 they signed six 4-star running backs (as rated by 247sports), but really only one made much of an impact.

I’Tavius Mathers (2012 signing class) had an underwhelming career in Oxford — the highlight being when he led the team in rushing in 2013 with 563 yards — before transferring to MTSU. Kailo Moore (2012) moved to CB after one season. Mark Dodson (2013) played two subpar seasons before transferring to Murray State. Eric Swinney (2015) has missed multiple seasons with numerous leg injuries. D’Vaughn Pennamon tallied just 275-yards over two seasons before tearing his ACL last year and will likely miss most of 2018.

The one guy who made much of an impact was Jordan Wilkins (2013), who, in 2017, became just the fifth 1,000-yard rusher in school history. Toward the end of the season, when he was really picking up steam, the offense was, for the first time in years, finally balanced. By the time they finally had a back they had confidence in and who could force defenses to play them honestly, he was off to the NFL, picked in the 5th round by the Indianapolis Colts.

Entering 2018, everyone knew the passing attack, led by QB Jordan Ta’amu and WRs A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf and DaMarkus Lodge would be remarkably potent, as usual. But once again, the rushing attack was a major concern. The leading returning rusher was Swinney, with 42 career carries. Other returning backs were D.K. Buford, with 24 carries over 3 years and Armani Linton, a converted CB playing RB for the first time since high school. Despite fielding a talented and experienced offensive line, the concerns at running back were very real.

The Rebels obviously had to sign a back in the 2017 class, one who not only would have to compete for the starting job right away, but likely win the job and make an impact this year.

The guy they signed was ranked by 247sports as the No. 65 JUCO prospect in the country, a middle-of-the-road 3-star prospect with just a handful of offers coming out of Jones County Junior College. The guy they signed was Scottie Phillips.

Most accounts out of camp were that the coaches had a quiet confidence in Phillips. They didn’t bluster to the local media that they had a future star on their hands and bestow monstrous expectations on their recently named starting RB. How he would perform against a Texas Tech defense that was being touted as one of the best the school has had in recent years was one of the focal points for fans, pundits and coaches alike in the nationally televised Week 1 matchup in Houston.

I think it’s safe to say he made his presence felt in that game.

Phillips not only met but blew past any previous expectations on him. He exploded for 204 yards on 16 carries (12.8 yards per carry) with 2 TDs, becoming just the first 200-yard rusher for Ole Miss since 2010. He broke off runs of 65, 44 and 39 yards, providing the offense with the balance and threat out of the backfield the offense was looking for. He was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance.

He showed excellent patience, allowing the line to do their job and make their blocks. He showed excellent vision and anticipation, knowing where seams would be before they were even open. He showed the burst to get to the second level and the extra gear to go the distance once he was there. He was decisive, making one cut and quickly getting north-south with the lower body power to shrug off arm tackles. He was a dynamo who could rush inside and outside, forcing the defense to account for him.

Wearing No. 22 it was hard at times not to feel like you were watching a highlight reel from the Deuce McAllister days.

Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Phillips, 5-8, 212 pounds, looks like he could be the real deal, and he should do wonders for the offense this year. With defenses forced to play the run game honestly, the Rebels will see far more single-man coverages on the outside, because you simply can’t double everyone in addition to putting safeties in Cover-2.

I don’t know if you’ve seen the Rebels receivers yet, but they absolutely annihilate single-man coverage. Those 50-50 balls? For them, particularly with Ta’amu showing excellent touch on deep balls like he did Saturday, are more like 80-20 or 90-10 balls in favor of the Rebels.

Crafting strong defensive game plans against this offense, especially with what we’ve seen from Phillips, will truly be a struggle, even for the extraordinarily talented defenses like Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Mississippi State.

The one serious concern that the Rebels left the game with was what’s behind Phillips. If the game against Texas Tech is any indication, they have a rock star in Phillips but nothing behind him. Take away Phillips in that game, the Rebels’ reserve backs of Isaiah Woullard and Tylan Knight rushed the ball 5 times for 1 yard. Ta’amu was actually the second leading rusher with 7 yards on 6 carries.

It certainly appears that losing Phillips for any amount of extended time could be catastrophic.

But we won’t go down that road for now. For now, fans of the Rebels should simply be thrilled with the performance of their team, particularly their new RB.

Scottie Phillips, the guy who could take this offense to levels Oxford hasn’t seen in a long, long time.