Following four warmup contests against unimpressive competition to open 2024, Ole Miss now gets set for the harsh reality of the Southeastern Conference.
Ranked No. 6 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, the Rebels will host Kentucky to begin SEC play on Saturday in Oxford, Miss.
Despite having beaten visiting Georgia Southern 52-13 last week, its fourth straight rout by at least 34 points, Ole Miss (4-0) slipped one spot in the poll. Tennessee — one of nine SEC schools in the Top 25 — climbed to No. 5 with a 25-15 road victory over the Oklahoma, which was ranked 15th heading into that contest.
Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart tops FBS quarterbacks with an average of 388.5 passing yards per game, and he is tied for fourth in passing TDs with 12. The Rebels pace the nation in total yards (670.8 per game), passing yards (422.8 per game) and scoring (55 points per game).
The Wildcats (2-2, 0-2 SEC) are 0-3 against Ole Miss during 12th-year coach Mark Stoops’ tenure. Kentucky lost most recently 22-19 in Oxford two years ago, and before that, the Wildcats fell 42-41 in overtime in 2020 and 37-34 in 2017, both on their home field in Lexington.
Three losses by a combined seven points.
“(Kentucky) took Georgia down to the wire and ran for over 200 yards (against Ohio last week),” said Rebels coach Lane Kiffin, who is 2-0 against the Wildcats. “They very much look like an NFL defense … from the size standpoint and coverages and techniques.
“That’s why a lot of people struggle against them. (Their) games seem like NFL games: hard to make yards, hard to run the ball.”
Kiffin compared his Rebels to a fishing excursion, saying the group was a great boat with fine rods and the right bait for the trek through SEC waters.
“They have a chance to be really elite and have a chance to be really special,” he added.
Ole Miss will encounter a team still working to find itself through four home games. Kentucky has performed inconsistently in its two SEC contests — struggling mightily in the first yet standing tall and nearly shocking the college football world in the second.
In between Week 1 and Week 4 blowouts over Southern Miss and Ohio, respectively, the Wildcats played a sloppy SEC-opening game against South Carolina. Kentucky turned the ball over twice (one a pick-six), committed 11 penalties and allowed five sacks and 11 tackles for loss in a messy 31-6 setback.
However, as a three-touchdown home underdog, Kentucky lost 13-12 against then-No. 1 Georgia, getting four field goals from Alex Raynor (two longer than 50 yards) but succumbing to the Bulldogs’ rally after holding a 9-6 fourth-quarter lead.
“We’re accepting the challenge,” said defensive back Maxwell Hairston, who had a pick-six in the Wildcats’ 41-6 rout of Ohio last week. “Ole Miss has got a very explosive offense … We’re going to watch film, do what we have to do.”
Said Stoops: “I know Ole Miss is better in a lot of ways as well, to credit Lane. I mean, they’ve always been good, but I think they have really built a really special team.”
Kentucky wide receiver Dane Key had a big performance against the Bobcats, snagging seven passes for 145 yards as the Wildcats put up 488 total yards.
The Rebels lead 29-14-1 in the all-time series.
