Previews and Predictions: No. 5 Ole Miss Returns Home to Host Georgia Southern

OXFORD, Miss. — The No. 5 Ole Miss Rebels return home to wrap up non-conference play this week as they host Georgia Southern. Last week, Ole Miss took care of business on the road with the 40-6 win over Wake Forest.

Despite playing a Power-4 opponent last Saturday, the Ole Miss offense showed no signs of slowing down. The Rebels have averaged 56.o points per game this year and can fill up the box score in a hurry (which they did against the Demon Deacons). In the first quarter, Ole Miss had scoring drives that lasted 1:23, :34, and 1:56.

On defense, the Rebs have continued to stuff the run. The group held Wake to 46 total rushing yards and 1.4 yards per rush. The group added four sacks, two of which came from Jared Ivey.

Georgia Southern will enter the contest 2-1 after rebounding nicely from their early season shootout against Boise State. The Eagles are led by quarterback JC French who has six touchdowns to zero interceptions on the season while averaging 258.7 yards per game.

The Eagles are coached by former USC head coach and former Lane Kiffin assistant Clay Helton. Helton recruited Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart to USC. Helton coached the Trojans for just two games before being relieved of his coaching duties in Jaxson’s freshman season. As we know, Lincoln Riley was hired to replace Helton and Dart later transferred to Ole Miss.

The Rebel Walk has put together a group of panelists who will weekly share their predictions for the upcoming game. Our panel brings a variety of backgrounds and perspectives that showcase many different point of views

Game Details

- Kickoff: Saturday, Sep. 21st at 6:45 PM CT
- TV: SEC Network
- Radio:
  - OleMissSports.com
  - Memphis: WHBQ-AM 560
  - Oxford: WOXF-FM 105.1
  - Jackson: WFMN-FM 97.3

Our Leaderboard

Grayson Weir (BroBible): 9 Points (+4)

Tyler Komis (247 Sports): 9 Points (+4)

Adam Brown (The Rebel Walk): 9 Points (+4)

TJ Oxley (The Rebel Walk): 9 Points (+4)

Kam Wicker (The Rebel Walk): 6 Points (+1)

Zach Moreth (The Rebel Walk): 6 Points (+4)

Caleb Salers (Supertalk Mississippi): 3 Points (+1)

If you would like to read back and see what all each panel predicted ahead of last week’s 40-6 win over Wake Forest, check it out HERE.

Panel Predictions

Scoring: Each panel member can earn a total of six points per week.

One point will be awarded for correctly picking the winning team outright.
Two points will be awarded if the predicted score is within 7.5 points total. There is a caveat to this. For example, if a panel member says that a team wins the game 21-0 and that team loses 0-21, the total score is technically within 7.5 points. However, points will only be awarded if the score is close to the prediction (i.e. – a score of 24-3 has a total of 27 and is within 7.5 points of 21).
Lastly, a panel member will be awarded three points if his prediction is correct.
With that being said let’s get to the predictions for Ole Miss home game against Georgia Southern

Grayson Weir – BroBible

Score: Ole Miss 42 — Georgia Southern 14

Prediction: Tre Harris and Cayden Lee each score and Matt Jones finds the end zone twice

Unfortunately, the touchdown streak is going to end this week. Clay Helton is running a solid program down in Statesboro and quarterback JC French is on a heater to begin the season. Georgia Southern will get on the board through the air in the first half on a busted coverage play. It will add a rushing touchdown in the second half. All things considered, two scored against a solid Eagles offense is a really strong outing. On the flip side, the Ole Miss offense is going to come out firing after a sleepy second half against Wake Forest. Tre Harris and Cayden Lee score twice against a secondary that allowed 271 passing yards to Nevada. Matt Jones also gets a pair of tuddies on the goal line.

Tyler Komis – Inside the Rebels

Score: Ole Miss 62 — Georgia Southern 3

Prediction: Juice Wells scores TD in fourth-straight game

Though the Rebels are coming off a 40-6 win over their first Power 4 opponent of the year, they’re not satisfied with the way they played, especially offensively. Not only are the Rebels the far more talented team, Georgia Southern isn’t catching them at a favorable time either. I don’t see Ole Miss letting up in the first 3.5 quarters of their final tuneup game at home.

Kam Wicker – The Rebel Walk

Score: Ole Miss 52 — Georgia Southern 16

Prediction: The Rebels’ Defensive Line allows less than50 rushing yards

The Rebels give up their first touchdown of the year, but another dominant game from the defensive front and the offense gets Ole Miss to 4-0 heading to SEC play.

Zach Moreth – The Rebel Walk

Score: Ole Miss 45 – Georgia Southern 3

Prediction: Ole Miss defense records 1+ interception

Ole Miss will win and cover the 35.5 spread, winning 45-3. Georgia Southern is a 2-1 team that has shown flashes of success in their passing game, but I predict the Rebs will snag at least one interception by the end of the game. They key for Ole Miss will be to preserve their health before homecoming week vs Kentucky.

Adam Brown – The Rebel Walk

Score: Ole Miss 62 – Georgia Southern 14

Prediction: Henry Parrish has another great game, running the ball for 110 yards.

The Rebels continue to put up video game numbers on offense against Georgia Southern. The Georgia Southern offense will move the ball and find the end zone a couple of times.

Jaxson Dart throws for 300 yards with three passing touchdowns and one rushing before entering SEC play next week. Look for Jordan Watkins to have a 100-yard receiving game this weekend.

TJ Oxley – The Rebel Walk

Score: Ole Miss 51 — Georgia Southern 20

Prediction: Ole Miss rushes for 240+ yards as a whole

Georgia Southern has the offense to light up a scoreboard against most teams. Ole Miss isn’t most teams. They should be able to have some success but Ole Miss should continue to put up points at their lightning-quick rate. The Rebels have had plenty of success running the ball this season and that streak continues. The Ole Miss offense keeps up the pace and sets the tone on the ground.

Caleb Salers – Supertalk Mississippi

Score: Ole Miss 62 – Georgia Southern 17

Prediction: Suntarine Perkins leads the team in tackles

The Rebels return from their first road game and close out non-conference play with a dominant win over Georgia Southern. As the offense continues to click with Jaxson Dart continuing to build momentum as a Heisman-caliber quarterback and further the chemistry he has with a multitude of weapons, be on the alert for Cayden Lee to have a breakout game after showing flashes early this year. Defensively, with Jared Ivey sidelined due to injury, be prepared for Suntarine Perkins to get more playing time, and lead the team in tackles, versus the Golden Eagles.

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.