It’s a battle of programs from the SEC on the gridiron as a pair of teams do battle in the Music City trying to secure a victory. The #9 Ole Miss Rebels are on the road as they make the trip to face the Vanderbilt Commodores Saturday night. Ole Miss comes in off a narrow 22-19 home victory over #7 Kentucky in a game where they failed to cover as 6.5-point favorites last Saturday. Vanderbilt had a bye week last week: they were blasted 55-3 by #2 Alabama on the road in their previous game on September 24, failing to cover as a 40.5-point underdog in the game. In the all-time series between the schools, the Rebels own a 54-36-2 advantage and have won the last three contests. That includes a 31-17 home victory in the most recent matchup on November 20, 2021.
Ole Miss survived a couple of close calls against #7 Kentucky in their previous contest but managed to come up with the victory. The Rebels are 5-0 on the year and stand 1-0 in conference action this season as they seek to keep rolling along. Against Kentucky, Ole Miss led 14-0 in the opening quarter and held a 19-6 advantage midway through the second quarter only to see Kentucky rally to tie the game. The Rebels took the lead for good with 2:19 to play and forced a fumble in the closing minute to secure the victory. Ole Miss held a 399-328 advantage in total offense, picked up 19 first downs while allowing 17 and forced two turnovers while committing just one. Both the Rebels’ takeaways came in the red zone, helping offset the fact that Ole Miss lost the time of possession by a 36:53 to 23:07 margin.
On the year, the Rebels are 98th in the nation in passing offense with 208.4 yard s per game through the air and 5th in rushing offense with 261.8 yards per contest on the ground this season. Ole Miss is 30th in the FBS in scoring offense with 37.2 points per game and rank a stingy 7th in scoring defense by allowing 11.8 points per contest. Jaxson Dart is 66 of 111 passing for 910 yards with five touchdowns against three interceptions while adding 241 yards on the ground this season. Luke Altmyer (eight of 17, 125 yards, two TD, INT) and Kinkead Dent (three of five, seven yards) have each seen limited action in a reserve role. Quinshon Judkins leads the team on the ground as he has run the ball 85 times for 535 yards and six scores on the year. Zach Evans (68 carries, 389 yards, five TD) and Ulysses Bentley IV (14 carries, 75 yards, four TD) are next in line in the ground game. Malik Heath leads the team with 19 catches for 320 yards plus three scores on the year. Michael Trigg (16 grabs, 128 yards, three TD), Jonathan Mingo (13 r eceptions, 260 yards, TD) and Jordan Watkins (eight catches, 118 yards) are also solid options in the passing game. Jonathan Cruz has hit all 23 extra point attempts and three of four field goal attempts with a long of 53 this season. Christian Schanefelt hit both extra point attempts while not attempting a field goal this season.