SportsWatch Anchor Browning Stubbs sits down with The Daily Mississippian Sports Editor Dylan Rubino to discuss the Ole Miss vs. Boise State season opener, and they will discuss more about the upcoming season for the Rebels.
The wait is finally over. College football season is upon us.
All of the hype and speculations are coming to an end. Media days, recruiting and preseason camps have wrapped up. It’s time to play football.
For the Rebels, the 2014 season is once again another season surrounded by preseason hype. Many members of the media are picking Ole Miss as a “dark horse” to make a run in the Southeastern Conference.
The 2013 season ended with a bowl win in the Music City Bowl in Nashville against Georgia Tech. However, the Rebels ended the regular season with an overtime loss to Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl 17-10. The taste of defeat losing to your in-state rival will fuel the Rebels to not make mistakes in crucial moments.
The famous recruiting class of 2013 focused more on headlines players to give the Rebels star power for recruiting purposes in the future. The recruiting class this offseason focused more on depth, something the Rebels need to improve on in order to compete with the likes of Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina, LSU and the other big names in the SEC.
Unlike last season, the Rebels have a favorable schedule. Ole Miss opens the season against Boise State and Vanderbilt in NFL stadiums. The exposure of playing in NFL stadiums in the first two games of the season will help with recruiting chance and provide a big game atmosphere to help prepare the younger players for big situations.
The rest of the schedule shapes well for the Rebels, especially the home slate. Alabama, defending conference champion Auburn, Tennessee, and Mississippi State are all at home and provide opportunities to pick up another program building win in front of the home crowd. The road schedule is manageable as trips to LSU, Texas A&M, and Arkansas are in order.
The star sophomores from the 2013 recruiting class, defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche, wide receiver Laquon Treadwell and offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil look to build their resumes from their freshman seasons. Treadwell was named the 2013 SEC freshman of the year and led the team in receptions. Tunsil was the anchor of the offensive line and looks to be one of the best linemen in the SEC. Nkemdiche is the player with all the targets on his back. After his hyped freshman year, Robert looks to be even better his sophomore year and establish himself as not only one of the best defensive players in the SEC but also one of the best in the country.
The secondary for the Rebels will be the bright spot this season. Led by senior safety Cody Prewitt, and senior cornerback Senquez Golson, the ball-hawking secondary will create turnovers and limit chances in the passing game in the SEC, where the conference is replacing many starting quarterbacks.
Bo Wallace runs the ball during the game against Troy last season. (DM File Photo)
Starting quarterback Bo Wallace returns for the Rebels as the most experienced quarterback in the SEC. This season he will be the healthiest the quarterback he has ever been. His arm strength is back at 100 percent after suffering from injuries to his throwing shoulder. As long as Wallace can cut down on the turnovers and stay healthy, the Rebel offense has the potential to be one of the highest scoring and most efficient in the SEC.
There are some questions that surround the Rebels this season, including depth at wide receiver and the offensive line. The offensive line is young and very thin when it comes to depth, so injury to one of the big men up front will cause problems. Behind Laquon Treadwell at receiver, players like sophomore Quincy Abeboyejo, senior Vince Sanders, freshman Markell Pack and junior Cody Core will be the names you will hear on the depth chart. Any injury suffered to the core of wide receivers will hurt the production of the offense.
The schedule is favorable. The key players on both sides of the football are healthy, and a dedicated coaching staff led by head coach Hugh Freeze will build the 2014 Rebels into a contender the city of Oxford and Rebel fans everywhere have been dying to see. Expect at least a nine-win season from the 2014 Ole Miss Rebels.
-Dylan Rubino
