Ole Miss Football: Ranking 2020 opponents by toughness

Chad Lunsford has created one of the nation’s better rush offenses during his three seasons in Statesboro. At 253.2 yards per game, Georgia Southern’s offense ranked second in the Sun Belt, and seventh in the country in rushing.

The two-headed attack of Wesley Kennedy and JD King combined for over 1600 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2019. Quarterback Shai Werts added 733 yards and five touchdowns of his own, to go along with 799 yards through the air and nine passing touchdowns.

The Eagles have the nation’s least productive passing offense, but that’s by design. This is a team that runs the ball extremely well, and they’ve got a history of frustrating teams from power conferences.

Derek Mason’s Commodores feature the SEC’s least productive offense and arguably its worst defense as well. The offense finished last in the conference in scoring, rushing, and total offense, and 13th in passing. The defense was 13th in scoring, rushing, and total, and 10th in passing.

Needless to say, times are tough in Nashville. They’re made even tougher when you consider that all three quarterbacks with FBS experience, Riley Neal, Deuce Wallace, and Mo Hasan, have all departed. 1,000-yard rusher Ke’Shawn Vaughn is gone as well.

The defense returns 11 starters, so there’s potential for improvement there. However, it’s tough to see Vandy as more than a slight bump in the road for most of the SEC.