College Football Predictions – Mississippi Rebels 2020 College Football Preview
2019 Recap
Record – 4-8
ATS – 8-4
ARGH. They couldn’t catch a break, yo.
Ole Miss struggled to a four-win campaign BUT lost a lot of close games. In fact, the Rebels were the victim of an impossible five (!) one-score defeats, and that included a bizarre ending (and loss) in the season finale vs Mississippi St. They ran the ball well and played surprisingly good defense. Ultimately, they decided to hand the keys to the car to the LANE TRAIN in 2020! Can Mr Kiffin get these guys rolling in his first year? Let’s go!
2020 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating
West Division – #6
SEC – TBD
Mississippi Rebels 2020 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Ole Miss ground game was FUN to watch last year as it featured a host of talented RBs and a 1,000-yard rusher at QB in the ELITE SPEEDSTER John Rhys Plumlee. The THROW GAME wasn’t a strength of Plumlee and the Rebels relied upon Matt Corral to handle that aspect of the offense (59%, 6-3 TD to INT). We should see more balance on offense this season with a new OC (UCF 2019) and expected improvement from both Plumlee and Corral. The WR group is one of the strongest in the SEC and features a legit #1 Elijah Moore (67, 850, 6 TD LY). The OL is down to two returning starters after starting C Eli Johnson opted out of the 2020 season.
We expect Ole Miss to improve on their 27 PPG mark from LY and display more balance.
DEFENSE
The Rebels made yuuuuuge strides on defense LY allowed fewer than 30 PPG (26.5) for the first time since 2015. They were particularly stout vs the run (139 YPG; 222 in 2018) and bagged 33 sacks (#T4 SEC). The bad news? They struggled BIG TIME vs the pass (#11 pass efficiency D SEC, 66%). Only five starters return to the stop unit this year and they have a complete reload of the starting group up front. The LB unit looks like the strength of the defense and note that they switch to a 4-3 alignment this year. They’ll miss Sam Williams (opt out) but return their top-two tacklers (L Henry, J Jones). We still worry about the secondary (two returning starters) and they might be disadvantaged due to (likely) less pressure up front.
Look for a downgrade on D and we forecast them allowing 30+ PPG in 2020.
SPECIAL TEAMS
There’s excellent continuity as pretty much everyone returns, and that includes KR J Ealy who took one THE DISTANCE in 2019. Hopefully they can get more consistency out of PK Luke Logan who was just 11/19 on FG attempts.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – Two of their first three games are BIGGIE SIZE (Florida, ROLL TIDE) but they avoid Georgia. They finish with a road date at LSU.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Florida (Sept 26th)
Not a great way to start. Florida is a legit PLAYOFF contender and Ole Miss is introducing new systems on both sides of the ball.
Season Win Total
Over 4 -115
Under 4 -115
MEGALOCKS says:
Lean to the over. There are at least six winnable games on the docket.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
The last HC to leave Oxford with a winning record was our pal David Cutcliffe (Duke HC) who finished with a mark of 44-29 (.602).
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
We can’t wait to see what the LANE TRAIN can do at Ole Miss! It’s not fair to expect miracles in his first season but there’s enough talent on offense to get to .500 and pull a major upset along the way.
#HottyToddy
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WEBSITE
https://olemisssports.com/sports/football
FORUM
http://olemiss.247sports.com/Board/Ole-Miss-Rebels-Message-Board-Forum-59412
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https://olemiss.forums.rivals.com/forums/the-grove.16/
NEWS
http://www.clarionledger.com/sports/ole-miss/
http://www.redcuprebellion.com/
http://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/145/ole-miss-rebels
TWITTER
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