Ole Miss football is fresh off an 8-5 season and a nice 23-13 start to the Lane Kiffin tenure. The program seems to be heading in the right direction despite taking a two-win step back in 2022.
The Rebels return starting quarterback Jaxson Dart while also bringing in Spencer Sanders and Walker Howard to push for the job. While Dart is my pick to be the starter again, I believe that the competition behind him is only going to make him better.
Will that yield better results in 2023?
Here are my boldest predictions for this year’s Rebels.
3. Ole Miss upsets LSU
LSU has dominated this series over the past decade as Ole Miss has won just two games since vacating the 2013 victory over the Tigers. It’s been pretty one-sided and many expect that to continue in 2023 given the fact that LSU will be one of the best teams in the country.
Not so fast.
The last time these two teams met in Oxford, Ole Miss pulled off the win and I’m predicting the same result this time around.
While I’m very high on LSU, I think Ole Miss is going to pull off a shocking upset or two this season simply based on their talent level and the fact that Oxford is a tough place for opponents. LSU comes to town on Sept. 30 and I see Ole Miss picking up a huge win to improve to 4-1 — yes, I’m also predicting a big road win over Tulane.
If Ole Miss starts out 4-1, I think it ranks in the top 15 and people will start hyping up Jaxson Dart as a Heisman contender and Lane Kiffin as coach of the year while saying the Rebels are playoff bound.
Have to love extreme overreactions.
2. Quinshon Judkins wins the Doak Walker Award
Is it crazy to believe that Quinshon Judkins will win the Doak Walker Award? Absolutely not.
As a freshman in 2022, Judkins put up some insane numbers, rushing for 1,567 yards and 16 touchdowns after he was projected to back up TCU transfer Zach Evans. He exceeded all expectations and I don’t think he’s done yet. Plus, he was a Doak Walker finalist last year.
Judkins is only going to get better.
As the clear starter and workhorse back, I expect Judkins to at least match his gaudy numbers from last season. I think he rushes for nearly 1,800 yards and 15 touchdowns. That should be good enough to not only win him the Doak Walker Award but get him into the Heisman conversation.
I’m buying all the Judkins stock.
1. Ole Miss wins 10 games again
It’s hard to believe that you can count on one hand the number of 10-win seasons Ole Miss has had since the 1960s, but that’s just the reality of the program. The Rebels haven’t had elite success in a while, but Lane Kiffin is changing that.
Two years ago, the Rebels won 10 regular-season games before losing to Baylor in the Sugar Bowl due, in large part, to Matt Corral’s injury.
Kiffin and the Rebels will win 10 again this year.
Although the 10 wins won’t all come in the regular season, it will still mark a nearly unprecedented occurrence at Ole Miss. The Rebels hadn’t won 10 games two times in a three-season span in over 50 years. That’s a great sign for the future of the program under Kiffin.
I see Ole Miss starting the season 7-2 before heading to Georgia and picking up its third loss. The Rebels will win the final two games and finish the regular season 9-3 before picking up their first bowl win under Kiffin.