Ole Miss Football: 2018 Game-by-game predictions
Vanderbilt posed a real threat when James Franklin was calling the shots. The same story hasn’t been true since Derek Mason arrived. The Commodores surrendered 57 points to the Rebels last season in one Shea Patterson‘s final starts in Oxford. Patterson lit up their secondary to the tune of 351 yards and four touchdowns.
It should be more of the same in 2018. Vanderbilt is going to have a hard time keeping up with the pace of the Ole Miss offense. Quarterback Kyle Shurmur took major strides last season, but his lack of weapons in the passing game made a consistent aerial threat challenging for the ‘Dores.
A challenged offense plus a defense that won’t be able to stop the run bodes well for the Rebels. Even without Jordan Wilkins in the backfield they’ll have more than enough punch to cut through a Vandy defense that ranked in the bottom third of the conference last year.