Ole Miss Preview 2018: It should be entertaining

Ole Miss was one of the most entertaining teams of 2017. You can’t argue with that. If it wasn’t arguing its case about bribing different players to come play in Oxford, then it was the head coach getting ousted for making calls to escorts in Tampa and not using a burner to do it. And then came the actual college football season, where they dropped about 32 points on teams using a high-octane offense and gave up about 35 using a defense with more holes than the Titanic. It was pretty awesome.

In the off-season of 2018, it’s been a bit of a step-up because there hasn’t be a dead hooker found in a school locker, although QB Shea Patterson managed to get away from Oxford to go to Michigan, and WR Van Jefferson, who was the team’s second-highest receiver, transferred to Florida.

How will things fare this year? The fans don’t think it’ll be great – season ticket sales are down compared to 2017, but things might go otherwise.

HIGH-OCTANE OFFENSE

The best WR in the SEC is back in Oxford. Now Ole Miss can only pray he remains healthy. That’s AJ Brown, who’s freshman season yielded a mind-boggling 1,252 yards and 11 TDs. He’s already spent a little bit of the offseason out with a hamstring injury, and Ole Miss fans want the bad juju done now rather than in the fall.

Quarterbacks-wise, the loss of Patterson really isn’t as big as people make out. Patterson only played in 7 games in 2017, but the end of the season was taken over by Jordan Ta’amu, who threw for 1,684 yards and 11 TDs with 4 INTs. During that time he was more accurate than Patterson, and he’s also more of a running threat than Patterson. That’s not to say that Patterson won’t have a better career in Ann Arbor, but Oxford is hardly going to crumble with this kid playing.

As well as Brown, Ta’amu will be throwing to DeMarkus Lodge (698 yards, 7 TDs) and DK Metkalf (646 yards, 7 TDs), which means that even without Jefferson, secondaries will have a lot to fear.

D’Vaughn Pennamon and Eric Swinney will lead the way rushing, although we’re probably less enthused about them than if now-left RB Jordan Wilkins (1,011 yards, 9 TDs) hadn’t taken so much of the workload. Pennamon and Swinney will have a heck of a job to do.

The Rebs also bring back 4 starters from the line, which should make things interesting.

BUT CAN THEY PLAY DEFENSE?

If 2017’s anything to go by, then the answer’s no. Leading tackler DeMarquis Gates and top-sack artists Breeland Speaks and Marquis Haynes are all gone. That’s not great. Although the team’s bringing back a lot, they weren’t great tacklers in the first place, so it’s doesn’t fill us with confidence.

After the unit had just had 8 INTs, things have to improve in that region, too. CJ Moore and Javien Hamilton – who had 3 INTs each last year – are both back, but…..but….You get it. We don’t hold out a lot of hope.

PREDICTION

Sept. 1 vs. Texas Tech (in Houston)
Sept. 8 Southern Illinois
Sept. 15 Alabama
Sept. 22 Kent State
Sept. 29 at LSU
Oct. 6 ULM
Oct. 13 at Arkansas
Oct. 20 Auburn
Oct. 27 OPEN DATE
Nov. 3 South Carolina
Nov. 10 at Texas A&M
Nov. 17 at Vanderbilt
Nov. 22 Mississippi State

Ole Miss has nothing to lose, so it’s going to let it all hang out next season. We think they’ll start the season with wins over Texas Tech and Southern Illinois before getting beaten by Alabama in a tighter game than most people expect. They’ll roll Kent State, lose at LSU, beat ULM and lose the funnest game of the SEC season to Arkansas – possibly in a game that sees both teams hit 50 points. We think they lose a trio of games to Auburn, Texas A&M and South Carolina before smashing Vanderbilt and losing a tight one to Mississippi State. 

SO WE THINK: 5-7. But even without the team going to a bowl game (or even having a chance to bearing in mind the sanctions), it’ll be so much fun to watch.