No. 9 Ole Miss Football’s narrow triumph over No. 24 Louisville in Week 1 featured a poetic ending, but there are many questions surrounding the Rebels following the victory. Here is what we know about Ole Miss after Sunday night’s shootout win.
The Rebels are highly entertaining
For better or for worse, Ole Miss does not cease to captivate audiences. Taking into account the Rebels’ playoff run last season, it seems like every game Ole Miss plays turns into nominations for game of the year. Last year, both games against Georgia, the Arkansas win and the CFP semifinal against Miami were all incredible performances and exciting games to watch.
The high-powered Rebel offense scores regardless of their opponent. However, this excitement comes at a cost. The defense continues to disappoint despite defensive-minded head coach Pete Golding’s best efforts. The secondary played poorly against Louisville, allowing numerous touchdowns in the second half.
Both teams struggled to find their sparks in the first half, but entering the second half, the defenses turned to mush, and the game became a showdown reminiscent of the Big 12 air raid offenses of the 2010s.
It seemed like the safeties were confused and lacked proper play recognition. During a fake inside run during which Louisville wide receiver Tre Richardson took a sweep to the end zone, Anthony Robinson III got caught staring at the running back and looked lost.
Sophomore safety MJ Preston was jittery in his first live snaps. He came into the game and immediately abandoned his deep zone and crept towards the box, which allowed Richardson to catch a 62-yard bomb for a touchdown.
This game was just weird
College football can obviously be unpredictable, but this game was more unpredictable than most. At times, the duel between quarterbacks Trinidad Chambliss and Lincoln Kienholz looked like a battle between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in their primes.
The broken coverages from both sides led to multiple long touchdowns. Chambliss was not sacked but had to scramble a few times. He only avoided sacks because of his ability to extend plays. Kienholz did get sacked three times, but he was also an efficient scrambler, even stiff-arming linebackers at times.
The weirdness started from the kickoff. On the second play of the game, the snap went high over Chambliss’ head and he had to dive on the ball for a 21-yard loss, which was technically ruled a fumble. This is uncharacteristic of a team that rarely had offensive miscues last season.
There were issues on defense, as well. The Rebels struggled to tackle Louisville players. They had tackling issues last year, but they looked even worse in this game. Multiple Rebel defenders were left in the dust after getting juked or stiff-armed, or even just plainly missing their assignments.
Even Lucas Carneiro, who is arguably the best kicker in college football, had an uncharacteristic 46-yard miss. All in all, this game featured many mishaps, lowlights and highlights that culminated in a nail-biting, entertaining shootout.
Receiving corps is still fine
Despite being overshadowed by De’Zhaun Stribling and Harrison Wallace III last year, Deuce Alexander commanded a strong presence. To begin his second season as a Rebel, he finished with five catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns. His two scores Sunday night matched his 2025 production, while he also hauled in 25% of his total yardage from last year in one game.
His deep-threat ability was on full display, mainly because his speed is unparalleled on a football field. Ole Miss’ strength coach Paul Constantine praised Alexander for his athletic ability in August.
“It’s the highest speed we’ve had here and have only seen maybe 2-3 players hit that speed in my entire career,” Constantine said. “Deuce’s acceleration is (8 meters per second squared) at 10 yards, which is on par with Olympic sprinters.”
Alexander had only 62 yards after catch, but that was because he had already gotten behind the secondary by the time he caught the ball.
While Alexander stole the show, the absence of production from both Syracuse transfers Johntay Cook II and Darrell Gill Jr. is something to watch as the season goes on.
The next best Rebel receivers were Horatio Fields and tight end Caleb Odom. Fields transferred from Auburn after battling an injury last season. He showed flashes but was never really able to put it all together because of setbacks. In this contest, he had five catches for 47 yards.
Odom played sparingly last year after transitioning to the tight end position, but his frame and size match the position’s needs while also making him a matchup nightmare for weaker pass coverage players like safeties and linebackers.
During fall camp, Odom talked about transitioning to tight end. He thinks his skills can translate to both positions. He is 6-feet-5-inches and 240 pounds, just as tall as a tight end but slightly lighter.
“I take pride in my skillset and being able to play receiver, play outside, play inside, play tight end and block just like a 260‑pound tight end can,” Odom said. “I’m trying to take pride in being able to do all of those things.”
Odom had three catches for 66 yards, but two of his catches were impactful. He caught a deep touchdown down the left side on a beautiful ball from Chambliss. He also caught an 18-yard pass down the seam on third down.
