OFFENSE: B-

The Ole Miss offense found its groove in the fourth quarter, but it was largely inconsistent for most of Saturday’s 24-3 win over Memphis. The Rebels mustered just seven points through three quarters, and turned the ball over four times to allow Memphis to hang around well into the second half. Bo Wallace threw two bad interceptions and lost a fumble when he was consumed by a Tigers pass rush, but when the Rebels weren’t turning the ball over, they looked pretty solid on offense. Ole Miss amassed more than 400 yards of total offense, and a struggling rushing attack posted 178 yards at better than four yards per carry against Memphis. Wideout Laquon Treadwell had a breakout game with 123 yards and two touchdowns, and seven other Rebels also caught passes in the victory. Had Ole Miss not suffered through turnovers and penalties (10 for 117 yards, although not all the penalties were committed by the offense) it might have scored 40 or more points in this game. The offense still has plenty of upside, but it cannot afford to play this sloppy again next week against Alabama.

DEFENSE: A+

The Rebels were superb on defense, besting the Tigers in every area imaginable. Memphis managed just 103 yards of total offense for the entire game, and recorded only 13 first downs, five of which were given to them on Ole Miss penalties. The Tigers stout rushing attack only racked up 22 yards on 31 carries, an average of fewer than 1 yard per carry, and the passing game managed just 80 yards through the air for the game. Ole Miss forced two turnovers of its own in addition to four sacks of Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch, and the only times Memphis ever threatened to score points came on drives following a Rebels turnover. There’s no need to look much further into an obviously dominant performance by the Ole Miss defense, and assigning the defense an A+ is the perfect reward for a great game.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C

The Ole Miss special teams were suspect at times against the Tigers, beginning with kickoff specialist Gary Wunderlich’s ejection in the first quarter during an altercation involving punches thrown between the two teams. Fellow place kicker Andrew Fletcher made just 1 of 3 field goal tries, costing his team six points in what was a 7-3 game at the time of both kicks. Return specialist Markell Pack muffed a punt to set Memphis up with great field position, and the Rebels did not break a single kickoff or punt return of longer than 22 yards all game. Punter Will Gleeson looked sharp as always, averaging more than 46 yards on his four punts with two landing inside Memphis’ 20 yard line, but he was the only member of the special teams not to falter against the Tigers. All in all, the special teams must step up next week against a talented Crimson Tide team capable of capitalizing on any and every mistake.