Kickoff Keys to the Game: Ole Miss at Vanderbilt
OXFORD, Miss. — It’s Halloween, a Blue Moon, and 2020……so you know there is something big brewing on this Rebel business trip up I-40 to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores (0-3).
Ole Miss stands at (1-4) after losing to Auburn, 35-28, (some of that at the hands of some sketchy officiating). To top it off, the Rebels walked away with more than a loss as Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin was fined $25K by the SEC after he called out the refs via a retweet criticizing them for not reviewing a crucial play in the game.
The biggest challenge for the Rebels is having the offense and defense clicking at the same time, and with one of the toughest schedules, there isn’t a lot of opportunity to work on the kinks game by game.
On the other side of the field, you have a team in the Commodores who is in a far worse predicament. Head coach Derek Mason’s team has been plagued by the COVID outbreak, playing with almost the bare minimum. Vandy is averaging just 2.9 yards per carry — along with two turnovers per game — and their true freshman QB Ken Seals is having a heck of a time finding his authority over this offense.
So what’s its going to take for the Rebels to get off to a great start in the second half of this season?
Here are your Kickoff Keys to the Game against Vandy.
If anything, this season has shown teams they can’t take any game lightly, no matter who the opponent. The same mentality must be at the forefront today for Coach Kiffin and the Rebels. I heard a high school coach say ‘If your mind is right, you’re going to play right.’ You have to focus on what you have to do each play and attack it. I don’t think it could be put more simply than that. Today it’s about balance and execution, translating what you practice and preach into action on the field.
Keep The Offensive Momentum Strong
Vandy isn’t coming in with much of a defense, ranking near the bottom in most categories. But the key for the Rebels here will be to put points on the board quickly, control the clock, and strike via the air and the ground, putting pressure on the Vandy defense and hopefully wearing out the Commodores.
Finish what you start and control the tempo and the tone!
Bring Defense
The Ole Miss defense has played much better as of late, and we have seen a glimpse of the Landsharks making some big plays and getting some big stops. There will be no better place to continue this than putting the fright into a rookie Vandy signal-caller and getting him flustered. Rebel defense, you need to win the one-on-one battles and make every play count.
The Rebel defense has forced a turnover in four of their five games this season and is tied for fourth in the SEC in fumbles recovered. Sam Williams is tied for second in the league with six tackles for loss, averaging 1.20 per game.
Create Opportunities
Continuing the theme of ‘every play counts,’ the Rebs need to make sure to settle into this game and control their play from start to finish, which means creating opportunities when it comes to winning the turnover and third and fourth-down conversion battles.
This Ole Miss team is on the verge of something bigger; I can feel it. All they need to do is play a complete game, from start to finish, both offense and defense, and they can turn things around the second stretch of the season.
This has been one hell of a peculiar year for football, so the Rebels definitely can’t disregard the Commodores. This is a good time to start working on gelling as a team and playing a complete game.
I have the Rebels Tricking and Treating in Nashville, 36-14, over the Commodores! Happy Halloween, Rebels! All Aboard!
Lee Ann Herring-Olvedo
Lee Ann serves as the Director of Recruiting for The Rebel Walk. She sees college football the way championship programs do—from inside the personnel room. Every evaluation, every roster move, every recruiting battle tells a bigger story about identity, culture, and how a program is built to win in December, not just July.
With more than 15 years covering the SEC and the national recruiting landscape, Herring-Olvedo has built a reputation as one of the sport’s most respected personnel-driven voices—blending film evaluation, roster construction, and long-term program vision through a true front-office lens. Her coverage of powerhouse brands like Ole Miss Rebels and Kentucky Wildcatshas consistently gone beyond headlines, focusing instead on the blueprint behind winning programs: development, fit, culture, and recruiting strategy.
That foundation was formed early at Brown University, where she worked in player personnel and recruiting while competing as a student-athlete. Inside those recruiting operations rooms, she learned how elite organizations are truly built—through relentless evaluation, relationship building, projection, and trust in the board. Those experiences shaped the way she studies the game today: part scout, part storyteller, part architect.
Her analysis and reporting have appeared across major platforms including ESPN, NFL coverage spaces, USA Today Sports, and Saturday Down South. She also brought her personnel-minded approach to the airwaves as an on-air analyst for the Wake Up 502 College Football Show on Big X Sports Radio 96.1, where she became known for combining film-room detail with a wider understanding of roster identity and program trajectory.
In 2025, covering the rise of Houston Cougars football under Willie Fritz reignited the part of the sport that first drew her into football—the culture, the edge, the belief that a roster can reshape an entire city. That inspiration led to the launch of Coogs 365 Sports, a platform built to cover Houston athletics through a true scouting and recruiting lens while connecting the emotion of the game to the heartbeat of H-Town.
Now, Herring-Olvedo returns to The Rebel Walk where with an even deeper perspective shaped by years inside recruiting circles, national SEC coverage, and hands-on evaluation experience. Her return brings a familiar voice back to Ole Miss coverage—but with an evolved lens rooted in roster architecture, player development, and the modern realities of building championship-caliber football in the NIL and portal era.
For Herring-Olvedo, recruiting has never been about stars beside a name. It is about identifying competitors, projecting growth, and building a locker room capable of sustaining success. Her philosophy mirrors the best front offices in football: stack traits, trust culture, and never stop building.
