What makes a great football team? Is it a solid, bend-but-don’t break defense? Maybe it’s a wide-open, full-throttle offense that keeps the Tigers and the Razorbacks of the world up at night guessing, or even a star quarterback that keeps everyone (including his own coach) guessing at his next miraculous escape and throw.
Could the “secret sauce” of a great eam really boil down to a simple coaching issue, limiting any worthy squad to the ceiling that its coach provides? It’s hard to give a hard and fast solution to that question, but if any of the answers above may suffice, the 2021-2022 Ole Miss Rebels were absolutely such a team.
With the first double digit win total since 2015, head coach Lane Kiffin revitalized a once proud program through his freewheeling play designs, his unique persona and approach and his close relationship with former Heisman hopeful Matt Corral.
How did a team with a 5-5 record the year before, and a 4-8 record the season before that, become such a powerhouse in the SEC West? How did the Rebels, long an afterthought in big-time college football, become an underdog worth celebrating?
The season began in Georgia, of all places, as the Rebels began the college football season in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game against the Louisville Cardinals.
After a convincing 43-24 victory, Ole Miss went on a three-game winning streak, predictably walloping Austin Peay and Tulane with margins of victory of 37 and 41 points, respectively. After dominating the Green Wave during one of the rainiest days in recent Vaught-Hemingway memory, Ole Miss, boasting a ranking of 12 in the AP poll, sojourned to Tuscaloosa to face the top-ranked Alabama squad.
After a humbling defeat at Bryant-Denny, the Rebels launched another winning streak, beginning with an instant classic against Arkansas. In a dogfight between two talented signal callers, the Rebels and Razorbacks dueled in what many called the game of the year.
Tied by the end of the third quarter at 31 apiece, standout running back and current Jacksonville Jaguar Snoop Conner broke off a 34-yard run for a score. Two minutes later, Arkansas answered with a score of their own. Another two minutes passed, and Conner again hit paydirt in the Arkansas end zone. North Mississippi’s own KJ Jefferson, the quarterback for Arkansas, answered Conner’s challenge with a rushing touchdown of his own.
With just over a minute to go in the game, Corral uncorked a rainbow pass to Braylon Sanders, who caught it for a 68-yard touchdown, capping a two-play, 15-second drive for the Rebels. After an answering touchdown by the Razorbacks to end regulation, head coach Sam Pittman elected to go for a two-point conversion, failing in the attempt and sealing victory for Oxford’s finest, 52-51.
Buoyed by the victory, and now ranked 13th in the nation, Ole Miss traveled to Tennessee, shutting down the Volunteers, who were less than respectful following the loss, thanks to their history with Kiffin.
After golf balls and mustard bottles showered the Rebels in Neyland Stadium, Kiffin and Corral returned to Lafayette County to face the Tigers of LSU, long a thorn in the side of any Ole Miss coach.
After handling LSU 31-17, the Rebels faced another pack of Tigers, this time in Auburn. This loss, while painful, would be the last of the regular season for Kiffin and company.
Buoyed by chants of “Lane-Train” and “Matty Ice”, the Rebels hosted Liberty, coached at the time by disgraced former Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze. Though the Flames boasted star quarterback Malik Willis, they were no match for a reinvigorated Corral, who threw for 324 yards in the affair.
The Rebels, by then again ranked 12th, took on Texas A&M, then holding the 11th spot in the poll, and rose to the challenge.
Jerrion Ealy impressed with 152 yards rushing, and Corral continued to dazzle with 247 yards through the air in a solid, balanced attack.
After handling a woefully unprepared Vanderbilt team, it was time for the apex of all seasons Mississippi: the Egg Bowl.
Fans of Ole Miss often assume that the mid-state showdown against Mississippi State is a given victory, failing to appreciate that a team like State, often in the middle to back of the pack in the SEC West, prepares all year for that single game, and are thus indescribably dangerous. Despite being outgunned in total yardage, 388-420, and having to weather an interception by Corral, Ole Miss pulled out a victory, 31-21.
Although the season ended in a demoralizing loss at the hands of the Baylor Bears in the Sugar Bowl, the efforts of this squad should not be forgotten.
Despite being projected as a top quarterback taken in the draft, Corral elected to stick it out with his team, defying expectations and playing in a game that would ultimately net him a costly ankle injury (which likely contributed to his diminished draft stock three months later). Corral ended his final season as a Rebel with 3,349 yards, with 614 more on the ground.
Ealy and Conner impressed as a formidable rushing duo with 768 and 647 yards, respectively. Dontario Drummond who ended the year with 1,028 yards receiving.
The defense, not to be overshadowed, had several stars of their own. A.J. Finley, a continual contributor into this past season as well, had three picks on the year, which complimented a formidable defensive front. Sam Williams led the team with 12.5 sacks, dovetailing with the efforts of Chance Campbell and Cedric Johnson, who both had at least six apiece.
Although the seasons will stretch on, and new stars will enter and impress, those that had the privilege of watching this Rebel team must not forget the moments and intrigue that made a season, at times seemingly destined for mediocrity, so striking.
For the team, the most important game is the next, and the best measure of greatness is always yet to come. For the fans, however, looking forward is only half the fun. The other half will always be remembering.
Remembering the gunslingers and highsteppers, the blitzes and the underdogs, and the mustard bottles and the tailgates. The question posed at the beginning of this article asked what it is that makes a great football team. Maybe it was defense, maybe offense or it very well could have been all up to the coach, but the answer, after reflection, almost has to be the simplest of all: True greatness has to lie in the memories.
