Ole Miss Picked to Finish Fourth, Lands Six on Media Preseason All-SEC Team

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.– (Release) Ole Miss football was predicted to finish fourth, while six Rebels were selected to the Preseason All-SEC team on Friday in a vote by media members at the 2024 SEC Media Days this past week.

Representing Ole Miss on the media’s All-SEC team are senior wide receiver Tre Harris (first-team), senior tight end Caden Prieskorn (first-team), junior defensive tackle Walter Nolen (first-team), senior defensive end Jared Ivey (second-team), senior running back Ulysses Bentley IV (third-team) and senior defensive end Princely Umanmielen (third-team).

With 2,783 points in the team poll, the Rebels trail only Georgia (3,330), Texas (3,041) and Alabama (2,891) in the hunt for the first SEC title with no divisions since 1991. The participants of the game will be determined during the eight-game regular-season conference schedule as the teams with the two best overall SEC winning percentages. Only nine times since 1992 (32 years) has the predicted champion prior to the season at SEC Media Days proceeded to win the SEC Championship Game.

Ole Miss is coming off its first 11-win season in the 129-year history of the program, capped by a victory over Penn State in the 2023 Peach Bowl. Head coach Lane Kiffin – who enters his fifth season in Oxford this fall – guided the Rebels to a balanced attack in 2023, finishing within the FBS top-15 in yards per completion (10th, 14.5), passing efficiency (12th, 162.9) and total offense (13th, 461.9), while also leading the nation in fewest turnovers (7) and leading the SEC and ranking fifth nationally in turnover margin (+11).

Harris – a 2023 Biletnikoff Award watch list member – enters his second year at Ole Miss after a breakout campaign last fall that saw him nab 54 catches for 985 yards and eight touchdowns – four of which came in his first game as a Rebel against Mercer to break the single-game school record. His 213 yards vs. Texas A&M also ranks as the sixth-best game in Ole Miss history, making him the lone Rebel receiver all-time and one of five in the FBS since 2021 with both a 200-yard game and four-touchdown game receiving. Harris’ eight scores rank tied for sixth in the Ole Miss single-season records, while his 985 yards rank seventh. Harris ended 2023 within the SEC top-10 in receiving touchdowns (fourth), yards per reception (fourth, 18.2), receiving yards (fifth), receiving yards per game (fifth, 82.1) and receptions per game (ninth, 4.5).

Prieskorn was a second-team member of the Coaches All-SEC team after a strong first season with the Rebels in 2023, capped by a spectacular performance in the Peach Bowl that earned him Offensive MVP honors. Despite missing the first three games due to injury, Prieskorn ended the year with a final line of 30 catches for 449 yards and four touchdowns – a big portion of which came in the Peach Bowl against Penn State. In Atlanta, Prieskorn exploded for an Ole Miss bowl game record 10 receptions for 136 yards and two touchdowns and a two-point conversion. In 2023, Prieskorn led all SEC tight ends with 14.97 yards per reception.

Nolen – a unanimous five-star transfer and the nation’s No. 2 overall transfer according to both On3 and Rivals – is in his first season at Ole Miss after transferring from Texas A&M this past offseason. Nolen appeared in 22 career games for the Aggies, including 10 starts on the defensive line in 2023. The former prep Under Armour All-American registered 37 total tackles last year with 8.5 tackles for loss and four sacks as a sophomore.

Ivey enters his third season as a mainstay on Ole Miss’ defensive line and is coming off a career season of wreaking havoc for the Rebel defense in 2023. Ivey notched career-highs in tackles (46), tackles for loss (11.5) and sacks (5.5) while adding two fumble recoveries and a pass breakup on the season. He led the Rebel defense in TFL and was tied for the lead in sacks, and one of his two fumble recoveries proved crucial in Ole Miss’ 37-20 victory at No. 22 Tulane, scooping up Khari Coleman’s fourth-quarter sack fumble and scoring from 26 yards out. Ivey was a one-man wrecking crew for the Rebels in the Peach Bowl as well, earning Defensive MVP honors after notching five tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, one fumble recovery, one QB hurry and a pass breakup in the win over the Nittany Lions.

Bentley is also now in his third season as a Rebel and is coming off a full season of action after missing more than half of the 2022 campaign due to injury. Bentley ended 2023 with 540 yards rushing and four scores on 95 total carries, while also adding 87 yards and a touchdown through the air on 11 total receptions. Additionally, Bentley handled the majority of kickoffs for the Rebels last season, returning 14 kicks for 272 yards.

Umanmielen enters his first season at Ole Miss as another key addition in the Rebels’ No. 1 rated transfer class. The senior defensive end comes to Oxford from Florida, where he had a career season with the Gators in 2023 with 39 tackles while leading the team in both TFL (11.5) and sacks (7.0). The 2023 All-SEC second team honoree also registered a team-high 17 quarterback hurries. In his four-year career with Florida, Umanmielen amassed 24.5 tackles for loss and 15 sacks in 45 career games.

Less than 50 days remain until the start of the 2024 college football season. Stay up to date on the latest news, info and content surrounding the Rebels: sign up for The Sip, the official content newsletter of Ole Miss Football.

PRESEASON SEC FOOTBALL MEDIA POLL

Predicted Order of Finish
1. Georgia – 3,330 points
2. Texas – 3,041 points
3. Alabama – 2,891 points
4. Ole Miss – 2,783 points
5. LSU – 2,322 points
6. Missouri – 2,240 points
7. Tennessee – 2,168 points
8. Oklahoma – 2,022 points
9. Texas A&M – 1,684 points
10. Auburn – 1,382 points
11. Kentucky – 1,371 points
12. Florida – 1,146 points
13. South Carolina – 923 points
14. Arkansas – 749 points
15. Mississippi State – 623 points
16. Vanderbilt – 293 points

First-Team All-SEC

QB – Carson Beck, Georgia
RB – Trevor Etienne, Georgia
RB – Jarquez Hunter, Auburn
WR – Luther Burden III, Missouri
WR – Tre Harris, Ole Miss
TE – Caden Prieskorn, Ole Miss
OL – Tyler Booker, Alabama
OL – Will Campbell, LSU
OL – Kelvin Banks Jr., Texas
OL – Tate Ratledge, Georgia
C – Cooper Mays, Tennessee

DL – James Pearce Jr., Tennessee
DL – Walter Nolen, Ole Miss
DL – Deone Walker, Kentucky
DL – Nazir Stackhouse, Georgia
LB – Harold Perkins, LSU
LB – Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma
*LB – Deontae Lawson, Alabama
*LB – Mykel Williams, Georgia
DB – Malaki Starks, Georgia
DB – Malachi Moore, Alabama
DB – Billy Bowman, Oklahoma
DB – Maxwell Hairston, Kentucky

P – James Burnip, Alabama
PK – Bert Auburn, Texas
LS – Kneeland Hibbett, Alabama
KS – Alex McPherson, Auburn
RS – Barion Brown, Kentucky
AP – Zavion Thomas, LSU

Second-Team All-SEC

QB – Quinn Ewers, Texas
RB – Raheim Sanders, Arkansas
*RB – CJ Baxter, Texas
*RB – Montrell Johnson Jr., Florida
WR – Isaiah Bond, Texas
WR – Kyren Lacy, LSU
TE – Mason Taylor, LSU
OL – Emery Jones, LSU
OL – Kadyn Proctor, Alabama
OL – Xavier Truss, Georgia
OL – Dylan Fairchild, Georgia
C – Parker Brailsford, Alabama

DL – Shemar Turner, Texas A&M
DL – Landon Jackson, Arkansas
DL – Nic Scourton, Texas A&M
*DL – Tim Smith, Alabama
*DL – Jared Ivey, Ole Miss
LB – Debo Williams, South Carolina
LB – Anthony Hill Jr., Texas
LB – Smael Mondon Jr., Georgia
DB – Jahdae Barron, Texas
DB – Major Burns, LSU
DB – Andrew Mukuba, Texas
DB – Malik Muhammad, Texas

P – Brett Thorson, Georgia
PK – Graham Nicholson, Alabama
LS – Hunter Rogers, South Carolina
KS – Will Stone, Texas
RS – Zavion Thomas, LSU
AP – Dillion Bell, Georgia

Third-Team All-SEC

QB – Jalen Milroe, Alabama
RB – Justice Haynes, Alabama
RB – Ulysses Bentley IV, Ole Miss
WR – Deion Burks, Oklahoma
WR – Dominic Lovett, Georgia
TE – Oscar Delp, Georgia
OL – Earnest Greene III, Georgia
OL – Marques Cox, Kentucky
OL – Trey Zuhn III, Texas A&M
OL – Jaeden Roberts, Alabama
C – Jake Majors, Texas

DL – Tim Keenan III, Alabama
DL – Princely Umanmielen, Ole Miss
DL – Trey Moore, Texas
DL – Tonka Hemingway, South Carolina
LB – Jamon “Pop” Dumas-Johnson, Kentucky
LB – Jihaad Campbell, Alabama
LB – Eugene Asante, Auburn
DB – Domani Jackson, Alabama
DB – Daylen Everette, Georgia
DB – Jason Marshall Jr., Florida
*DB – Keon Sabb, Alabama
*DB – Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina

P – Jeremy Crawshaw, Florida
PK – Alex McPherson, Auburn
LS – Slade Roy, LSU
KS – Trey Smack, Florida
RS – Keionte Scott, Auburn
*AP – Barion Brown, Kentucky
*AP – Jaydon Blue, Texas

Evelyn Van Pelt

Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.