Ole Miss kicked off their 2021 season in terrific fashion, beating the Louisville Cardinals 43-24 to start 1-0. Here are four takeaways from the game:

Ole Miss defensive back Otis Reese tackles Louisville wide receiver Josh Johnson during the third quarter of the 2021 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. Photo by HG Biggs.

No Problem Without Lane Kiffin

The Rebels were forced to head into week 1 without head coach Lane Kiffin due to COVID-19 issues. Kiffin had tested positive a few days prior to game day and had to watch the game from Oxford.

Ole Miss had announced that there wouldn’t be any change to coaching responsibilities.

The play calling would be handled by offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby and the defensive would be called by co-defensive coordinators D.J. Durkin and Chris Partridge.

Special teams coordinator, Coleman Hutzler, would be in charge of clock management.

Defensive Improvement

Ole Miss’s defense has vastly improved coming off of last season’s poor numbers. The Rebels held Louisville to zero points in the first half, which was the first time they shut out an opponent in the first half since 2016 against Georgia. They also held them to just 24 points the entire game.

There were many players that stood out from the defense including linebacker Chance Campbell, a transfer from Maryland, who was all over Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham. Defensive tackle Quentin Bevins was a big part in holding Louisville’s run game.

Snoop Conner Shines

The Rebels put up 188 rushing yards on Louisville’s defense and a lot of those yards came from hard-nosed running back Snoop Conner.

Conner rushed for 60 yards, putting up two touchdowns along with it. One of those touchdowns resulted in a truck move on a Louisville cornerback as he forced his way into the endzone.

Ole Miss’s Offense Explodes

Ole Miss had 569 yards of total offense throughout the game, and it seemed as if Louisville couldn’t handle the fast paced play calling from the Rebels.

Even though quarterback Matt Corral threw for only one touchdown, he still threw for 381 yards and showed off his versatility with his legs, running for 55 yards and a touchdown, something we didn’t see often last season.

The receiving corps torched Louisville defenders all game long, with receiver Dontario Drummond leading the way with nine catches for 177 yards and a touchdown.

Ole Miss also didn’t commit a turnover all game, which was a big point of emphasis heading into this game.