Preview: Ole Miss vs. Central Arkansas in Vaught-Hemingway
OXFORD, Miss. — There is much one could take away from Ole Miss’ 28-10 win over Troy last Saturday. One main item of note is how the Rebels’ pieces are coming together as the coaching staff continues working with so many newcomers. Forty-four percent of this year’s team (55 of the 125 players) are in their first season with Ole Miss.
With a group full of fresh faces, new stars were bound to emerge and in the first game of the 2022 season, that’s exactly what happened.
Against Troy, Ole Miss showed why it is a hot transfer destination for players looking to shine on a bigger stage. Two of the more notable performances from this past weekend came from a pair of former teammates at TCU who found themselves playing together again — Zach Evans and Khari Coleman.
While on different sides of the ball Evans and Coleman had themselves quite the debut playing their first game in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Evans displayed a well-rounded performance highlighted by his explosive running style en route to 130 yards on the day. Coleman was a tackle-for-loss machine, racking up five on Saturday, while two of the five ended up as sacks as he consistently found his way into the backfield.
Evans wasn’t the only tailback to drop some jaws on Saturday as running back Quinshon Judkins earned himself a spot in the rotation. The true freshman showed great vision to find the open gaps as he amassed 87 rushing yards and scored first collegiate touchdown.
A patient runner, Judkins knows how to use his quick feet and sturdy frame. “He looks like a future pro after one college football game,” said The Rebel Walk’s Dillon Cader.
Highest graded Running Backs from Week 1:
1️⃣ Tank Bigsby: 91.1
2️⃣ Quinshon Judkins: 85.7
3️⃣ Anthony Grant: 85.6 pic.twitter.com/pzVEQtnkmF— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 7, 2022
Central Michigan transfer Troy Brown brought high expectations when he arrived as being one of the top defensive transfers on the market. He certainly has a nose for the ball as he racked up 11 total tackles with seven being solos last week vs. Troy. Brown came to Ole Miss to help replace some of the production from last year’s group including Chance Campbell and Mark Robinson. Those two now find themselves playing on Sundays.
This week Ole Miss hosts FCS opponent Central Arkansas. Like last week, the major headline regarding the Rebels surrounds the quarterback position as the search for Matt Corral’s successor continues. This week, sophomore Luke Altmyer will get the start, following Jaxson Dart’s start last week. Altmyer, a Starkville, Miss. native, saw limited time last week and Kiffin had this to say on the QB situation in his Monday press conference:
“Like I’ve said before, we’d always like to have it figured out. This is not ideal. Luke will go first (versus UCA) in this game. That gives both guys an opportunity to go first. We’ll see how he plays. He didn’t get as many opportunities as we’d have liked.“
Lane Kiffin on the QB battle
The Bears come to Oxford after dropping their first game of the season to Missouri State. Coach Nathan Brown has his hands full this year having to replace his offensive duo of QB Breylin Smith and WR Tyler Hudson. Smith left early for an opportunity in the NFL and Hudson transferred to Louisville.
The offense does return star running back Darius Hale who rushed for over 1,000 yards last season and 99 yards against Missouri State. At QB, the Bears brought in Northern Iowa transfer Will McElvain who has starting experience. On the defensive end, the Bears have an experienced group to the secondary but is led by the Logan Jessup who notched 22 TFL last season.
GAME DETAILS
- Kickoff: Saturday, Sep. 10th, 6:00 PM CT
- TV: SECN+/ESPN+
- Radio:
- OleMissSports.com
- Memphis: WHBQ-AM 560
- Oxford: WOXF-FM 105.1
- Jackson: WFMN-FM 97.3
- Betting Lines: (via odds shark)
- Ole Miss: -32.5
- O/U: 65.5
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Playing an FCS opponent can bring a lot of different mindsets to a team and to a fanbase. But the formula from last week should work again today. The Rebels can establish the run to try and open up the passing game, while being super aggressive on the defensive side to make the opposing team play with pressure.
Establish the Run and let the passing game loose
Last week the Ole Miss offense rushed for 266 yards against Troy. Both Evans and Judkins averaged 6.5 yards per carry, while Dart added 40 yards on the ground, himself. This week, Ole Miss plays an opponent who had to replace some key linebackers, and the Rebels should find success again. The ground game needs to be established early and should set the tone for the contest.
The other half is what we all want to see — the passing game. The 2020 and 2021 Ole Miss offense was fun. Score from far and highlight-worthy plays made the game exciting. This week, the Rebels play an FCS opponent, although Central Arkansas does have a solid secondary for its level. Nevertheless, Ole Miss should look to improve on its performance through the air. Altmyer and Dart should look to make passes at all levels of the field to give some more confidence to the new wide receiver group and show that this offense can be explosive in multiple ways.
Power Through
While it was never in doubt that Ole Miss was going to win after going up 21-3 at half last week against Troy, the second half performance left fans wishing to see more. This week, Ole Miss is 32.5-point favorites over Central Arkansas. While the score matters, we want to see a complete game from this team.
Coach Kiffin knows things didn’t go perfectly in the opening game — which led to some talks on “Tell the Truth” Monday. These meetings discuss “the good, the bad, and the ugly,” as Kiffin described. Look for Ole Miss to bring more focus and discipline as they adjust and tweak things for today’s contest.
Keep up the Defensive Aggression
The Ole Miss defense is looking to be even more aggressive this season than last year. Against Troy, the Landsharks racked up 10 tackles for loss coming from players on all levels of the defense.
This week, Central Arkansas will try to get the ball in Darius Hale’s hands early and often. He was the runner-up for the Jerry Rice award last season. If the Rebels get into the backfield and are successful stopping Hale, that could lead Central Arkansas to lean more heavily on the passing game.
That would be right up Ole Miss alley as UCA QB Will McElvain was sacked seven times last week against Missouri State. The consistent pressure that Missouri State showed might be the blueprint for Ole Miss as McElvain also threw two interceptions as well.
We expect to see a big game from Khari Coleman, KD Hill, Cedric Johnson, and the rest of the Ole Miss pass rush.
Stay tuned to The Rebel Walk for all your game info. Hotty Toddy!
(Feature image credit: Dan Anderson, The Rebel Walk)
TJ Oxley
TJ Oxley is the Vice President of Operations and the Director of Community Relations for The Rebel Walk. He is also the Director of Basketball Content and Senior Basketball Writer. He has over five years of experience providing in-depth analysis of college basketball through multiple platforms. A former MBA graduate of Ole Miss, TJ started with The Rebel Walk in 2019.
